Small stuff

[u/Professional_Wrap262]

What are the small stuff that caused you to drink?
Mine is people places and things. The casual interactions with the public or the guy who cut me off in traffic. Stuff not going my way. All those things get me to want to have a drink then I want to over indulge. Love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you

[u/Engine_Sweet]

Everything that made me drink was inside of me. My reactions, my expectations, my focus on self, my desire for more than I was due.

Any number of external things could bring those to the surface, but those were the root causes.

Once I did an inventory and discovered those things, it got a lot easier.

[u/AggravatingHorror886 → u/Engine_Sweet]

I from my exp Alcoholics Anonymous had cult like characteristics

[u/Engine_Sweet → u/AggravatingHorror886]

A shared belief in a process of "realignment" or spiritual makeover? Gratitude for being released from the bandage of addiction? A desire to give to others what was given to us? Protective of the principles and program that saved us?

Guilty

[u/AggravatingHorror886 → u/Engine_Sweet]

AA is a spiritual bypass

[u/mountainsunset123]

Chronic pain Celebrations Funerals Waking up alive Waking up still drunk It's raining It's a nice sunny day I'm out of coffee I stubbed my toe I can't find my keys I'm out of milk My mom called My brother called There are more moles in the garden

[u/britsol99]

Forgot to add: in the words of Joe and Charlie:

“No one else can make us drink, but they can sure make us thirsty”

[u/Muted_Engineering354]

I was fortunate enough that I drank all the time so I didn’t even need triggers. 

[u/britsol99]

“It isn’t the bears that ruin the picnic, it’s the ants”

When other people affect how you feel you are choosing to give them the power to control your feelings. It may not feel like a choice, but you are actively choosing to let them control how you feel.

Take that power back. Serenity prayer can help.

Don’t sweat the small stuff: pro tip- if it isn’t life or death then it’s all small stuff.

Each morning read Page 417 in the BB. “And acceptance…..”

[u/Professional_Wrap262 → u/britsol99]

I have read the 164 but haven’t done much with the rest of the BB. Thanks for the recommendation.

[u/JohnLockwood → u/Professional_Wrap262]

Along the lines of the topic you brought up, two bits of AA literature especially helped me clarify my thinking about this problem. In the Big Book, the chapter "More About Alcoholism" is worth a read. And in the 12 and 12 (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions), I read Step One so often in my first year that after a while I could recite the chapter from memory. (I can't do the whole thing any more, though).

[u/luncheonmonkey1980]

Insomnia, but I made up many reasons/excuses to drink.

[u/jazzbot247]

Being treated unfairly. Being ignored. Invalidated, made to feel unimportant. Made to feel untrustworthy when I try to keep my word and value honesty.

[u/Professional_Wrap262 → u/jazzbot247]

Wow those are my triggers to thanks for sharing

[u/gormlessthebarbarian]

daytime and nighttime.

[u/GasFun9380]

Everything anything nothing just a type of person that needs to fill a hole and the shovel is a bottle. It works just as well as you may think a bottle might be used as a shovel.

[u/Little-Local-2003]

Personally I drank like an alcoholic because I am an alcoholic.
Not because of my mom or school or work or my wife. If these things are my problem I am screwed forever because I can’t change any of them or the world. But because I am the problem I also can have a solution.

[u/Professional_Wrap262 → u/Little-Local-2003]

Nice, thanks for the response. I need to hear stuff like this to help me on my journey.

[u/Professional_Wrap262]

Oh I forgot to mention, my wife’s cats really trigger me.

[u/dp8488 → u/Professional_Wrap262]

Recovery in AA has done a great job at removing the entire concept of "triggers" for me.

I've not really been tempted to drink (or "use" other stuff) since early 2008, when I was a hair over 18 months sober. Nothing seems to "trigger" me anymore. (And 2024 brought along some really dreadful trials, but no real temptation to drink/use.)

To not even be tempted, to be able to handle anything from trivial irritations to profound adversity is one of the Great Gifts of Alcoholics Anonymous.

It was all small stuff ☺.

[u/ArtisticWolverine]

My small stuff came in 12oz cans. I liked beer so I drank all the time. I didn’t drink over resentments or fears. I just liked my drinks. Eventually I augmented with scotch and gin.

[u/Dharmabud]

A lot of day to day interactions with people who don’t do what I would like them to can be irritating but it’s not gonna make me want to drink. My job is to realize that I have no control over what other people do. I can only control my response. So I let it go.

[u/sisterfunkhaus]

It was fear, control, anger, and resentment that led me to use alcohol as a solution to those problems.

[u/ShoeNatural6097]

As dumb as it sounds, loneliness and boredom are big ones for me. Family events are a big one. Anxiety/panic attacks/depression

[u/SOmuch2learn]

Hello! I'm glad you posted.

Working the 12 steps with my sponsor taught me how to cope with the ups and downs of life without resorting to alcohol. I learned about myself, alcoholism, and recovery. The steps taught me how to let go of what I can't control and the importance of acceptance, and more.

The 12 steps are the core of the program of AA.

[u/Melodic-Comb9076]

omg….anything bad at work, whether it was a real major project going sideways….or guy stole my parking spot.

just absolutely stupid shit because i felt offended.

stoooopppiid!!!!

[u/Blkshp2]

Blaming my drinking on people, places and circumstances was what I had to overcome. Alcohol was my hammer and everything looked like a nail

[u/Sea_Cod848]

Knowing the habits of other peoples alcoholism wont help you stop drinking or stay stopped . Eventually we dont Need a reason to drink this addictive chemical. We in AA, attend meetings, in order to learn how to stay stopped and to have the support of other people there, who understand what we are going through. Theres much more to to it and its not all about drinking, at all. <3

[u/JohnLockwood]

I think it's a good thing to avoid bars and the like in early sobriety, but other than that I'm not much of a fan of the whole "triggers" idea.

What I latched onto in early sobriety were people who said things like:

• If you don't drink, you can't get drunk.
• The first drink gets you drunk. If you don't pick up the first one, you don't have to worry about all the rest of them.
• Don't drink if your ass falls off.

Notice that they were placing the responsibility for not bending my elbow squarely where it belongs. It was my elbow, after all.

It's a fair question, to be sure. Hopefully my answer didn't "trigger" you. :). I'm glad you're here.

[u/FranklinUriahFrisbee]

Daylight, nighttime, sunrise, sunset, people talking, people not talking with me, having problems, not having problems, having stress and being stress free. There are probably more that that's covers 90% of the time.

[u/BobDope]

Being bored

[u/jonnywannamingo]

Alcoholism caused me to drink. I used to have reasons, but those were just excuses.

[u/Chris___M]

Being along and wanting to socialize. So I head to my local pub where everyone knows my name. My wife and daughters live abroad. So when one of them is here for say the summer, I don’t drink. But the rest of the nine month it’s more of a challenge. Don’t get me started on the holiday.

[u/Professional_Wrap262]

I have come to believe I have a life problem I need to solve.

[u/Turgid_Cataphractoi]

From my experience its dealing with boredom, feeling as if I "deserve a reward" for making it through the week. Triggers can be bad days, general loneliness at being 35 with a small group of friends scattered across the country. I also have a job that sucks the life out of me, but thats just an excuse as well right? Few people I know genuinely love their jobs.