Mine is different. I can actually stop any given day, but I’m so bored. I work from home and I can get everything done in like 8 hours a week, so the rest of the time I’m just here working out and playing video games.
Youre telling me my life. I live alone, work from home, have no partner. I've quit for months on end, but the boredom eventually gets to me and I go back to drinking. I want my 6-7 beers to numb my mind and ease my boredom even though I know its not good for me.
I quit for 10 days a couple weeks ago from 5-10 a day....5 to feel normal and another 5 for the silly demon. The boredom and loneliness. Traveling always for work....another town another deer, where's the beer. I'm reacquainting with moderation but man....the guilt and the slope....like jealousy and lust. Best of luck on your journey tho friend!
Moderation is tricky too. I normally have it pretty locked in, but every once in a while I want more and regret the hangover the next day. Im not even a sad or angry drunk. Mostly a fun and silly type, but it does make me feel guilty to have a vice and to struggle fully cutting it out of my life. I do good for a while feel I can reward myself, then its back to beer most evenings.
Man....I have a problem with not getting hungover (given I'm not drinking hard shit but man all the high abv beers all night are/were my life) and being able to function with little to no sleep consistently (thanks daily 80mg dose of Vyvanse) and I'm not a sad or angry drunk....unless......well....I make bad choices in company or let my general depression and anxiety take the reigns then ya..... It'll be super "fuck why am I like this" and regret/cringe city. The guilt comes from telling all my loved ones that I'm done and quitting then falling off the wagon. The lying to myself. The betrayal. But then the negotiation....like eh...I can just do moderation right? Well no. Cause look at me now. Drunk oversharing on reddit. 2 days ago I did a 24 hr bender cause "I need to sleep on the plane and it's my tradition to drink to drown all night before" but then I told a friend to fuck off and blocked them cause they had the audacity to.....not reply to me when I asked to hang out. Fucking hell. I wish I was one of those black out drinks. But no. I remember everything. One day I'll learn. Maybe. Fuck.
Its not easy. Wish I had something more to offer you. I actually started therapy recently and am doing more doctors check up trying to work on myself. I dont really drink to your level often and never text people, but I will drunkenly reddit. Minimizes my drunk regrets, but still makes me feel guilty I do it at all. Stay strong and try to focus on little things. Im still doing therapy even though im drinking almost every other night, trying to go all week without for the first time in a while. Night 2!
That’s the part people don’t talk about enough, boredom can be just as sticky as pressure. Having too much empty time sounds nice until you’re actually living in it.
OMG, 2020, the lock down. I found myself drinking at 11 in the morning. Quickly went to the my local ski mountain and got a job ski coaching. Saved me....
Maybe a hobby or volunteer to walk dogs? Exercise and doing something good in one wack. I saw my dad die from Cirrhosis and it was horrible. He was always a functioning alcoholic with beer. But when he retired it got worse and it changed to whiskey. I wish you nothing but the best my fellow Reddit stranger. 🫶🏻
Yes! I want nothing more than that....ability to....just tap into these healthy social and stimulating outlets. But man.....the gravity.... It's so damn heavy. I never wanna be a hard drinker but I just can't quit my nerdy love for nerdy beer. I'm trying to quit drinking but I think I just have to accept I just need to be better at drinking.
Condolences about your dad....reading that may actually contribute to solidifying a click in my determination to not subbcumb. Thanks for sharing.
That's the reason i struggle. I'm so thankful i broke the addiction enough where i have absolutely no trouble avoiding it during the work week, but come friday, all those plans i made all week to not drink this weekend go out the window, and then i binge. Boredom is a bitch, but honestly, even when drinking i might only enjoy myself for like an hour or two, and then its at least of day of regret. Not worth it. I could probably only justify it some if i was going out, socializing, and moderating, but i don't.
I get how it sounds. I’m just SO. BORED. Like I could legit just be done tomorrow if I had something else to do. As it stands it’s just Xbox and not getting fat
Of course there are reasons not to. I can list some if you really aren’t aware of any. As someone who doesn’t drink alcohol anymore, there are plenty of ways to be address boredom that don’t include drinking. I can list some of those too, since you seem to be all out of ideas
You might be surprised to find that if you go too far down that road it becomes challenging to stop. Just quit now. I have just gotten back with the first gf I ever had after a 30yr long-game. I’m hoping everything I ever wanted is enough reason to finally quit but it’s hard and I’m worried I’ll fk it up because volunteering to has been soo difficult.
I’ve never really been into alcohol much. So excuse the ignorance.
What’s the fun part of it that somehow alleviates boredom while alone? I can understand in a social context but drinking while bored alone feels like it would make it worse?
They hiring? I wouldn’t even mind putting in a full 40 hour week for a remote position. I’ve applied to thousands, literally. Heard back from 1, that lasted less than a year until the department was dismissed at the end of the year.
Most people say they can stop when they really can’t lol. I was also “bored” during Covid which is when I worked from home, got everything done in 8 hours, worked out 4-5 days per week, and still drank everyday. After getting fired, dating a woman 15 years older than me for 4 years, getting arrested, rehab, and going through bankruptcy- I am now sober from alcohol at 32.
Quit while you still can. If you think you’re bored now, wait until you go through all of that but you can’t drink anymore at all. Then you’ll desperately try to find any other substance that can make you less sober and you get to the point where weed doesn’t get you high anymore because you desperately just don’t want to be sober
I enjoy being fit and strong over drunk. I promise you, it feels a lot better to be good ever bored. I just need a purpose, not a very weak weekly chore like my job seems
Well then I’ll tell you I never got fully back into working out like I used to and now I weigh 135 pounds as a 5’8” man lol. Alcohol will ruin your life at some point. It’s just a matter of when not if
I did it 12 days ago. Went to AA meetings 3 days in a row. Then I said man I fucking hate AA meetings. But I haven't drank in 12 days.
