Quitting emotional/coping drinking. Does boredom count?
I’ve made a promise to myself that I will no longer drink to cope with big emotions. For me it’s most often anxiety I’ve tried to self-medicate away — but also anger, sadness, irritability.
Because I’m doing The Sinclair Method with success, I feel like I’d be doing myself a disservice if I have an actual craving and just try to white-knuckle through it — when it could be a good opportunity for another extinction session. I would not yet consider myself extinct.
I haven’t had a drink in 2 weeks because I’ve had zero desire to, and I don’t want to force extinction sessions just for the sake of it.
Tonight I feel super meh and my brain is saying “wine will help.” It’s not a big emotion — it’s a mix of boredom and apathy. And I’m trying to decide: is drinking in this state coping, or is it a craving? It feels nuanced and I’m genuinely curious what others think, especially fellow TSMers who can appreciate the value of an extinction session.