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AA and other support groups can be helpful in quitting drinking, but you can find assistance in other ways. Therapy is effective in helping people quit, as is medication prescribed by a healthcare provider. If you’re wondering how to stop drinking alcohol every night and you tend to drink at home, don’t keep alcohol in your house. If there are certain times of day or situations in which you typically drink, come up with alternative activities you can do instead to fill those moments. If your goal is to quit drinking, do you want to gradually reduce the amount of alcohol you consume over time or give up drinking all at once?
There are now several evidence-based solutions for alcohol addiction—and one of them is bound to work for you. There’s a reason you’ve reached the decision to quit or cut back. Write it down and keep it handy so you see it often. Whether it’s improved relationships, better health, or weight loss, keeping the “why” in sight can help boost your motivation. If you choose to cut down, see the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and seek advice from a healthcare professional if needed. About 50% of people who drink in this group have alcohol use disorder.
What Is Mindful Drinking?
Ask around- I bet there are tons of alcoholics who have thought that they could just say “when” but we all know that this isn’t possible for them to do. I am not able to support this notion that someone who has a drinking issue can find ways to tell themselves to stop.
- Technology makes it easier than ever to learn new skills and find creative ways of connecting, even when you can’t physically participate in activities with others.
- It may also be an option to attend medical detox for a week or two, and then attend a less intensive outpatient treatment program.
- Alcohol has woven itself into so many aspects of our culture, and many more people experience some level of alcohol use disorder than one might expect.
- When you are drinking, you are not exercising.That’s a little oversimplified, but if you don’t drink, you have more free time to exercise.
- If you quit drinking, you can improve the metabolism of these organs .
- It lets people track the hours, minutes, and seconds they have been sober and the total number of days without alcohol.
She enjoys interviewing medical experts and researchers about their work and is passionate about communicating accurate and relevant health information to the public. Forbes Health adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved or otherwise endorsed by our advertisers. Voluntary temporary abstinence from alcohol during “Dry January” and subsequent alcohol use. If you tend to drink too much whenever there is any alcohol in the house, get rid of it altogether, the NIAAA recommends.
Eat before and in between drinks.
Because it is not yet known whether any amount of alcohol is safe for a developing baby, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should not drink. Although they have fewer calories, many light beers have almost as much alcohol as regular beer—about 85% as much, or 4.2% versus 5.0% alcohol by volume, on average. Have a trusted friend on standby for a phone call, or bring one along for support in situations where you might be tempted to drink. An how to control drinking urge to drink can be set off by external triggers in the environment and internal ones within yourself. Therapy can help you identify the root causes of your alcohol use, repair your relationships, and learn healthier coping skills and how to deal with triggers that could cause you to relapse. Once you’ve made the decision to change, the next step is establishing clear drinking goals. The more specific, realistic, and clear your goals, the better.
The original medication for alcoholism is disulfiram, also known as Antabuse. This prescription drug causes you to feel ill when you drink any amount of alcohol, and is now considered a fairly harsh way of quitting. Still, for some people, disulfiram remains an effective choice.