Being able to quit drinking when you know that you have a problem isn’t always easy to do. There are many people who need to use specific tools to stop drinking so that they can have the best chance of long-term success. It’s important to know that getting clean from alcohol can be very difficult to do because it’s readily available to you. The following guide walks you through a few tools you can use to get and stay sober for the long run.
Detox
The first thing you need to do is detox from the alcohol you’re addicted to. When someone is an alcoholic, there are many physical withdrawal symptoms they experience, including uncontrollable shaking, nausea, sleepiness and vomiting. You can go to a professional detox center to get help minimizing the symptoms you’ll have to experience. Also going to a detox center will to help you learn about things you can do to fight the urge to drink when it arises in the future. Having a way to get the alcohol out of your system in a safe and comfortable way will better your chances of staying sober.
Support
You need to have a good support system to be successful with overcoming alcoholism. You want to surround yourself with people who know and accept that you’re in recovery and don’t push you to do self-defeating things. There are some people who don’t realize how serious an addiction to alcohol is and may tempt you to take a shot or drink just one beer. People like this are not a good support system and should be avoided at all costs.
Surround yourself with friends and family who’re willing to go through the transformation with you. There are many people who understand and support that alcoholism is difficult to overcome and will support your alcohol-free lifestyle.
Education
Education can be the key when it comes to overcoming alcoholism. You need to educate yourself about the many ways that the alcoholism can affect your life. This way, you can avoid common triggers to drink in the future. It’s best to avoid any addictive medications if you can because once you know you have a problem with addiction, you need to be conscious of the fact that you could become addicted to something else later on. Many people make the mistake of replacing one addiction with another and don’t even realize that they’ve done so.
Avoidance
People often use the word avoidance as a negative term, but it can actually be quite positive for an alcoholic. Avoidance means taking the risk out of your life by keeping alcohol as far away from you as possible. Until you know you’re strong enough to resist any alcohol, don’t have it in your house and avoid going to places where you know there will be a lot of drinking. Alcoholics often make the mistake of thinking that they are strong enough to go to parties or clubs and avoid drinking alcohol. Then when someone buys them a drink or wants to take a shot with them, they aren’t able to resist the temptation and end up relapsing. It’s best to avoid putting yourself at any risk of relapsing by simply avoiding these types of situations all together.
Accountability
If you want to be able to stay sober, you need to have accountability for your actions. Join a support group where you can talk to other alcoholics about the issues that arise in your life. This provides you with the ability to be upfront and honest about the way that you’re feeling without fear of being ridiculed or judged. This allows you to also have accountability for your actions because the other members of the group can help you to question the decisions that you make and help you avoid risky situations.
Therapy
Many people turn to alcohol because they are suffering from emotional or psychological pain. In this case, you more than likely have an addiction to alcohol because you’re trying to numb some form of pain. Going to a therapist to talk about things that have happened in your life and how they’ve affected you can help you gain power over them and overcome your addiction. You can learn resourceful ways to deal with the pain that you feel and what things trigger you to want to drink. Once you know what your triggers are, you’ll be better equipped to avoid them in the future so that you reduce the chance of relapsing.
Confidence
One of the most important tools to stop drinking is confidence. You need to build confidence in yourself so that you can realize that you are stronger than your addiction. You need to have the confidence to be able to turn down a drink when it’s offered to you without worry that someone will judge you or no longer want to hang out with you. You can be the designated driver when you go out, which every group needs. You need to know that you’re making the right decision for your life and stand by your convictions. Everyone will know how serious you are, and many people will respect you for taking the necessary steps to better your life.
It will take time, but you can beat your alcohol addiction and stay sober. You need to take baby steps at first, but once you feel confident and secure in yourself, you should be able to live a very functional life. Once you have everything in order, you can serve as a mentor to someone else who is battling alcoholism. Helping others can be a great way to keep yourself on the straight path and avoid a relapse because you’ll know that other people are depending on you.
