[Chai.]

Hi there,

I am sorry you are having a hard time. I understand your urges to smoke and drink. I went through a similar phase and turned to alcohol and cigarettes for help. They made me feel better for a while but then it turned into an addiction. I couldn't survive without it, couldn't function but as you know, it is hard to function after alcohol as well. I wanted out, I did not want to live life an addict, so I quit. Sadly, quitting was not as easy as giving in to the urges and then it turns into a vicious cycle, one which I regret having got into.

I agree with what has been said above so I won't repeat it. I can tell you one thing, doing things to distract yourself from negative feelings will help much more than turning to alcohol or smokes. Listening to music, taking up a new hobby, watching a movie or anything else that will help take your mind off things that are bothering you. You could also take up exercising since that helps build positive thoughts and will also tire you so that you will fall asleep without thinking much about alcohol or other things.

You can quit smoking by going cold turkey, which is hard and comes with a whole load of withdrawal symptoms or you can quit slowly. If you consider quitting slowly, I suggest going one cigarette less every day until you reach zero. Personally, I quit cold turkey because I had my list of reasons for quitting. If that is what you decide to do, make a list of reasons why you want to quit and remind yourself every day. You could also do things to distract yourself from the urges of smoking like that with drinking.

One thing I did when I felt the urges were too strong for me was I'd pop a gum or hard candy in my mouth and concentrate on it. It distracted my mind and the taste of the candy actually helped the urges a lot. The truth is that a coping method that works for me might not work for you, so you will have to keep trying different methods until you find something that works.

Urges go away for a while but often come back and it is up to us to come out stronger than these urges. I have faith in you and I am sure you can beat your urges. You already took the first step by accepting this and posting this thread and I am glad you decided to come here for help. Even though life is hard, I want you to know that you have it in you to beat all of this in a healthy manner.

Stay strong. I am here if you need someone to talk to.

Kav.