How to Stop Drinking Alcohol Ways to Overcome Alcoholism

However, there are certain things you can do that may help relieve the pressure, and in some cases, also better help your loved one start their path to recovery. Change can be hard, so it helps to have concrete reminders of why the change is important to you and how you’ve decided to do it. These are challenging to avoid and work through because they may appear randomly. Avoiding temptations requires being aware of external and internal triggers. Quitting alcohol and abstaining for several months to a year gives your brain a chance to try to recover. For example, research shows that people will see their stress levels, relationships, work performance, and self-confidence get better when they get sober.

• If withdrawal is so uncomfortable that you’re turning to drugs for comfort, you should contact your doctor or a rehab center to discuss medically supervised withdrawal.
• SMART support group meetings are available worldwide and focus on self-empowerment and making healthy lifestyle changes.
• American Addiction Centers recommend no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men, so keep that in mind as you’re setting a goal to cut back.
• If you feel physical cravings or withdrawal symptoms
  when you quit drinking, you shouldn’t try to stop cold turkey.
• Use the NIAAA’s drink size calculator to determine the amount of alcohol in various drinks.

This means that if you suddenly stop drinking, you may experience symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. The entire treatment model is based on evidence-based addiction treatment and the delivery of high-quality care. Depending on what your alcohol habit was like, you may experience fewer or more withdrawal symptoms as you cut back.

Health Risks of Alcohol Use

Professional treatment for an alcohol use disorder can involve outpatient therapy,  residential treatment, or inpatient hospitalization. The level of care you need often depends on the severity of your condition. Quitting early not only improves your chances of success—it can how to stop drinking at home also reduce the need for higher levels of care. Another essential element of your plan to quit drinking is to identify the barriers or obstacles that might make achieving your goals more difficult. The experience of withdrawing from alcohol can be uncomfortable and difficult.

If you don’t have people currently in your life who can help you quit drinking, you’re still not in this alone. There are people willing and waiting to support you, guide you and love you through the ups and downs of ending unhealthy drinking patterns. There may be many reasons why a person plans to stop drinking alcohol.

Residential treatment programs

You may want to speak with a loved one or therapist about a strategy to prevent relapses from happening. Eating nutritious food, exercising, and getting enough sleep can help reduce some withdrawal symptoms, such as mood swings. 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.

Knowing you could experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms may feel daunting, or even deter you from trying. Remember that the worst of the symptoms typically wear off after 72 hours. In some people, symptoms may continue for a few weeks after their last drink, but they will lessen over time. For people who experience mild alcohol withdrawal symptoms, there are safe ways to detox at home. People who experience tremors, shakes or confusion when they quit drinking should consider medically supervised detox. You should talk to a doctor about the safest way to detox if you experience any withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking.

Remove alcohol from your house.

Its comprehensive treatment programs address not only substance use but also any other accompanying mental health disorders. In this way, The Recovery Village offers a full spectrum of care for your path to recovery. It’s important to call out that withdrawal symptoms don’t just affect people with alcohol use disorder (formerly known as alcoholism) who quit drinking. If you’re addicted to alcohol, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to recover without some form of addiction treatment. You may be able to detox at home and recover from alcoholism with the help of support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. However, medically supervised detox and professional rehab are more likely to help you maintain long-term sobriety.

Detox doesn’t treat addiction, which is a disease characterized by compulsive behaviors, such as chronic alcohol use. Perreault K, Bauman A, Johnson N, Britton A, Rangul V, Stamatakis E. Does physical activity moderate the association between alcohol drinking and all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular diseases mortality? You don’t have to leave the house to get support from other people who understand and respect what you’re trying to do. In fact, you can find it online with sites like Sunnyside, which helps you create a customized plan, Tempest, Moderation.org or Ben’s Friends for people who work in the food and beverage industry.

Alcohol impacts our sleep, relationships, weight, risk for serious chronic conditions and more. Or maybe it’s a pregnancy that made you realize it’s time to stop drinking. Or maybe you’re just looking to improve your health, wake up hangover-free and give your liver (and your heart) a break. Some previous studies have suggested that people who drink moderately are less likely to die from heart disease or other causes than people who abstain from alcohol or drink heavily. If your dependency is severe, you may need to go to a hospital or clinic to detox.

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. Food can absorb the alcohol in beverages, so eating before or even while you drink can dampen the effect and may make you want to drink less, says Crews. Emotionally, you may feel some anxiety or sadness about ending a chapter of your life and nervousness about the future. You can become conditioned to reach for a drink when your environment offers up certain cues. Whether you want to cut back on your alcohol intake or give it up all together, we’re here to help with that goal.