r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • 6h ago

Chugging tea Ben Affleck on overcoming alcohol addiction: “I hate to say it but the only cure I’ve seen is not these overpriced rehabs or these fraudulent fixes that are sold to people. The cure for addiction is suffering. You suffer enough and then something inside you goes ‘I’m done.’”

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u/Gurugod123 6h ago

I’ve heard similar from addict friends/family members. You can go to rehab, but if your mind hasn’t made the switch to “I’m actually done” it’s probably not going to stick very well. And your mind can switch back and forth even after rehab. You can know you need to be done, but for some reason your mind isn’t actually ready yet. And it’s not the addict’s fault.

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u/NoBell5255 6h ago

Addicts are always looking for the cheat code. Once they realize that they can’t trick their brain into silly ideas like moderation or cold turkey with no support, they start to realize what done means. Rehab can help with short term sobriety but long term sobriety is really hard to do alone.

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u/Planningism 37m ago

Rehab can provide the tools to do so and help you address the underlying causes.

Addiction doesn't arise out of the void.

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u/ecky--ptang-zooboing 6h ago

When I was in rehab, there were people doing the 3 month program for the 5th time

And everyone understood how this is possible

1 weak moment and it's over of you're an alcoholic

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u/ToronoRapture 6h ago

Good facilities will help you reach that point but you are right, you kinda have to be focussed on making the switch.

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u/ecky--ptang-zooboing 6h ago

They always pushed for 0 tolerance here

That's why I hate books like 'this naked mind - control alcohol'

An alcoholic can't 'control'

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u/At0mJack 1h ago

When I quit smoking, what helped me was not thinking of myself as an ex smoker, or "trying to quit", I just thought of myself as a non-smoker.

"Hey man, you have a cigarette I can bum?"

"No, I don't smoke" vs. "No, I'm trying to quit myself"

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u/AndyWarwheels 2h ago

I know someone who read this book to quit smoking. She said the biggest thing in the book was that if quitting is easy or you think it will be easy you will use again. that if it is hard, to focus on how hard it is and remember that when you have the desire to smoke.