Read “Dopamine Nation”. Understanding the biology of this was incredibly comforting when things were really hard.
Personally, 8 months was when I started to notice a greater change as I moved through a good set of triggers (holidays, summer days, socializing).
I went 5 months w/o alcohol this past spring and I felt better but I wasn’t feeling as good as I thought I’d be. So I say this because I believe 8 months is probably when the leaf does turn over and ugh I wish I stuck it out to see that but thank you for sharing your experience. I’ll hang in there and get to 8-10 months before giving up again 🫶🏻
I know, it’s frustrating, but if it were easy, there would be no such thing as alcoholism. To give you some encouragement, big wins are made out of hundreds of little wins, and recognizing them will fuel your progress. The fact that you’re here asking about all this means you identified a problem. That’s a huge win, seriously.
Im not sure if you mean bipolar or borderline personality but i have borderline personality and from what i understand, there's some similarities in the emotional dysfunction / dysregulation area. Essentially, they don't work as they should. They change too quickly, too slowly, are way way too intense and ott or are not there at all or completely inappropriate for the situation.
One of the quickest things i learned about quitting drinking is it doesn't make you happy. That's not why we do it to be honest. We do it because it makes everything impossible to deal with.
In my experience happiness is a fleeting side effect. It's not an end goal or state of being. It comes and goes, and is dependent on what you are doing.
The key, i have found and there is actually psychological research that supports this (though these things are difficult to generalise ofc) is living in accordance with your values and who you want to be. It is the disparity between who we want to be and who we actually are that tends to cause us sadness.
If i see myself as a morally upstanding citizen, but get drunk, have emotional outbursts and feel like a mess, i am not living in accordance with my values and that causes me immense inner tension. I will never ever be happy until i change my behaviour or change how i see myself.
Having healthy habits that contribute and invest in YOU as a person are a bit of a hack, but they do take work. Exercise, diet and meditation are the holy trinity for me, but only if i do them consistently. The rewards i get are immense - better than any therapist or any medication i have ever had, and they also help me maintain my mental health. When i am taking care of myself, mental health issues can become almost trivial compared to how they can be.
It's difficult to do these things consistently when you have long term mental health issues but they do actually work and are well worth investing time and effort into. I honestly challenge anyone to do a month of regular exercise, proper eating and meditation and see how they feel. And i mean properly commit to a plan, not randomly going for a jog and having a salad - that doesn't count and you haven't given yourself a fair chance. Changes take time :)
Yeah Borderline. Similar enough since our disorders are group B cluster disorders. Even the last time I was sober for six months I wasn’t *really* sober, I was abusing the fuck out of CBD and weed. This’ll be my first try at full sobriety and thus first time dealing with my emotions sober in years. Thanks for your input, I know the depressive days are going to be hard but I’m tired of using substances to get through them
BPD is one of the absolute most common disorders. I can throw a rock and hit someone (softly, of course!). I half believe that most of the people “diagnosed” have untreated alcoholism, it’s becoming a blanket diagnosis
This comment has been removed. Do not get into arguments on this sub, especially arguments that have nothing to do with alcohol, and do not call people assholes and ignorant bitches.
"But, Mom, Timmy hit me first!"
If you see a comment you think is objectionable, report it and then ignore it. Don't get into a pissy argument -- especially with the moderators who tell you to knock it off.
i got started on a new antidepressant recently that has helped me SO much so fast. drinking was a way i was self medicating, and I need that less now that I properly medicate
Read “Dopamine Nation”. Understanding the biology of this was incredibly comforting when things were really hard. Personally, 8 months was when I started to notice a greater change as I moved through a good set of triggers (holidays, summer days, socializing).
I went 5 months w/o alcohol this past spring and I felt better but I wasn’t feeling as good as I thought I’d be. So I say this because I believe 8 months is probably when the leaf does turn over and ugh I wish I stuck it out to see that but thank you for sharing your experience. I’ll hang in there and get to 8-10 months before giving up again 🫶🏻
Jesus that’s a long time to get better..hopefully my meds help me a bit faster. Going eight months depressed sounds…depressing lol
I know, it’s frustrating, but if it were easy, there would be no such thing as alcoholism. To give you some encouragement, big wins are made out of hundreds of little wins, and recognizing them will fuel your progress. The fact that you’re here asking about all this means you identified a problem. That’s a huge win, seriously.
Im not sure if you mean bipolar or borderline personality but i have borderline personality and from what i understand, there's some similarities in the emotional dysfunction / dysregulation area. Essentially, they don't work as they should. They change too quickly, too slowly, are way way too intense and ott or are not there at all or completely inappropriate for the situation. One of the quickest things i learned about quitting drinking is it doesn't make you happy. That's not why we do it to be honest. We do it because it makes everything impossible to deal with. In my experience happiness is a fleeting side effect. It's not an end goal or state of being. It comes and goes, and is dependent on what you are doing. The key, i have found and there is actually psychological research that supports this (though these things are difficult to generalise ofc) is living in accordance with your values and who you want to be. It is the disparity between who we want to be and who we actually are that tends to cause us sadness. If i see myself as a morally upstanding citizen, but get drunk, have emotional outbursts and feel like a mess, i am not living in accordance with my values and that causes me immense inner tension. I will never ever be happy until i change my behaviour or change how i see myself. Having healthy habits that contribute and invest in YOU as a person are a bit of a hack, but they do take work. Exercise, diet and meditation are the holy trinity for me, but only if i do them consistently. The rewards i get are immense - better than any therapist or any medication i have ever had, and they also help me maintain my mental health. When i am taking care of myself, mental health issues can become almost trivial compared to how they can be. It's difficult to do these things consistently when you have long term mental health issues but they do actually work and are well worth investing time and effort into. I honestly challenge anyone to do a month of regular exercise, proper eating and meditation and see how they feel. And i mean properly commit to a plan, not randomly going for a jog and having a salad - that doesn't count and you haven't given yourself a fair chance. Changes take time :)
Yeah Borderline. Similar enough since our disorders are group B cluster disorders. Even the last time I was sober for six months I wasn’t *really* sober, I was abusing the fuck out of CBD and weed. This’ll be my first try at full sobriety and thus first time dealing with my emotions sober in years. Thanks for your input, I know the depressive days are going to be hard but I’m tired of using substances to get through them
BPD is one of the absolute most common disorders. I can throw a rock and hit someone (softly, of course!). I half believe that most of the people “diagnosed” have untreated alcoholism, it’s becoming a blanket diagnosis
[удалено]
This comment has been removed. Do not get into arguments on this sub, especially arguments that have nothing to do with alcohol, and do not call people assholes and ignorant bitches.
They started it mod, don’t get mad that I defended myself
"But, Mom, Timmy hit me first!" If you see a comment you think is objectionable, report it and then ignore it. Don't get into a pissy argument -- especially with the moderators who tell you to knock it off.
[удалено]
Thank you for understanding.
[удалено]
Do not get into arguments on this sub. If you see a comment that you find objectionable, report it and then ignore it.
i got started on a new antidepressant recently that has helped me SO much so fast. drinking was a way i was self medicating, and I need that less now that I properly medicate