Many people struggle with alcohol addiction. Unfortunately, most of these people do not even realize that they have an addiction. Alcohol addiction can deteriorate your health, break family ties and relationships and even render you bankrupt. It is not always easy to stop drinking alcohol once you become an addict, but there are measures you can take to help you stop. When followed religiously and with the required discipline, then you can transform your life into an alcohol-free and healthy life.
Make the Conscious Decision First
Quitting alcohol does not just happen in an instant. You have to take time and evaluate your life in relation to how this alcohol is affecting you. Once you have established that alcohol has negative consequences as often will be the case, you can then lay down a plan on how to go through the process of quitting. The very first step on this journey is making a conscious decision to quit.
Set Goals and Be Prepared to Accept the Consequences
Once you have made this conscious decision, the journey now begins. Set some milestones, so that you can strategize on how to achieve them. You can, for instance, begin by reducing the stock of alcohol in the house. The less access you have to alcohol, the less likely you will have to drink. You can also reduce the days you usually visit your local bar. Continue setting milestones and working towards meeting your main objective. With time you will realize that you have significantly reduced your alcohol consumption.
Start Slowly
Heavy drinkers might experience severe withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking suddenly. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms include headaches, lack of appetite, nausea, sweating, fever, and others. These symptoms are as a result of the shock the body gets into when you deprive it of something it was used to. Instead of just stopping, try reducing your intake slowly, and visit a doctor anytime you experience these symptoms. The doctor can recommend some medications to help you overcome some of these symptoms as you progress with the quitting process.
Set a Reward System
When on this journey, avoid going too hard on yourself, otherwise you might give up. When you reduce your alcohol intake, you will realize that you have some extra cash that you did not have while drinking. You can start a reward system where you buy yourself something you like after a set period of time without alcohol. You can start with short periods like a week, then progress to two weeks, and soon enough you find yourself going through a whole month without touching alcohol. These rewards will motivate you to keep going through the process until you finally quit all together.
Join a Support Group
There are various support groups of former alcoholics that you can join to help you stop alcohol. Individuals in such groups motivate and encourage each other by sharing their experiences. You do not have to meet physically since you can interact online with modern technology, but it is always more advantageous to have one you can meet physically at least once in a while.
