Eliminating Your Inhibitions
When you drink alcohol, the outcome will be lower inhibitions. You may feel happy, relaxed, excited, and free. But if you drink too much, you are likely to put yourself into a dangerous situation, such as date rape, being attacked and robbed, or being stopped by the police and put in jail for the night.
If you tend to not be a social person and you have anxiety when in groups, drinking does help you be less inhibited with lowered inhibitions, and more open to others. You end up talking to everyone and you love everyone around you. You have no fear of people who present a higher social status and/or are very wealthy. You are quite happy to talk their ear off.
But a less positive outcome is that you meet someone there to who you are attracted, and you decide to go out on a date with them. After the first or second date, you decide to get involved with this person. While you hope this person may fill your life in all the ways you dreamed about, that person pulls out a tray of drugs and gets you to try one or two of them. In your inebriated state, you decide to try one, just for kicks.
The other situation is that you get so drunk that you pass out. When you wake up, you realized you have been raped. This can happen to both men and women and the experience can be very disturbing. You feel violated and hurt and you realize the situation was not what you thought it was. You may have emotional disturbances for some time after the event unless you get help from a counselor to understand what happened. Of importance, is understanding that when you are drunk, you have an impaired capability to make wise decisions.
The legal problem that could easily occur when you are drunk is driving while intoxicated. If a police officer stops you and smells alcohol on your breath, you will likely have to undergo a breathalyzer test. If it is higher than what the state-level recommends, then you will be arrested. From this point, you now face fines, a jail term, and lost time at work. It will be hard explaining to your boss why you did not show up at work and did not call in.
If you were driving while intoxicated and you had an accident and killed another driver or a passenger in your vehicle or the other vehicle, then your troubles will be much greater than a fine and a short-term jail sentence. The charges will be vehicular manslaughter and you will have a felony record. This could impact future jobs and whether you can get hired or not.
Distractions in Drinking Environments
If you have been through a treatment program, one of the things your counselor will speak with you about is your drinking triggers. You must develop defense mechanisms against triggers that you must avoid. For example, you and a few friends are going out for the evening, starting with seeing a play, then going out to dinner afterward. Everyone plans to go to a favorite club later in the evening which means lots of drinking.
Both dinner and going to the club mean there will be alcohol involved. One thing you can do is set yourself up as the designated driver which means you cannot drink and drive. You are looking out for your friends instead (plus helping yourself too). Just have a club soda with a twist of lime or lemon. No one will think less of you as you have a “drink” in your hand. You may have urges to drink but remember that you are protecting other peoples’ lives.
While sitting at home watching television, you start having urges to get yourself a drink. This used to be your favorite time of day where, after you get home from work, you sat in front of the television and had a drink. Instead, change your routine by doing other things instead of watching television.
You could watch TV and do floor exercises or weight training. Try any one or more of these distractions to help you get past your urges or triggers.
- Go for a walk or run in your neighborhood,
- Work in the garden getting rid of weeds around your fresh vegetable plants,
- Play video games online and join communities,
- Work on hobbies you really enjoy, such as woodworking, painting, handcrafts, and
- Learn a new skill, such as working with big data and programming. You may get a pay raise!
Meditation: Guided or Not?
If you have never done any meditation before, we offer guided meditation in our rehab (San Diego). You learn through guided meditation the process of training your mind the right way to clear out intrusive thoughts.
Once you have mastered the steps of clearing your mind and guiding yourself to focus on that peaceful outcome you achieve, then you can do these on your own at home. You can also find a quiet place at work to meditate which helps alleviate stress from your fast-paced workplace.
Call Us if You Need a Consultation for Help
Our Pacific Bay Recovery centers can help you with any substance addiction and/or mental issues you might have so you can regain a happy and functional lifestyle again. Call us for a free consultation and to set up an appointment to start getting help as soon as possible. 619-350-8220.
