A Simple Path from Alcohol Misery to Alcohol Mastery PDF EBook Seb Grant Quit Alcohol Formula | Page 15

How to identify cues
Gather some information about your drinking
habits. If you have already stopped drinking,
think back to when you were drinking alcohol
on a regular basis. What were the cues
that triggered your drinking? The following
questions may help you identify your cues:
• WHERE did/do I drink most often?
Make a list of your usual drinking places.
It might include certain pubs, cafes and
clubs as well as your own home or those
of fellow drinkers.
• WHEN did/do I drink most often?
Is there a pattern in the days of the week
or the time of day? By being aware of the
danger times, you can avoid temptation.
If you usually go to a bar on your way
home from work, there may be strong
cues to drink around five o’clock. Friday
or Saturday evenings may be cue times
if you have been in the habit of going
‘out on the town’ at weekends.
• WHO did/do I usually drink with?
People are cues for drinking. Meet a friend
who is teetotal, and you’re unlikely to go
to a bar for a chat. Bump into a drinking
acquaintance, and your first inclination
may be to head to the pub.
• WHAT things trigger my drinking?
Successes, celebrations and
disappointments are often marked by
drinking. Weddings, funerals, promotions,
redundancy, farewells and reunions act as
outside cues that prompt us to drink. They
generate strong feelings of joy or sadness
that make us want to drink.
Inside cues that tempt
us to drink
We’re not robots responding to cues
automatically. What we think and feel affects
our behaviour, and stirs up cues for drinking.
Some people use alcohol to increase
the ‘good’ feelings they have if they are
celebrating. At other times, they use alcohol
as an anaesthetic to numb ‘bad’ feelings of
emotional upset. The link between outside
and inside cues, and the effects they have on
behaviour, can be seen in the examples on
the next page.