H*A*L*T!
Have you heard this acronym before? HALT! The addict has heard it and has run into it again.
Hungry-Angry-Lonely-Tired
These are the times that an addict is most vulnerable to acting out. The addict last acted out on March 1st when experiencing great hunger during an Ash Wednesday fast. Now, after 27 days of sobriety, the addict acted out again. This time the addict was tired.
It was a long Monday in the office and the addict was feeling less than rested. The eyes were heavy and concentration waned. The addict went to Stumble Upon, which has been a healthy outlet for the addict in recent weeks. But not so on this day. The addict distracted himself from his work and soon went down the path of his addiction.
HALT, addict! Step away! Make a phone call! Take a walk!
These are all things the addict could have and should have done. Think the drink through! What are the consequences of one drink--or one step down the road to acting out? The addict needs to take these issues seriously.
Perhaps the addict's guard was down after a stretch of sobriety. Perhaps the addict didn't feel the need to be "working the steps." Whatever the reason, the addict stumbled.
But the addict has not fallen. Perfection is not the goal, rather progress. And the addict is ready to surrender again to the steps and the process.
Go, addict, go!
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2 comments:
Most people who have a problem with alcohol who have sought some kind of help for at are familiar with the advice, “Think through the drink.”
For whom does this mental “gimmick” work? It never worked for me. Years before I had even heard this expression I had already been trying it for a decade.
The problem is that the vignettes I would write in my head ALWAYS came out in favor of taking the drink and always had a happy ending. Then more often than not, the reality never turned out the way I had thought it through.
I suppose a non-alcoholic, heavy drinker might have the presence of mind to see that any given drinking episode could come to a bad conclusion - but if you are a real alcoholic like I am - and have an insane alcoholic mind – we hardly ever see that the ending will be disastrous. If we did, that would be POWER over alcoholic – power of the mind.
For me, thinking the drink through actually ENCOURAGED me to go ahead with it – not the other way around.
This is the problem with taking advice from folks who are not real alcoholics. What works for them does not work, and can actually have the opposite effect - for us real alcoholics.
BTW - if you are drug addict, then why are you thinking a "drink" through. That's a little odd, no?
Peace,
Danny S
frunobulax57:
I agree completely with what you are saying. "Think the drink through" is not as effective as it seems. My sponsor used it with me and it worked ... for a while.
I know the idea behind it. I need to be aware of the consequences of even one drink. It is the very first drink which brings all of the consequences of addiction with it. Or, in my case, as an addict of another kind, it is the very first step into acting out that carries all of the potential consequences of addiction for me.
Unfortunately, while I understand this principle and fear the consequences that a first drink brings, my addict is far more persuasive than I am. So there needs to be a better and deeper solution to this crisis.
Thanks for stopping by!
D-Monk
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