I just wanted to call this article: “Bronze medal of alcohol for stress relief.” But my sober mind refused me this. Everything that happens is not accidental. There are reasons for everything, although often in people's lives they are not obvious and remain mysteries. On September 13, 1991, I parked my car at the side of the road. At 13:00, flying at great speed, another car hit him in the left rear fender so hard that the entire left side of the trunk went completely into the cabin, and a hall formed on the roof. Having flown over the curb, the front of the car hit a tree, resulting in damage to the front panel, bumper, hood, and grille. For me it was one of the most serious shocks in my life. This was the beginning of my entrepreneurial activity, and I needed the car like air. The whole next day I lay in terrible depression. But the next day the depression did not go away. The intensity of the experience has decreased. But the state of depression dragged on for months. A year and a half later, my relative, in a snowy winter on a slippery road, failed to make a turn and crashed his Zhiguli. When he told me about this, I asked him how he survived this event. - I drank a bottle of vodka and passed out. I woke up this morning without worrying about yesterday's incident. Remembering these stories, there is a desire to give alcohol a bronze medal for relieving stress. But then the gold medal will have to be given to a sledgehammer, the blow of which knocks you out on the head so that all problems with stress are solved immediately. Maybe even forever. And the silver medal goes to electric shock and strong psychotropic drugs, which calm for a long time, sometimes, also, unfortunately, forever. Alcohol turns out to be a “weakling” in comparison with such “effective” drugs, so we assign it 3rd place - bronze . Hence the desire to call this article “Bronze Medal of Alcohol for Stress Relief.” But my sober mind refused me this. Everything that happens is not accidental. There are reasons for everything, although often in people's lives they are not obvious and remain mysteries. What reasons were against awarding a bronze medal to alcohol for stress relief? Everyone knows that one of the most common motives for drinking alcohol is people’s belief that drinking alcohol can relieve stress. But is this really so? What makes you doubt this? Having helped people free themselves from alcohol addiction for more than twenty years, all my clients were always asked this question - does alcohol help you relieve stress? People answered differently - it helps some, but not others. How can you explain the different effects of alcohol on different people? Scientists have long been conducting research into the effects of alcohol on the human psyche and behavior. And they have been thinking about this inconsistency for a long time. The process of obtaining reliable knowledge on this issue initially led to the creation of the tension reduction theory (SRT), according to which alcohol has a pharmacological effect on feelings of restlessness, anxiety, and fear, which are indispensable accompaniments of stress. But since 1970, scientists in America began to conduct systematic observations of people while drinking. They found that people who drank alcohol did not feel calm, but rather that anxiety and tension increased. After sobering up the next day, people often stated the opposite. But when they were shown film footage of their drunken state, they changed their minds. In 1972 Canadian scientists have published a review of extensive research. They concluded that the TNA was not true. Later studies using blind test technology led to the final conclusion: alcohol as a pharmacological agent does not significantly reduce tension and does not relieve stress. Compared with a group of drugs that have pharmacological effects of relaxation andsedatives, for example, Valium, etc., alcohol turned out to be hopelessly ineffective. What’s the matter? Why do some people subjectively feel calm and say that alcohol relaxes them and relieves them of stress, while others, on the contrary, say that we either don’t feel this effect, or it gets even worse? Some kind of paradox?! To explain this paradox, let us turn to the cognitive model. Let me remind you of its general form: AxB = C, where in the refraction of the formula to explain the paradox of relieving stress with the help of alcohol: A - the event that caused stress (trigger, activator); B - the perception of the event that caused stress C - the action taken: I take alcohol to relieve stress .B – perception is the automatic evaluative thoughts and beliefs that give rise to these thoughts. Because. From the above it follows that the pharmacological effect of sedation from alcohol, if there is one, is very insignificant; it is easy to guess that in order to use alcohol as a sedative and relaxant, it is necessary that a person has the belief that alcohol helps cope with stress. A person must think that alcohol relieves stress and trust this thought. Hence, the following diagram arises, explaining the nature of “stress relief” by alcohol: The paradox is explained quite simply. If a person has formed the belief: Alcohol relieves stress, then he will receive a placebo effect, according to the given diagram. The reason for stress relief is not the effect of alcohol, but the persuasion of people. This is a collective belief that a person receives from society. And this is one of the most common reasons for drinking alcohol. The degree of confidence in this belief among drinkers is very high and often reaches 90-100%. But this belief does not correspond to reality, as research by scientists has shown. This example is very typical for other motives for drinking alcohol. If we take other reasons for its use, for example, such as - alcohol helps me find a common language with people, communicate better. Or, for example, drinking alcohol allows