A few years ago, I'd often have big nights out with my friends. We would pre-drink at one of our apartments and get hammered. Playing drinking games for a few hours, we'd drink and drink and drink.
We would then embark on a night out where we would go to some clubs. The best part was always being with my friends and playing games. Often our times together were so funny I'd end up in tears laughing at something or another. They were good times, but I do admit those nights out often led to me experiencing very intense urges. I would experience the urges either on the night out itself, wanting to get with some girl in a club or something or I would experience it the next morning during my hangover. Usually it would be both. No matter how much I resisted the possibility of it, I almost always ended up back at porn.
Ending up relapsing felt awful. I felt incredibly frustrated at myself and then I'd start to question if I should continue to drink alcohol with my friends or not.
I'd spiral into a state of uncertainty and self-doubt.
Since I learned the Beyond Compulsion™ method, things have changed significantly.
Choosing to abstain due to the inability to deal with urges
There is something to be said for choosing to abstain from alcohol when attempting to overcome porn addiction. But the intention behind the choice is more important than the choice itself. For example, I first started to abstain from alcohol before I'd learned about how the addicted part of the mind (APOTM) works and how to deal with my compulsive desires.
I chose to abstain because I didn't trust myself to deal with urges.
My intention behind abstaining from alcohol was built on a foundation of utter helplessness. And as such, it would never have resulted in me experiencing the level of freedom and self-control I was searching for.
Plus, I always ended up relapsing eventually anyway. You can't run from triggers, they exist until you deal with them directly.
Learning to deal with any urge
Nowadays I don't worry about any kind of urge. Whether it were to come about from drinking alcohol or anything else, I'd know exactly how to deal with it.
This is why learning how to deal with urges directly is the best approach to overcoming porn addiction.
This enables people to have the real peace of mind and trust to always make choices for themselves which they can be proud of. And they can do so without ever worrying about what would happen if they did X, Y or Z.
The APOTM tries to justify and explain away the relapse. Drinking alcohol is one of the many explanations people use to justify why they have chosen to watch porn. It is a junkie thought.
It is not alcohol that is causing you to relapse. It is the inability to deal with urges which is. And the inability to deal with urges only exists right now because no one has taught you how to very specifically deal with compulsive desire. So, of course you are going to be unable to deal with urges at this point in time.
Once you understand the APOTM and you have a very specific, unchangeable method for dealing with every single urge - you'll be free to do whatever you wish without every worrying about relapsing. This is how I live my life now. This is the level of freedom and self-control I was searching for. PS - Choosing to abstain from alcohol to make withdrawal even easier can be a wise, strategic decision. But, only if this choice is made out of a commitment to the rewiring process, rather than out of a fear of experiencing urges.