Overcoming Alcohol Addiction

Over 50% of Americans drink alcohol and approximately 30% of Americans abuse alcohol. Alcoholism is a disease that has long lasting negative effects on your quality of life. Alcoholism can affect your health and loved ones around you. If you recognize that you have a drinking problem then you should seek help and not wait until it gets worse. It is already bad enough if you have become dependent. Admitting you need help isn’t easy but getting help is. Your loved ones, those who truly care about you will help you. Here are some tips for quitting and changing your mindset about drinking.

Table of Contents

Benefits vs. Consequences

Sit down and logically think about what it is about drinking that you like and what it is that you dislike about it. You should be honest with yourself and ask the hard questions. How does it affect my relationships, job, opportunities, etc… Is your drinking causing problems? What negative impact would it have on your life if you were to stop drinking? Ask a close personal friend about what it is like to be around you when you drink. Consider other people’s point of view.

Quit One Step at a Time

Quitting cold turkey anything is difficult. So, take steps towards sobriety. Your first step should be to set a date to quit. With a time frame in mind you can begin to prepare yourself physically, spiritually and mentally. Also, let someone know that you have set a date so that they can help to keep you accountable.

Change Your Ways

Once your date is set you need to plan what in your life is going to change to better help you accomplish this task. Change is a must.

First things first, you need to remove all forms of temptation from your life. That means getting rid of all alcohol from your house, abstain from the bar scene and stay away from those friends who refuse to not drink around you. If you let one of your friends know that you are trying to quit and don’t want to be around alcohol and they still drink when you are around then you should ditch those friends. They obviously don’t care much about you anyway.

You should find hobbies that you enjoy where alcohol isn’t even around. Take up a sport or begin exercising. Find positive ways to socialize and be active. Only do things you enjoy, otherwise you’ll just be thinking about how much you miss drinking. You need to associate sobriety with fun.

Don’t do it Alone

If you keep hitting a road block on your path to sobriety then I suggest talking to someone for help and advice. There are a lot of support groups out there like Alcoholics Anonymous that offer an outlet for recovering alcoholic’s to find a safe haven. Most importantly I suggest finding some sort of accountability partner. Someone who you can call when things get rough and temptation looms around the corner. It’s good to have someone to talk to when you stumble too.

Continued Support

Once you passed a few milestones and gotten past a few bumps in the road, don’t fall into the trap that many do. It is common for people to get overly confident and believe that they are beyond community support. You should always stay connected with someone that you can talk to. Life is always throwing curve balls. If you don’t have someone to talk to then you may begin to feel isolated and that you have nowhere to turn to. Those are the times when most fall out of sobriety. Don’t fall for the trap.

Always remember, sobriety is attainable, but not usually without help from loved ones and supporters. Don’t try to do it alone.

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License: Creative Commons image source
License: Creative Commons image source
Image source: SmartPhotoStock

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By Henry H. Hernandez

Henry Hernandez is a veteran from California. Henry works for a detox and outpatient rehabilitation center in Fountain Valley, CA www.stephouserecovery.com. Henry is on Google+.