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| It'll come to you... |
1) Stay out of your
medicine chest. Cough and cold season is here. It's especially easy
to overdo the cough meds. In typical addict fashion, the think the
dosage on the label is only a suggestion and if a small amount works,
the whole bottle will really kick the symptoms to the curb. Not so.
And the little buzz from an OD of the over-the-counter drug can lead
back to the drug of choice.
2) Stay out of your
medicine chest: Part II. Another relapse trap in the medicine chest
is sleep aids. With the time change and extra holiday-season stress,
sleep is a casualty of the calendar. Alcohol is a depressant. Sleep
aids are depressants. The brain doesn't make such an exact
distinction between the two and, historically, drinkers have used
alcohol as a sleep aid – or excused their drinking by saying it
helps them sleep. It isn't just the prescription sleep aid like
Roseanne's favorite, Ambien. It's also the OTC one, and especially concoctions like
Motrin PM or Tylenol PM.
3) Find sober
celebrations. Not as rare as you might think. If you're timid, take
someone along with you who might be even newer to sobriety. If there
aren't celebrations, it could be time for a diversion like a museum
or pick a dry theater and watch The Last Jedi. All the older kids are
doing it.
4) Bail out. There
is nothing wrong with the word 'no.' We were all pretty creative with
excuses for our drinking. If you are even slightly apprehensive about
an event, put the same creativity to use for why you can't go. And if
you're busted telling a little white one… isn't it better than
possibly challenging your sobriety? Real friends understand.
5) If you can't
bail, bring candy. Seriously. Satisfying an oral fixation can make a
difference. The taste on your palate will make alcohol flavorings
less inviting, too. If you've ever had a beer on top of a candy cane,
you know.
6) Never stay late
if you do go. Our reputations as the last soldiers standing – gone.
Be the first leaving. Everyone has seen a dreaded morning after, or
the photos of the night before, and uttered the words, 'I shoulda
left way earlier.' The more tired you get, the weaker your defenses
become. My grandmother's rule was that nothing good ever happens
after 10 p.m. anyway.
7) Go help another
alcoholic who might be struggling. The twelve-steppers founded their
fellowship on this simple act. Even if you're not a twelve-stepper or
vow to never become one, give this a try. It works. There's a flawed
thinking that the holidays are an inappropriate time to challenge
someone who's challenged by drugs including alcohol. It may be the
best gift you ever give the person with the disease of addiction –
and the family around him or her. Inside every sick person sick with
this disease is a trembling, sorry, sad person dying to feel well
again. Invite him or her out onto the path to recovery. In the case
of the disease of alcoholism, there's no worse time than waiting for
tomorrow or the New Year. You wouldn't imagine postponing treatment
for a chronic, fatal, progressive disease like cancer. Why postpone
it for a chronic, fatal, progressive disease like alcoholism? If the
worry is that it wouldn't be the holiday without that person near,
what have the past few holidays told you about that… and what if
there isn't a next holiday?
8) Breathe. The
holidays are loaded with financial stress, family stress, traffic
stress, cold-and-flu stress, and end-of-the-year work stress in
addition to the normal, everyday stress of life. Alcoholics and
non-alcoholics alike drink to relieve stress. There isn't a single
stressor that is cured by drinking: There isn't one that got worse
because you chose to just breathe rather than drinking it off the
calendar.
9) Be brutally
honest with yourself. The biggest charge in the holiday minefield is
in the eight-inch gap between your left ear and your right. Nearly
every relapse comes in the collision between reality and the five
words, 'It won't happen to me.' Here's the very alcoholic reason why
I still have Ibuprofen PM in my own nightstand: Because it won't
happen to me, the second warning above is only for those other guys,
right? Right.
By the way, these
nine aren't just for the end of the year and the start of the new
one. They work anytime.
– Scott Stevens is
the author of five award-winning alcohol and health books, The
A-Files: Alcohol A-Z DVD series, Alcohologist.com, and the Alcohology
app for Android. He is a founding influencer of the world's largest
medical portal HealthTap. Image by Marina Gloria Gallud Carbonell used with permission.
