History Main / GoingColdTurkey

* Note for the harder drugs this is not only a bad idea but could be a lethal one. Heroin Addicts that want to quit, normally have to be addicted to something else (like Methadone) then something else then they can quit. Opioid withdrawal could be considerd AFateWorseThenDeath.

--> '''JohnLennon''', "Cold Turkey"

** In Fallout3 addiction can only be cured by a doctor or you home chemistry set.

* This is heavinly averted in the film version of [[{{Rent}}]]. Although Mimi's attempt to quit cold turkey is treated in only one song, it's shown as a difficult and painful process. [[spoiler: She also fails, and goes back to her dealer at the end of the song.]]

While quitting some drugs (primarily alcohol and opiates) cold turkey can become medical issues due to physical withdrawl symptoms, for others (nicotine, cocaine, etc.) this trope becomes TruthInTelevision.

* In ''[[{{Scarface}} Scarface: The World Is Yours]], Tony has apparently dropped his cocaine habit according to a brief piece of dialogue:

In RealLife, breaking free of a drug addiction is a lengthy process--it takes months and requires medical supervision. Going cold turkey in real life can be dangerous. In fiction, however, people routinely overcome their substance habit by going through [[NailedToTheWagon a single self-imposed (and often painful) withdrawal phase]], after which they are no longer addicted. Frequently involves locking oneself up in a room or chaining oneself to a bed.

* Originally, GreenArrow's sidekick Speedy kicked his heroin addiction after a couple of days of going cold turkey under Black Canary's supervision. Later stories have added in hospital time and detox programs.

* {{House}} does this twice. The first time he stops taking his beloved Vicodin, he has rather strong withdrawal symptoms and ultimately [[spoiler: admits to himself that he is an addict, but decides to keep it that way because he doesn't see it as a problem.]] The second time he doesn't have any symptoms whatsoever, but in the next episode it turns out [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream that it was a hallucination and that he was on Vicodin the whole time]]]]

* {{House}} does this twice. The first time he stops taking his beloved Vicodin, he has rather strong withdrawal symptoms and ultimately [[spoiler: admits to himself that he is an addict, but decides to keep it that way because the pills make him be a better doctor.]] The second time he doesn't have any symptoms whatsoever, but in the next episode it turns out [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream that it was a hallucination and that he was on Vicodin the whole time]]]]

In RealLife, breaking free of a drug addiction is a lengthy process--it takes months and requires medical supervision. Going cold turkey in real life can be dangerous. In fiction, however, people routinely overcome their substance habit by going through a single self-imposed (and often painful) withdrawal phase, after which they are no longer addicted. Frequently involves locking oneself up in a room or chaining oneself to a bed.

* Batman overcame an addiction to venom by locking himself in the Batcave for a month.

* This is what ''StarskyAndHutch'' do after a criminal forcibly hooks Hutch on heroin in the episode "The Fix".
* When Daniel Jackson becomes addicted to the sarcophagus in the ''StargateSG1'' episode "Need," he goes through a painful and nearly fatal withdrawal when he's prevented from using it again. In a variation, his detox stage isn't one that he enters voluntarily, and he's strapped to an infirmary bed until the worst of the symptoms are over. Or at least that was the plan; he gets loose and injures multiple people before Jack talks him into rejecting the sarcophagus. After this episode, sarcophagus addiction never comes up again except for a brief mention in season six and seven. No one from the SGC ever uses a sarcophagus again either, except for when Ba'al uses one to torture Jack.

* HeavyRain: One of the protagonists is addicted to [[FantasticDrug Triptocaine]]. You can choose to either quit cold turkey or support his habit. Going without it is an incredibly painful proccess for him (even though it manages to span only four days). [[spoiler:As it turns out, quitting the drug makes him even more unstable. Way to go.]]

* This is what StarskyAndHutch do after a criminal forcibly hooks Hutch on heroin in the episode "The Fix".
* When Daniel Jackson becomes addicted to the sarcophagus in the StargateSG1 episode "Need," he goes through a painful and nearly fatal withdrawal when he's prevented from using it again. In a variation, his detox stage isn't one that he enters voluntarily, and he's strapped to an infirmary bed until the worst of the symptoms are over. Or at least that was the plan; he gets loose and injures multiple people before Jack talks him into rejecting the sarcophagus. After this episode, sarcophagus addiction never comes up again except for a brief mention in season six and seven. No one from the SGC ever uses a sarcophagus again either, except for when Ba'al uses one to torture Jack.

* Eddie Dean in The Drawing of the Three (the second book in StephenKing's TheDarkTower series) involuntarily kicks heroin cold turkey after being drawn into Roland's world (which is a very painful process for him, and once drives him close to suicide). Admirably, he does not pick it up again after gaining access to Earth, and by extension, the drug.

* Eddie Dean in The Drawing of the Three (the second book in StephenKing's TheDarkTower series) involuntarily kicks heroin cold turkey after being drawn into Roland's world. Admirably, he does not pick it up again after gaining access to Earth, and by extension, the drug.