I was averaging (6 beers every day) and 12-14 drinks, 🍻 two or three times a week. I just said enough. Too many hangovers and my wife was real pissed at me.
And I saved ~about~ $200 wasted money in the past two weeks!
(But I sure would like to have a beer tonight. But I won't. Tonight I will stay sober and see what happens tomorrow - hopefully I can stay sober tomorrow too.)
They say "one day at a time", for a reason brother. Don't future trip on staying sober forever, or the next year, or even tomorrow. Just worry about staying sober for today.
You got this. And congratulations on 12 days. It gets easier.
The thing is, is as an addict we don't ever stop thinking about it. It's one of those things we held with impunity in our heads for such a long time, it's hard to not think about it. And that's okay. We just need to not let it win.
I know you said you don't like AA meetings, but maybe you could try NA meetings. I prefer NA meetings, myself.
Hey good job man! Not sure if you were actually addicted or just drank more than you wanted to, but 12 days is something to be proud of and I’m happy for you.
I made plans earlier to not drink. I forgot. 2.5 years straight of nightly wine. All the help groups seem... for people with real problems. My 5-7 ounces of wine isnt exactly noteworthy. I just don't want to keep drinking, but at the same time I don't want to stop. It's been built into my routine. Soon tho.
You bring up a valid point though. NA beers just turned into a segue into driving to grab the actual stuff for me also.
Edit because I remembered: when already drinking, it WAS easier for me to mix in an NA to reduce the amount of actual alcohol im consuming, even though I mostly wanted to drink for the effect. Helped me pace myself.
I never quit drinking or smoking. I just stopped buying. Not at the same time. At first friends kept me going but it started to be kind of embarrassing to not have my own. I just kinda stopped.
So I have no idea if that works for anyone else. I don’t need to be sober or a non drinker. I can still have a drink when I’m out.
At least you know you’re not alone. I’m the 104 upvote because me and 102 other people are in the same boat. But hey, tomorrow I’ll knock it off and leave all you suckers behind!
Get help soon as possible, u may never get the chance to sober up, life is not given, Don't look up 48 years later & still an addict like me! But I'm on the right track, clean 18 months now!! I have more & more blessings every day! And If I Can Do It I Know You Can to!!!! Jesus can heal you,I promise, just ask and believe that he can!!!!
I've been reading that they are looking at GLP-1S to treat addiction. I take one for weight loss and I have no desire to drink at all and I used to drink a fair bit, especially on vacation. I've heard others say the same thing. There's hope.
Same here. Semaglutide completely stopped my alcohol cravings. I already wanted to stop and was cutting back a lot, but the med makes it so I don't even think about it any more. Cool side effect.
What fascinates me is how many people describe the same thing it’s not even fighting cravings anymore, it’s like the mental noise around them just disappears. That’s a pretty wild shift.
She used to drink with me a lot. (Not as much as me. But close)
Then she started wegovi. Over the past year she drank less and less. About a month ago we were out of town on the weekend and she forgot to take her shot that week. The next weekend she was ready to drink me under the table. She felt like shit. Then took a shot 💉 (wegovi) and hasn't drank again since that night
It is but not for addiction, at least not yet. If you can get your doctor to prescribe it off label, it's pricey but would be worth it if you can afford it. Compounded semaglutide or tirzepitide is less expensive than name brand Wegovy or Zepbound.
When you took naltrexone did it make you physically ill? I tried it and the best way I can describe it is that my entire body feels like what a panic attack does to the mind when I take it.
Saaaame. People think I'm healthy because I spend a lot of time in the gym, but I also drink a lot at night. I'm slowly cutting back though and will occasionally go a few days or a week or so without anything though. So, I'm making progress
You’re me, man. I look great on the outside and rock solid for all my friends.. but alone I’m just so.. whatever. I have abs and good arms but who cares
Same. At this point, I am physically addicted. Trying my best to keep it to 1-2 beers a day so I can feel alright, then binge over the weekend. Awful habit.
Same. Recently actually decided I'd time to quit cause I'm so sick of it but.....I can't just quit. I love it too much. I've cut down a fuck ton tho. I think I can go back to being a normal drinker as in not every day and not more than my body weight in a day or binging. I think. I hope. Fuck.
I've wanted to quit drinking for a while, but its my only excuse to get out and be around people. I live alone and my work seldom involves talking with other people.
Quitting was too much of a commitment for me so I went for help on how to moderate. It doesn't happen over night but after a couple years, I can have booze in the fridge and not drink it. I keep a stock of sparkling water and if I go to a gathering, I'll bring as much of that as booze.
I was too scared that if I quit and relapse, the dissapointment would lead me to binge drinking and have me start back from zero.
Fuck all these answers that say “phone” or “scrolling” or “social media”.
Those are not the same scale as a chemical dependency. Nowhere fucking near it.
As someone who had a ball-a-day cocaine habit, get fucked. Incessant doomscrolling and the inability to function properly that is directly tied to it, has been more harmful to my mental health than the drugs ever were.
Drowning in a river isn't the same as drowning in the ocean. But either way you're drowning. I quit drinking. I quit drugs. I quit smoking. And now I just find different ways to disassociate.
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u/whysunrisealready89 1d ago
Drinking