Alcoholism, Sex Addiction, Thrill Seeking Behavior

[anthony]

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me

It's all part and parcel of PTSD. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[anthony]

I'm no zen master when it comes to moderating my impulses, but I think I could do a lot better than I have been doing.

And that is the exact "can do" attitude needed. You're right on the money. There is no need to be a zen master, but you recognise that you can do better, that it is you, not your wife, so you're ahead of most already. It just takes education, application, trial and error, which all equates to time.

Educate yourself and understand why you're doing these things. Learn techniques and put them into practice to change negative aspects. Expect to fail, because to succeed you normally need some failures. Failure means your trying.

We have a Government quit smoking ad here in Australia, and its based on this exact premise. Don't give-up giving up. You will fail, but with each attempt to quit smoking you get better at it, and eventually it sticks.

The same applies with working through trauma and learning how to manage PTSD. You will fail, you will discover, eventually you succeed. Having people around you to truthfully align you at all times, whether you're progressing or not, is good to have.

 

[ghotiff]

What's helping me improve is a using a task tracking sheet

I have a list of behaviors I want to do more often, it seems to help motivate me and also keep me honest about how often I'm doing them.

Example
https://www.google.com.au/imgres?im...d=0ahUKEwjW77G5-LnKAhUCkpQKHXz1DTEQMwgcKAEwAQ