When the urge hits, what tips do you have to distract from using?

self-care
support
alcohol
#1

When the urge hits you, how do you distract yourself and steer your thoughts away from wine? I don’t drink anymore for health reasons, but it never was an addiction for me, I dont know the best way to help my sis…

#2

Hey there @Joinblack, great question! One bit that will help you out before going into what I’ve written below is to get an understanding on whether or not your sister has any coping skills currently. What’s in her tool kit? Is it completely empty, or just dusty?

One technique is called urge surfing which allows one to experience the craving in a new way and ride it out until it goes away, emphasizing that the urge doesn’t always have to be acted upon. Urges usually peak between 20 - 30 minutes, if we let them. What is meant by this last phrase is this: if we adopt an open and curious attitude about the urge and observe it happening without doing battle with it, then the urge will subside. If you imagine that urges are like ocean waves that arrive, crest, and subside - they are small when they start, grow in size, and then eventually break and dissipate.

A few other steps you can take to respond to urges:

  • If you need to separate yourself from an immediately high risk situation, take action to do so.
  • Breathe: practice mindfully breathing to slow down emotional excitement.
  • Remind oneself that it is transient, a passing experience.
  • Focus on personal coping thoughts and alternate sober behaviors. Consider the supportive coping skills and thoughts you can use and have used in the past to cope with the urge.
  • Remind yourself of all the hard work that you have accomplished in recovery and think through the consequences of giving in to the urge.
  • Use distracting or self-soothing coping skills until the urge becomes manageable.
  • Reach out to someone you trust for support.
  • After the urge has subsided, bring kind attention to yourself for coping with the urge successfully.
  • Congratulate yourself for strengthening the coping skills which will help you to reduce the strength of urges and increase your resilience in recovery.

The more one finds themselves getting through urges the easier it will become, over time, with practice.

Let us know how these work out for you! :grinning: