Addiction, Substitution and Withdrawal

Have you ever given something up? Alcohol? Chocolate? Smoking? Cookies? I have, and one of the effects I experienced was substitution. I had to find something to fill the void left by my abstinence. I was suffering from withdrawal.

What is addiction? Dictionary.com offers:

The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma

In March this year I went a whole month without drinking alcohol. This was a thirty day trial of the Steve Pavlina variety. My goal wasn’t to give up for good, but to cut down. While not a huge drinker (well, I’m not a student anymore) I realised I hadn’t gone for more than about two weeks without drinking for as long as I could remember. So I quit for a month, and then relaxed into allowing myself alcohol only at weekends. So far it’s going pretty well.

I don’t think I’m addicted to alcohol - ceasing its consumption did cause trauma but more of the “man, I could really use a beer” than the “I must have gin this instant or the world will end” variety.

I noticed one major effect though: withdrawal symptoms. It felt like something was missing. Essentially I was breaking a habit, and that’s always traumatic. So I developed coping mechanisms. One of these was substitution.

If I needed an indulgence and alcohol wasn’t available, I turned to alternatives. I ate a lot of chocolate. My cake-making skills improved considerably. I drank a lot of cocoa. Ice cream, oh ice cream.

Why was this? What was this psychological imperative to consume something, even if it was not what I wanted? In the case of serious afflictions such as heroin addiction substitutes are prescribed, but largely because going cold turkey is physically harmful. But I’ve seen plenty of new ex-smokers with a pretty major lollipop habit. I was an ex-drinker with a sugar habit.

I don’t have a list of tips on how to manage withdrawal, you can find plenty of those elsewhere. But it’s worth remembering that we mess with the complex chemical structures of our brains and our bodies at our peril. If you’re trying to give something up and find yourself making a substitution, just being aware that it’s a fine line between helping yourself and creating a new habit might help you navigate the tricky waters.

I was successful with my month off, at a small cost in increased sugar consumption. Would the substitution have continued or worn off had my alcohol abstinence been permanent? Perhaps I’ll do a longer trial to find out. Perhaps I just like wine too much…

photo credit: pulihora

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