Dealing with Cravings 4: Play the Tape Forward

Photo Credit: @schluditsch

Hello Sobertown,

Obtaining research on alcohol, addiction and sobriety is one thing, there have been studies completed for many years into addiction and this is great however when it comes to strategies we can employ simply and by our self to deal with cravings and the effectiveness of these strategies the peer reviewed research is either difficult to obtain or non-existent as it centers on specific questions, medical or psychological interventions and less on single and specific methods. For the sake of these methods I have found the best way to understand techniques and their effectiveness to be to draw directly from the stories others tell, taking common threads from others who struggled with alcohol in the past and who have quit and so this is exactly what I have done.

When I said goodbye to alcohol I started listening to stories, some of this was verbal but for the most part this was through podcasts of which there are many, and within the podcasts detailing stories of people who have quit alcohol there are without question many common threads from the experiences in addiction and with relevance to this article there are common threads in the interviewee’s most effective methods for dealing with cravings in their lives. I started to document common threads to boost my repertoire in sticking to this life I had recently pursued and I found this very helpful and easier than I thought it would be as the same threads came up again and again. The most frequently mentioned strategy to prevent making the decision to drink was without question to “Play the Tape Forward”.

Playing the tape forward is what I believe to be the ultimate tool in regaining dominance of the conscious mind over the sub-conscious mind. Playing the tape forward for me is the best way to convert the lies the addiction pathways will tell you about drinking and how it will be ok, and you can handle it this time to the logical reality that in-fact no, this will not play out any differently to the many times before where the outcome from drinking was undesirable and led directly to the same miserable result.

What does this mean? Nothing could be simpler. When the craving loop begins and the old pathway of neural connections begin to fire in your mind leading you down the well worn path toward the thought and action of drinking we play out the drinking and where it leads us in our mind before we make the decision to drink.

Remember back to the loop

CRAVING LOOP

Sensation, Perception, Feeling, Thought and Action

Sensation, Perception, Feeling, Thought and Action

Sensation, Perception, Feeling cravings, STOP…. Thought, STOP…… Control the Action and PLAY THE TAPE FORWAD.

Sensation, Perception, Feeling STOP… STOP…

STOP! Override!!! PLAY THE TAPE FORWARD

So I need not go on Sobertown. This is what playing the tape forward looks like.

The second the sensation of a craving is initiated. FOCUS. Go within. Play the tape forward and i your mind play out the action of taking that first drink. You know where this leads. Follow the drink to the second drink, follow it further, you know this leads to another, maybe another, maybe several others, maybe it leads to other types of alcohol, maybe it leads to harder drugs? Maybe it leads to unwanted actions or behaviors. Almost certainly it leads to wasted time immediately, lost productivity and then the worst comes, the hangover, the feelings of fear and loathing, the anxiety and perhaps depression, the self deprecating self talk and the self hatred. If you are here reading this then you likely know exactly where it leads, you have seen it before and to believe this drink will lead to anything different is insanity. The frightful thing is that when you play the tape forward further you will also know the act of giving in and drinking today will not only lead to poor outcomes as soon as later this day or the next day this action will also lead to more cravings the next day, maybe the next day, maybe it even leads to months or worse of on and off bingeing, this is a common and very possible scenario.

When you play the tape forward in your mind, this is also referred to as “Following the Drink” you can override the unwanted sensation and crush the craving as your logical mind is brought back into focus and regains the ability to shut down the irrational thought patterns which lie to you in your own voice and try to convince you this is worth it, or this will be different or you can control it this time it will only be one or two. Most black out horror stories begin with the notion that we will have just “one or two” and control ourselves, guess what, alcohol has other ideas.

When the craving comes around Sobertown.

Play the Tape Forward.

Follow the Drink.

We both know where it truly leads.

Thanks Sobertown.

The Sobertown Blog articles and recordings are created as a means of assisting others in achieving and maintaining sobriety and freedom from alcohol. Experiences, entries, research and article content are that of the author and should be applied in a safe manner deemed best by the reader and applied safely, if relevant, with medical oversight. This is not medical advice and the author is not a medical doctor. No advice within is based on or crosses over with the authors profession or professional opinion as an AHPRA registered allied health practitioner or FA registered exercise professional.