How to Quit Drinking Alcohol
If you’re wondering “how to quit drinking alcohol” you’re in the right place. The first step in any type of recovery is to find information so you can take the appropriate and effective actions to get the results you want. I too struggled with both drinking too often and drinking too much once I started. I had to lose so much I was beaten down to a point I had to surrender. For everyone it’s different. Some people can quit drinking after their first negative consequence on their own. Other people will lose their freedom and sanity before considering quitting alcohol. Regardless of where you’re at currently, a problem is a problem. If you’re saying, “at least I’m not as bad as that guy,” you’re minimizing a behavior that negatively impacts your life. Because you minimize you’re likely to continue drinking and alcohol will slowly deteriorate your life until you wake up.
Avoiding The First Drink
The key to success in staying sober is avoiding the first drink by taking sobriety one day at a time. Whenever I consumed alcohol I lost all control over my drinking. It was almost like an allergy of the brain, an itch to do more and it was never enough. What I learned is as long as I didn’t take that first drink my life would be a lot more manageable. A key tip in how to quit drinking alcohol is to recognize that once you drink you lose control over how much or how often you’ll continue consuming alcohol.
One day at a time
Getting sober is difficult. But what makes it more difficult is when you live in the future which induces anxiety. In early sobriety, I’d get overwhelmed at the idea of never drinking again. What helped me was telling myself, “I can drink tomorrow,” any time I had a craving. It was like a self defeating prophecy, I felt like I was chasing the carrot on a treadmill, but it worked. Don’t ask yourself, “can I stay sober the rest of my life,” ask yourself, “can I stay sober today?” It doesn’t hurt to take it one hour, minute, or second at a time either.
Don’t say “I’ll quit tomorrow”
The one day at time principle can also apply to our alcoholism. A lot of us said we will get sober tomorrow, next week, month, etc. with little to no success. It’s a false affirmation we give ourselves to feel better about drinking. Even if you know you’re drinking later that night, start affirming “I’m getting sober now.” Don’t soften your drinking, make it hard for you to drink.
Building a support network
If you can do this alone, that’s great. But if you tried to figure out how to quit drinking alcohol on your own and failed, you may need to build a support network. With the internet this is possible. There are plenty of online groups on social media and message boards that you can get involved in. You can also find local groups through alcoholics anonymous which are free and a great resource for having support on your journey of sobriety. There are a lot of people there that know how to get sober and will share their experience with you on a more personal level. Keep in mind, every A.A. meeting is different. Just because you don’t like one doesn’t mean you should give up. Keep shopping around for different meetings/times until you find the group of people that you like. Also, you don’t need to believe in God to be in A.A. or quit drinking.
I hope this article helped provide some tips on how to quit drinking alcohol. The biggest thing is are you willing to take action. If you really want to be sober and are willing to do whatever it takes, there are plenty of resources at your disposal.
Philip Markoff (Associate of Science) is an online influencer and thought leader on addiction education; he is known as his alias “CG Kid” who’s obtained a large audience primarily on YouTube as a vlogger and journalist. His current sobriety date from polysubstance chemical dependency is June 9th, 2013.