How To Dump Depression And Anxiety In Early Sobriety

(Part 1)

We’ve been assisting alcoholics for over 30 years and know that every one of these tips has worked for someone. It’s so easy to fall into the depths of despair when things go wrong in your life and you end up reaching for the bottle for comfort. It’s a vicious cycle when guilt hits you the next morning and you say to yourself “never again” but of course, willpower is soluble in alcohol.

You can take the alcohol out of the fruitcake but you still have the fruitcake. Every alcoholic we’ve assisted has been suffering with depression because alcohol is a depressant. I’ve lost count of how many alcoholics tell me they take their antidepressants with alcohol. They don’t remember their doctor telling them not to mix their medication with alcohol.

Their antidepressants assist in balancing their brain chemistry to lift their depression but they forget this and take their medication by swilling the tablets down their throat with alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant – I can’t say that often enough.

They might as well throw the antidepressants down the drain and just keep on drinking. I’ve had patients argue with me that it’s OK to mix their medication with their alcohol and they are generally people with dual disorders like Bipolar or Borderline Personality Disorder.

The latter disorder is hard to deal with because suffers of this disorder often argue with their therapist. I can pick this disorder within the first ½ hour of their consultation. Bipolar 2 patients suffer with mania (not manic) and are in a constant state of irritability, anxiety and anger. Often Bipolar 1 and 2 people do not respond well to antidepressants so I refer my patients to a specialist for a correct diagnosis.

Not many general practitioners are familiar with the ramifications of giving their alcohol dependent patients antidepressants, thinking they are correct in their assessment of the alcoholic. You need to be very careful who you consult if you think you are suffering with alcohol dependency.

With time and experience, you will know which tip works best for you. Most of these tips can help with both depression and anxiety, though a few are best for anxiety. Of course, when depression, anxiety, or any other emotion gets out of hand and interferes with your daily functioning, it’s time to seek professional help. You may be on the wrong medication.

Eight out of ten patients who come to me to help them recover from alcohol dependency refuse to attend AA meetings. They think that people who attend AA meetings are the lowest form of low-life and they don’t want to be associated with them. That’s stinking thinking and you, yourself, put the stigma on people who attend AA meetings. You couldn’t be further from the truth. You’d be surprised who you meet at AA meetings. How do I know, because I go to AA and hook up with an AA meeting anywhere in the world when I’m travelling. I have not had a drink for over 33 years – you have to walk the walk to talk the talk.

“Who then can so softly bind up the wounds of another as he who has felt the same wounds himself?”   Thomas Jefferson.

That’s another reason my patients action my advice because I’ve been there and done that, even though it was a long time ago, but it seems like yesterday when I walked through the door of an AA meeting because there were no other alternatives during the early 80’s.

So, get yourself to an AA meeting and listen for the similarities, not the differences. Today is the first day of the rest of your life – Carpe Diem (seize the day.)

Get your unwanted feelings out into the open. Call a buddy in AA, talk to your partner, or someone else you trust. Talk about your feelings or your problems, specifically and honestly. Sharing the load makes it lighter. If you can’t reach anyone, watch one of the DVDs I recommend:

  • My name is Bill W (James Gardener)
  • Days of Wine & Roses (Jack Lemon)
  • 28 Days (Sandra Bullock)
  • Shattered Spirits (Martin Sheen)
  • When a Man Loves a Woman (Meg Ryan)
  • Flight (Denzel Washington)

You need to change your thinking to change your feelings (emotions) to change your behaviour (drinking booze.)

Take some Tyrosine Pure Mood Food and some L-Glutamine.

Do some mental activities in a work book recommended to all our patients: Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life by Scott Spradlin. This book is based on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and is one of the best work books for alcoholics to assist them in changing their thinking to change their feelings (emotions) to change their behaviour.

If you are co-dependent on other people for how you feel, look up on the internet for the closest meeting of Co-Dependency Anonymous. You may prefer to attend this group as they practice the same 12 Steps except they say: “Admitted I was powerless over people and my life became unmanageable.”

AA’s First Step says: “Admitted I was powerless of alcohol and my life became unmanageable.”

There are many CDs you can listen to and we particularly like the one by Sandy MacGregor called “Acceptance and Letting Go”   His web site is www.calm.com

Recommend reading are my books Help for Depression and Anxiety and Fatty Liver – You Can Reverse it Naturally.

 

We know how hard it can be to achieve long term sobriety. We can pass on to you the empirical knowledge gained over the past 33 years.

If staying sober was easy, everyone would be sober but it’s going to be one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make.

If you are having trouble sleeping at night then read my book Tired of Not Sleeping.

L-Glutamine is an amino acid and has been shown to improve brain function Tyrosine can also relieve emotional pain as we are very sensitive people.

Magnesium Ultra Potent is the great relaxer and is assists in the reduction of stress, nervous tension, anxiety and sleeplessness.

LiveTone Plus supports liver function and metabolism and supports phase 1 and phase 2 detoxification pathways, ensuring optimum detoxification of many toxic substances, including alcohol.

Vegetable juice has been successfully used to clear out fatty livers and can help with a myriad of health disorders. Raw Juices Can Save Your Life, that’s easy to follow and has recipes to help rejuvenate your liver.

 

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.