Sunday 14 May 2017

Paths Through Addictions

I've recently drafted this diagram to help outline what I feel are my own paths through addition to both alcohol and nicotine. I feel very lucky to be able to say I've recovered from both - five years free from smoking and ten years free from drinking.

After unsuccessfully trying patches & gum a few times, I quit thirty years of cigarettes by using Champix tablets over two months. Effectively they "switched-off" the part of my brain that craved nicotine.

Interestingly, my escape from alcohol ten years ago involved a massive last binge (and prolonged hangover/withdrawl) with a very powerful movie* as a background narrative, and transferal of addiction from booze to fags in the first few weeks. After that period there was almost no temptation to drink again (I did have a couple of 12 hr curiosity lapses 6 months apart in the first year which only reinforced my determination each time). It has, since then, felt that the part of my brain which craved alcohol has been switched off too.

I'm keen to get any and all feedback, in the comments below please, to refine the diagram and answer anything I haven't explained adequately. Thanks.

* Touching The Void - which shows the extent to which people can recover from trapped situations.