My Recovery Primer

Want to control your drinking but not ready for AA? Read on...

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I’ve been blown away by the daily messages I am still getting about my book, Sort Your Head Out. When I started spewing out all the stuff that had helped me get sober, saner and happier I always thought it might be entertaining for others to read but perhaps underestimated how useful people would find it.

One of the most common themes of these messages is how people get stuck in ‘booze purgatory.’ For years, I sensed that my relationship with alcohol was problematic but I didn’t feel ready to do anything about it. I had a picture of an alcoholic in my mind that was pretty extreme. Alcoholics were people who had ruined everything worthwhile in their lives. They were broken, derelict, pathetic. I didn’t feel as if I was any of those things. But I did know that I couldn’t quite control my drinking habits and they seemed to be getting worse all the time. I fantasised about a life free from the need to drink. I wondered all the time if I would be happier without alcohol.

But I just wasn’t ready to admit I had a problem. I didn’t have the strength to cut down and become one of those irritating ‘moderate drinkers.’ And the idea of going to AA just weirded me out. Sitting in a circle with a bunch of wrecks talking about God? No thanks.

Now, I was wrong about AA. I have attended many meetings that were funny, interesting, convivial, helpful and devoid of all God chat. I’d recommend them to anyone who is struggling.

That said, I know that it’s not for everyone. Neither is therapy. Some people don’t even want to discuss their drinking habits with their closest friends or relatives. It’s easy to end up feeling lost, alone and a bit scared when you are in booze purgatory.

So over the next few weeks, I am going to be writing down my experience of getting sober, staying sober and creating a more pleasurable life for myself. I will tell you how I did it and hopefully give you some ideas of how you might take action to control your drinking and change your life for the better.

I’m not an addiction expert or a therapist: I’m just a bloke who was stuck in the drinking grey area for many years before he finally managed to escape it.

Someone got in touch on Instagram the other day and suggested that my book could be called a ‘primer’ for recovery. I really liked that idea. If you’re not ready for AA, therapy or any big dramatic changes but would like to know how to start taking steps towards getting sober, then perhaps this series of articles might help.

Subscribe to The Reset Extra for more on this. And sign up to Substack Notes where I will be discussing it further in the coming weeks.

Cheers, be lucky, Sam.

---

Some services, links and phone numbers to help you through the tough times

https://www.samaritans.org/ Tel 116 123

https://www.thecalmzone.net

@YoungMindsUK 0800 018 2138

@CharitySane 0300 304 7000

https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/

https://cocaineanonymous.org.uk/

https://andysmanclub.co.uk/

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/gambling-addiction/