me to easily seduce women (for women, drinking alcohol allows me to increase my sexual attractiveness), then the essence remains the same. Namely: not drinking alcohol itself, but convincing people that alcohol provides some benefits, forces people to drink alcohol. What to do? Everything is obvious here, it’s all about the letter “B”, the formula in the cognitive model. In those irrational beliefs that a person received from society regarding the supposed benefits of drinking alcohol. And, therefore, it is necessary to change your irrational beliefs. And here a problem arises that prevents many people from doing this. If a person gives up alcohol as a means that helps him relieve stress, then how will he relieve it? Of course, you can go to the gym or swimming pool. Yes, and many other well-known methods of relieving stress are known to people. But the “advantage” of relieving stress with the help of alcohol is that it is an easy way that requires practically no effort. And if such a “placebo” works for a person, then why the easy way? to relieve stress, change to something else? Really, why?! Everything would be fine, it would be possible to use such a remedy if it were not a narcotic, protoplasmic mutagenic poison, the use of which will certainly have consequences. Moreover, as all the experience of mankind shows , an easy way to relieve stress with alcohol is too expensive a way to relieve stress. In other words, the easy way has dire consequences. The popular wisdom in people’s heads - “don’t look for easy ways...” is clearly confirmed here. And this does not mean that the hard way is the best solution. I would like the overcoming of difficulties to be adequate and accomplished with optimal efforts. How is that possible? Let's look at the cognitive model again: A - the event that caused stress. The event happened. Stress has appeared.What coping strategy for dealing with stress will be optimal? Anything that will relieve stress instead of drinking alcohol. The choice of this strategy is determined by a person’s resources at a given time. If you really give up, you can really take the drug we referred to above - Valium, or another suitable one. But it should be remembered that pharmacological methods of dealing with stress do not solve the problem at the level of the causes of stress. And that, by its very definition, stress is a nonspecific response of the human body to external influences. And this literally means that the human body and psyche are beyond its ability to adapt to external events. Therefore, what is needed? Mastering the techniques and skills of self-regulation allows a person to develop psycho-emotional resistance to stress factors and cope without alcohol with any life situation, not plunging yourself into deep and prolonged stress. Is it more difficult? Without a doubt. But it’s not so difficult that mastering these environmentally friendly ways of self-regulation isn’t worth pursuing. Self-regulation skills have a wide range of applications and help people not only cope with stress, but also mobilize strength at the right time, relax, fall asleep quickly, gain access to the creative part of the personality, increase awareness, and program themselves to achieve their goals. The ideal solution is Training. stress management, which allows you to change your perception of “B” so that with any event “A”, a person always has functional emotions and constructive behavior. It takes effort. But if we don’t apply them, then what is the meaning of our life? Movement is life. The problem of applying effort is probably one of the most important for any person. Whether a person develops the skills of hard work, gains the ability to achieve goals using the minimum necessary but sufficient amount of effort to achieve them, or looks for easy ways - will determine his success in all vital areas. This applies to health and psychophysiological state, personal achievements, financial abundance and harmony in relationships. And it is not at all strange that people with alcohol, drug, gaming and other types of addictions have big problems with the skills to solve their problems on their own, overcome difficulties, manage themselves, satisfy their needs, and achieve life goals. In connection with the importance of the presence of these skills, I would like to give a parable about a butterfly and a cocoon: “Once a small gap appeared in the cocoon, a person passing by by chance stood for many hours and watched as a butterfly tried to get out through this small gap. A lot of time passed, the butterfly seemed to give up its efforts, and the gap remained just as small. It seemed that the butterfly had done everything it could, and that it had no more strength for anything else. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, he took a penknife and cut the cocoon. The butterfly immediately came out. But her body was weak and feeble, her wings were transparent and barely moved. The man continued to watch, thinking that the butterfly’s wings were about to straighten and get stronger and it would fly away. Nothing happened! For the rest of its life, the butterfly dragged its weak body and its unstretched wings along the ground. She was never able to fly. And all because the person, wanting to help her, did not understand that the butterfly needs effort to exit through the narrow gap of the cocoon so that the fluid from the body passes into the wings and so that the butterfly can fly. Life made it difficult for the butterfly to leave this shell so that it could grow and develop. Sometimes it is effort that we need in life. If we were allowed to live without encountering difficulties, we would be deprived. We couldn't be as strong as we are now. We would never be able to fly." What do you think about this? Are you flying through life or crawling, continuing to drown your unmanifested essence in alcohol? So, if alcohol has become habitual for you.