Started training for boxing. Knowing there are direct painful consequences for diminishing my physical capabilities naturally made me severely cut down on drinking.
Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
241–250 of 600 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#242I turned out to be treating ADHD with alcohol, so when I started prescription medication for ADHD my interest in alcohol plummeted to zero. I was drinking to feel the buzz of reward/accomplishment.
I was wondering how far down I’d have to go to find this. Same thing with myself — treat the adhd and all of a sudden the drug issue becomes a non issue.
I had a doctor (not mine) recently ask me how I stopped, and with a straight face told her by taking my adhd meds. It wasn’t a real choice before that…
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#243I started specifying what I want.
Because booze gives 2 types of stimulation: the drinking and the alcohol.
Sometimes I want to drink some beer, but not the alcohol. So I started buying non alcoholic beers. I get a six pack into my system. I love every moment of it. But I'm not drunk.
Other times I want to get drunk. So I drink alcoholic beers.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#244Spaniard here. Social drinking is very much a thing in Spain. However, most social drinking is light or moderate: walk to a nearby bar, have two beers with the family or with close friends (with free tapas, which accounts for dinner), then walk back home. In rare occasions (at least in my personal experience) things degenerate and one goes out for "just one beer" and gets back home at 5am with a vague recollection of…
It's pretty similar in Italy as well. Social drinking, just an aperitivo and then the meal.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#245Perhaps alcoholics should be able to get a stamp in their passport/id, so they can't buy any alcohol (and make id checks mandatory for every age).
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#246I've cut back by switching to non-alcohol beer. I've found that I enjoy the taste of beer, but I don't enjoy how shitty alcohol makes me feel. NA beer tends to solve that for me. Lots of good options coming out. * Just the Hazy by Sam Adams is top tier. * Athletic brewing is solely NA beer - lots of different varieties. * Heineken 0.0 is great * O'Douls amber is surprisingly passable as well I suspect the options wil…
I can't believe how much better non-alcoholic beers are these days. In the Ireland/UK, Guinness 0.0 is almost as good as the real thing. Heineken 0.0 is great lager as well as Lucky Saint. Punk AF is an OK IPA replacement (don't like the company though).
Shipyard Low Tide Pale Ale is amazing if you haven't tried that.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree overall it's great advice. But it's also very boring. And maybe not everyone needs it, but letting go, breaking your own & other moral rules, at times can be a very benificial thing.
> it's also very boring I think SO many people overlook this very fact. Most people don't need alcohol to have a good time however it's called a "social lubricant" for a reason. Sometimes people just need a tiny push to become less self conscious or less introverted. Life is short. You can spend years trying to be healthy and perfect but you need to ask yourself whether you're happy while doing that. If the answer is…
On the other hand, there is a risk some people are using alcohol to medicate otherwise treatable conditions such as social anxiety.
That is a spectacularly shitty long term strategy, since an alcohol habit actually increases your general anxiety levels when sober. You shouldn't need to have beer to be comfortable talking to people.
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#248Have you tried medically administered Psychedelics?
Psilocybin, LSD, DMT & Mescaline ...
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#249What worked for me was Allen Carr's book Easy Way to Control Alcohol https://amzn.eu/d/89NkrKR I tried several times to stop drinking previously, the longest I managed was for about 3 months. I think the hardest part is really deciding that you want to stop drinking. Once I did that, I read the book and it was easy. I haven't had a drink in about 6 years since. What I like about this book is it doesn't make it into s…
I wanted to mention the book and then somebody else did it. It worked for me too.
I've heard about the book from this guest of Joe Rogan that described what the book did for her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZrA67ohY0I
Re: Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?
#250I’ve found having a sodastream on hand is helpful. ie having something else pleasant to drink on hand. Ideally something not sugar loaded.