If don’t have much of an appetite, you may want to take a multivitamin or drink a beverage high in electrolytes, such as a sports drink. If you take prescription medication, continue to take it as directed. Talk to your doctor or a drug treatment specialist about what to expect as you experience alcohol withdrawal.
Which crisp is the healthiest? The answer will surprise you
If you’re considering giving up alcohol, but aren’t sure how to stop drinking, you are far from alone. The truth is no two people’s reasons to quit drinking—or their journeys to quitting—are going to be the same. Factors that influence what your experience will likely include how much you drink and your overall physical and emotional health. If you’re looking for the best programs to quit drinking, the method you choose will depend largely on your personal circumstances and the health benefits you seek. Options include self-help programs, online therapy, medication-assisted treatments, in-person therapy, counseling organizations, and support groups.
Listen to your body
The urge to drink will inevitably come—so make a plan for it. Remind yourself of why you want to cut back, talk to a friend about it and distract yourself with a hobby or exercise, the NIAAA suggests. If you turn to alcohol to ease anxiety, try exercise as a healthy alternative.
- I tried to replace it with water, but it was too easy to drink quickly and lacked flavor.
- By avoiding alcohol, you’re taking a big step toward improving physical health.
- Women for Sobriety is a nonprofit organization founded in 1975 to help women overcome substance abuse.
- You can learn to manage them by distracting yourself or using things like mindfulness or visualization.
Set goals and prepare for change
The WFS programs are based on « acceptance statements » that help women to achieve emotional and spiritual growth and engage in better thinking patterns. Members are given a list of 13 statements that they must review each morning. They are also asked to choose one statement for the day that they will focus on. Women for Sobriety is a nonprofit organization founded in 1975 to help women overcome substance abuse. WFS was founded by a sociologist who wanted to treat addiction by examining how identity loss, guilt, and depression could play a role in substance use. Consider staging a family meeting or an intervention, but don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation.
- It’s equally important not to be too hard on yourself if you slip up every once in a while.
- And some, like those who are pregnant, should not drink at all, he says.
- There’s a reason you’ve reached the decision to quit or cut back.
- Ten years ago, Donna Dierker, who lives in St. Louis, was concerned about her drinking.
In mild cases, you should be able to detox at home without the use of medication as your withdrawal symptoms should also be mild. Always seek professional advice before attempting to give up alcohol if you are alcohol-dependent. Enlisting a spouse or friend to cut back with you, or just to offer encouragement, can help. If you are trying to choose the best method for yourself, it’s important to consider your situation and what level of support you will need.
- Learn more about the health effects of drinking alcohol here.
- Try exercising, taking walks in nature, or finding a creative outlet like drawing or writing.
- Keep in mind that any supplements you take can have side effects or contribute to drug interactions, so discuss their use with a healthcare provider.
- These tips can help you get started on the road to recovery.
- And consider joining a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
- You’ll have to adjust your diet and monitor food labels; a dietitian can help with this.
If you’re simply looking to speak to someone on the phone or chat online for more advice on your own or someone else’s drinking, get in touch with Drinkchat or Drinkline. Whatever your reason, the good news is that anyone can stop drinking. And if you’re thinking about removing alcohol from your life, you’re not alone. To pull this off, she learned tools and techniques to help her keep it in check. For instance, her old routine was to drink one drink after another, back to back — what’s known as chain drinking.
There is a comprehensive legal, educational, and commercial empire that prefers if you keep drinking. Drinkers get into more expensive legal trouble, they spend more money at restaurants, and schools are often attended based on their reputation as a party school alone. The site also delivers a list of sobering tips to quit drinking statistics about the reality of alcoholism. These statistics remind you that you’re often one bad decision away from completely ruining your life. The irony of this approach is that I often tried to drink away this fear to socialize more easily, and I arrogantly (and wrongly) believed that I was in control.
