18 Days of Sober Takeaways: Day 4
The Trigger Playbook
If drinking had happened only when I was unhappy, I could have blamed unhappiness. If it had happened only when I was celebrating, I could have blamed celebration.
But there was never just one reason – or trigger – for my drinking.
Instead, alcohol seemed to have an answer for almost every circumstance that life threw up.
A difficult day could lead to a drink. So too could a wonderful one. Or I’d simply feel I’d made it through another week and deserved something. In fact…
Every feeling in the feelings chart - loneliness, boredom, anger, you name it – proved profoundly effective in triggering my drinking.
I mention a feelings chart because when I first sobered up, I needed one of those to show me different options of emotions, other than ‘happy’ or ‘sad’.
That’s because ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ were the only feelings tolerated in our household when I was growing up. And even then, sadness was a stretch, often reserved only for my mother.
There was a lot of something else, however, when I was growing up.
Certain restaurants, I recall, meant wine. Meeting up with certain people meant gimlet cocktails. And certain times of the day screamed for sherry, Mom’s drink of choice.
I didn't understand then that my brain had been forging connections with alcohol since childhood.
So, when it came to making my own choice over drinking, part of that choice had already been made.
I’ll dig deeper into drinking’s everyday effects tomorrow - Day 5 of my 18 Days of Sober Takeaways from #NationalSoberDay to the start of #SoberOctober.
If you’d like to start on Day 1, you can find it here: 18 Days of Sober Takeaways - Day 1
To further explore any of the topics raised in my 18 Days of Sober Takeaways, or if you’d like support in stopping drinking, please visit:
Substack: Sally Cardy - Transformative Recovery Solutions