Alcoholism

When a woman feels bad, she often eats her problem away. A man, just as unconsciously, drinks it away. Alcohol isn’t the cause — it’s a way to numb what hurts inside.

Painhunting doesn’t fight the craving. We find and remove what a person is numbing with it. As long as the problem is there, so is the craving. Remove the problem — and the urge to drink disappears on its own.

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Feels the pull to drink to 'take the edge off', relax, switch off
After coding, bans or 'willpower', sooner or later relapses
Sober, returns to the same unresolved problems — and drinks again
Almost no joy left in life: hobbies, connection, a loved craft are gone
Drinks when feeling pressure, control, a lack of freedom

Behind the glass there’s almost always one of three things — and that’s exactly what we look for in a session.

Excessive stress. For many, alcohol is a way to “release the tension”. So we look for where life holds unbearable stress: an unsolvable problem, overwhelming effort, a situation with no way out.

A lack of pleasure. Alcohol gives quick pleasure. If a person reaches for it, sober life has run out of joy: hobbies, connection, support, a loved craft are gone. When life fills with pleasant emotions again, the compulsion loses its point.

A lack of freedom — the most common and the hardest. Excessive control, suppression, interference from parents or a partner push a person into inner oppression. Alcohol and drugs give an illusion of freedom, lightness and self-confidence.

Often what’s being “drunk away” isn’t some cosmic tragedy, but a very ordinary problem that presses down day after day.

How does Painhunting help solve this?

We don't fight the craving — we remove the cause a person is numbing

Step 1: Conscious analysis

We find what exactly a person is numbing with alcohol: which stress, which lack, which loss of freedom.

Step 2: Finding the root incident

We go to the specific event where it all began — the one that still hurts and needs 'pain relief'.

Step 3: Removing the pain

We live through that event to the end, so it no longer pulls back toward the bottle.

Why does it keep repeating?

Coding and “willpower” hold only as long as the tension holds. A ban doesn’t remove the cause — it compresses it. Sooner or later the cause wins, and the person relapses, often even harder.

There’s a second thing too. If today a person drank because of one specific problem, tomorrow a completely different one may appear — and the craving could return on a new trigger. That’s why we don’t just remove the current pain, but gradually strengthen the personality, so a person can handle life’s future blows on their own — and drinks less and less, until it’s gone.

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What changes after the work

When the numbed pain is gone, people are often surprised themselves: “I don’t feel like drinking anymore.” Interest in life returns, along with energy and clarity, and the relationships that drinking was destroying begin to heal.

Honest about results. This is 50/50 work. Half depends on us, half on the person and their readiness to take responsibility. Some, once they realised their share of responsibility, quit in a single session and for good. Others didn’t want to change anything in themselves and went through 5–10 sessions with no result.

From practice. A woman had been drinking for 17 years. In a session we reached the fact that as a teenager she had lost her parents — and she had been numbing that pain with alcohol for all those years. After working through that single event, the craving was gone the same day.

Important about safety. Painhunting works with the psychological cause of the craving. But with a formed physical dependence (stage 2–3), quitting abruptly is dangerous — severe withdrawal, seizures and delirium are possible. In that case you first need a narcologist and medical supervision, and only alongside it — work with the cause.

Deep dive into the psychology behind this pattern and understand the mechanics of how it shows up.