How to Quit Drinking: 5 Critical Steps to Take Your Life Back

Is drinking excessively having a negative impact on your life? If so, click here for some tried-and-true tips on how to quit drinking.

We all have our drunk uncle . We laugh at funny stories about being drunk. Heck, there are three hangover movies made, and all of them found success at the box office.

But for some, drinking too much has destroyed lives, families , and careers.

If you’re suffering from alcoholism, know that you’re not alone. 15.1 million people had alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the United States in 2015. This figure doesn’t

include the 600 thousand adolescents aged twelve to seventeen who also had AUD.

The road to recovery is hard but with the time, effort, and support, you can take your life back.

Don’t wait until you hit rock-bottom. If you want to know how to quit drinking or at least cut back to healthier levels, this guide will help you get started.

Let’s hop back on.

1. Contemplate

The first step of recovering from any addiction is to examine ourselves. Be honest. How has drinking affected your life?

This isn’t about how much you drink. You may think that from the standards of your peers, your drinking is still within normal. But if alcohol has already made an impact on your life, then you may already have a drinking problem.

2. Find Your Resolve

Once you’ve admitted the problem, the next step is preparation. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally to be ready to give up alcohol.

It’s normal to experience grief over the loss of this chemical. You might feel that you’re giving up a best friend. But you have to realize that this is the addiction talking.
Steel yourself because you’re better than this. Once you’ve made up your mind, you’re ready to set goals for yourself to begin recovery. Whether you want to stop altogether or cut back, set clear, realistic, and attainable goals.

3. The Most Important Step on How to Quit Drinking: Take Action

Goals without action are useless. Once your heart and mind are prepared, it’s time to commit the body.

This step is about getting clean or detoxifying. You want to rid your body of the toxins that have built up when you were drinking.

You shouldn’t attempt detox alone. During this process, you may experience confusion, hallucination, and even seizures. You should have a family member or friend to watch over you during this time. Better yet, you can check yourself into a treatment facility.

If you want to know how to find the right treatment program and what to expect, click on this link .

4. Maintenance

One patient compared being sober to weeding. If you don’t stay on top of it, your yard will be full of weeds in a second.

Remember that the temptation to drink will never go away. But if you apply what you’ve learned during your detox and rehab, you’ll be better equipped to handle this challenge.

5. Find Support

All the processes that you have to go through to recover from alcoholism are difficult. But you can ease some of the burdens by relying on your friends and family for support.

There are times when you can’t trust yourself to keep a straight path. Their help and encouragement will give you the strength to continue and persevere on this harsh road.

Break the Shackles of Alcoholism

We hope that this guide brought light to your concerns on how to quit drinking. Overcoming alcohol addiction is never easy and you shouldn’t expect it to be. But keep at it and we promise you that the reward at the end is worth it.

Are you concerned that your teenager may have AUD? Check out this article to learn more.