Cravings, Decoded – Part 6 of 7
Part 1: What Causes Alcohol Cravings
Part 2: The Craving Escalation Cycle
Part 3: When Mental Cravings Feel Physical
Part 4: Double-Barrel Alcohol Cravings
Part 5: Hidden Triggers That Mimic Alcohol Cravings
Part 6: How to Weaken Alcohol Cravings Over Time ← you’re here
Part 7: Practical Tools for Managing Alcohol Cravings
A craving can feel permanent while we’re in it. It can make us think this will keep happening, sobriety will always be a fight and sooner or later we’ll give in.
But cravings change. They were learnt through repetition, and they can get weaker through a different kind of repetition.
Stop giving the urge the same ending
For years, a drinking thought was often followed by alcohol. We felt stressed, pictured relief, drank and felt a quick change. Our brain connected the whole sequence and got quicker at suggesting it next time.
Every time the same cue ends without a drink, that old connection starts getting weaker. The craving might still show up, but it no longer gets the same proof that it needs to be followed.
Don’t keep rehearsing the drink
Not drinking while we picture alcohol for hours can still keep the craving going. We run the familiar first-drink scene in our head, check the time, bargain about tomorrow and keep coming back to it.
So we’re staying away from alcohol physically while still practising it in our mind. When we notice that happening, we stop adding detail. We don’t need to finish the imaginary night.
Include where drinking normally led
A craving usually shows us the first few minutes. It leaves out the rest of the bottle, broken sleep, anxiety, hiding, regret and the next day disappearing.
We can correct that by remembering the whole experience. The Disparity Rule helps us compare what alcohol seemed to give with everything it took afterwards.
This isn’t about frightening ourselves. We’re just stopping the craving from showing us an edited version.
Answer what we’re really asking for
Sometimes we want rest. Other times, we want food, connection, quiet, movement or a break from pressure.
If we only say no to alcohol and leave the real need untouched, the moment can stay difficult. So we ask what we hoped the drink would change, then deal with that as honestly as we can.
The answer won’t always feel as quick as alcohol, but it also won’t take the rest of the night and tomorrow with it.
Use more than one response
One thing won’t work for every craving. A walk might help when we’re restless. Food could help when we’ve skipped dinner. Calling someone might help when we’re isolated. Getting out of the shop can help if alcohol is right in front of us.
And if the physical side is involved, we deal with that separately. A mental technique can’t answer a body that is readjusting as alcohol wears off.
Having a few options also stops us deciding nothing works just because one thing didn’t help.
Expect the old cue to return for a while
Seeing a craving again doesn’t mean we’re back at the beginning. The brain can still bring up an old thought in a familiar situation because that route has been used for years.
What changes it is what happens next. We notice it sooner, spend less time feeding it, do something useful and carry on.
A thought that once took over an evening might eventually last a few minutes, then barely register.
Let ordinary sober experiences do the teaching
We get through Friday without drinking. We handle a difficult call. We go to an event, leave clear-headed and wake up knowing exactly what happened. Those experiences give our brain something new to remember.
The cue no longer has only one ending. And after enough different endings, alcohol can stop looking like the automatic answer.
The final article in this series gives us practical tools for the difficult moments while that change is happening.
Measure more than whether a craving appeared
If our only measure is “I never thought about alcohol,” we can miss a lot of progress. Maybe the urge arrived later, lasted less time or didn’t turn into a trip to the shop. Maybe we asked for help before the debate took over.
Those changes show the old sequence is starting to lose some of its grip. We’re aiming for alcohol to stop running the moment, and over time the thought might stop showing up so often as well.
— Brent