here's how I quit both drinking and smoking in one fell swoop: I was on vacation with my family, and so couldn't smoke or drink openly, which limited my opportunities; then one night I snuck out and drank multiple gigantic beers and chain smoked and got so nauseated that I vomited seemingly the entire night. I've never had the desire to smoke again, and if I drink it's never more than a couple glasses of wine or beer to go with food.
in short, I "lucked" into some really effective aversive conditioning.
another thing: although this probably doesn't hold for alcoholics, I would caution against trying to abstain totally from any alcohol at all. alcohol in moderation is no problem whatsoever. by demonizing it, you run the risk of propping up a formidable psychological foe, which may be more debilitating than the actual drinking. it might be more empowering and healthy to embrace drinking with some regularity, say a glass of wine or beer at dinner to enhance food, or a cocktail at some upscale party. you might try inverting the struggle, and instead of trying to quit drinking, actually cultivate it into a sophisticated hobby, such as fine wine tasting, or learning mixology. granted, that might be bad advice for an alcoholic.
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