Answer the questionhow to stop drinking alcoholquite simple. This mechanism is more difficult to implement, the more soalone. . . But if you find yourself on this site, ask yourself this question, you’ve set yourself a goal, and that’s already a big part of implementing the plan.
Thus,how to stop drinking?The chart looks like this:
- Understanding the reason
- Determination of motive
- Psychological work
- Adaptation
Pretty simple, right? But this is only at first glance. To achieve this, it will simply be that if we analyze every point, we will grasp the essence, the so-called wave of thinking.
The psychologist (psychotherapist) helps to understand all issues, find the right attitude, relieve moral stress, get rid of psychological addiction. Or would you consider yourself weak if you ask for outside help? This is a great misconception, since in deciding the question of getting rid of addiction, it is not the willpower, not the human character, that is decisive, but professionalism in the clearly defined field of psychotherapy. Are you a psychiatric narcologist?
Willpower is about: 1. setting a clear goal, 2. making a firm decision, 3. getting things done. And attract experts on issues that require competence. And if you are not a psychotherapist, in most cases, rejection to a professional will lead to a waste of time, a protracted abandonment, and ultimately a collapse.
Even if you choosestop drinking alcohol on your own, you can turn to a psychotherapist at any stage to solve a problem (cause, motive, relaxation, self-esteem, adaptation, etc. ).
To understand how to stop drinking, you need to understand why you drink.
Once the cause of drunkenness has been eliminated, the consequence (the need for alcohol) in itself becomes unnecessary, uninteresting, simply meaningless. Now he’s probably afraid of a sober perspective, thinking about how to stop drinking so that life doesn’t get boring, doesn’t become existence. And those who don't drink live worse than you?
People are forced to drink a lot from an individual’s various needs:
- Hit the time
- It wasn't boring
- Enjoy
- Relax, have fun
- It relieves psychological stress
- Forget it, stifle misfortune
- Adding self-confidence (i. e. "for courage")
Satisfying these needs with alcohol reduces the quality of life sharply compared to previous sober life, not to mention health. As a result, the person continues to reach the questionhow to stop drinking alcohol. . . And not many people manage to do this alone.
Kill time, get rid of boredom. You must have noticed that the first reasons highlight them. Most often, this is the case, the saying, "they drink because there is nothing to do" is perfectly legitimate. occupation outside of alcohol if you have free time. This reason is most common in beer alcoholics as they drink beer for longer periods of time while their hands, mouth and attention are constantly busy.
Joy, relaxation, comfort. You don’t know how you can enjoy other things. This suggests that there are no things in a person’s life at all that would cause joy and pleasure. One of the two things, or not interested at all at all, is a psychological disorder, depression, or a person lazy to even do things that cause him positive emotions. In 90% of cases, the first is still essential.
Psychological tension, stress, grief. This is the main reason for alcoholics who quickly become intoxicated after some strong negative emotional upheaval in life. This is also the main reason they are used regularly by those who live in almost constant stress and negative experiences.
Lack of self-confidence. This reason is much rarer than others, especially among young people, when one is just entering adulthood, and it can be quite difficult to find common ground with one’s peers, in a new society such as an institution.
These are the main reasons for people who drink and, as you have already understood, are all closely related to human psychology. Once we have understood this, we can now move on to the question of how to stop drinking alcohol on our own.
Identify the main motive for stopping drinking on your own
Ask yourself, why are you looking for information on how to stop drinking alone? What made you think of it? If you can’t find the answer, close your eyes and imagine you’ve already stopped drinking, how has your life changed? What exactly has become different? What first came to mind was probably his main motive. Each has its own, you can distinguish the most common:
- Family, children (planning, having children is completely incompatible with alcoholism, and young children, the delusion that they think they are fools, do not see and understand nothing. They understand! And they experience great psychological trauma. Losing a family is not comparable towith alcohol If left alone, a person often gets drunk faster, reaches the bottom)
- Health (although this is the most important cause (brain, heart, liver, kidney damage), the person's main motive, unfortunately, usually is not. The only exceptions are situations where life and death. But it does not make sensecomplain, sad, the situation is as it is)
- Career (of course, the prospect of personal results, the recognition of a person as a professional is very important, especially for a man. Activity, and this is significantly reduced when drinking alcohol)
- Fame (like health, the main motivator of fame is extremely rare, this is also due to alcoholics experiencing a deterioration in personality, self-esteem ceases to be a value. Or a person whose opinion of you is extremely important to you, worth fighting for)
- Fatigue from drunkenness (this is moral exhaustion, the same day by day, the end of life is not visible. In this case, one recognizes the hopelessness of the situation, the futility of continuing such a life. The most important thingwhich were originally the cause of the drunkenness)
- Important changes in life (not common as it is a matter of chance but a strong motivation. When something extremely important happens that will drastically change your life or such a change is expected. And most importantly, this change is important to you, it is very important. This is a strong motivation for two reasons: the expectation of a bright future and the understanding of the gray present, the clear predominance of the former)
Very important!Tune in correctly, stay motivatedstop drinking alcohol on your own. . .
As usual, when we decide to stop drinking ourselves. Today we feel terrible, we curse yesterday’s booze, we are determined to send it all forever. The right attitude! We understood why we started drinking (the reason we drank), we know why we want to stop drinking (our own motive). The soul rejoices and sings, it seems we can turn the whole world upside down.
The sober lifestyle continues for several days. But it doesn’t do any good because it doesn’t leave you feeling like you’ve lost your life but haven’t found a new one, your health isn’t important, your desire to drink is haunted, and your evening is boring and there’s nothing to do. There are thoughts that you can drink a glass of beer to improve your mood, nothing will hurt since you lasted so many days, it won’t be hard to hold on after a bottle.
The excitement at the beginning gives you the feeling that everything will go smoothly and easily. And this is far from the case, as the enthusiasm does not last long. Therefore, you need to be attuned to what will be difficult from the beginning, but only first, as you rebuild your life in a new way, you need to adapt.
Psychological work before and after stopping drinking
Any addiction, including alcoholism, is mostly mental, to a much lesser extent (according to the drinkers themselves, but not according to doctors) - physical. The physical essence is the malaise after stopping use (hangover, withdrawal symptoms). This in itself is not an addiction, just a reluctance to endure a painful state of overload. The hangover can be removed easily and quickly.
After you stop drinking, the body quickly becomes accustomed to a lack of ethanol and rebuilds, there will be no physical craving for alcohol. The situation with psychological desires to meet needs is much more complicated for the reasons listed at the beginning of the article. Therefore, before you stop drinking, especially on your own, make a work plan to overcome these causes.
When you learn to satisfy your needs without alcohol, your meaning disappears and your desire accordingly. Prosperity, a great mood, freedom from addiction (and this moral oppression) quickly but not immediately naturally form an "anti-alcohol" program in your mind so you don’t go back to the past.
So there are not many main directions in psychological work, but it may be completely different, different for everyone:
- Get rid of boredom, look for something busy in your free time
- Learn to relax, have fun
- It relieves psychological stress
- Increase self-esteem, build self-confidence
Activities, hobbies. It’s worth finding a lot of other pleasure, and at first better than being incompatible with alcohol, as another incentive on how you’ll cheer yourself up, find something in your spare time, and most importantly, you won’t need alcohol, there will be nothing to replace it.
Rest. If you learn to relax on your own, without the help of any material, you will become the most valuable gift in life. The calm state gives the body rest, otherwise it wears out quickly, provides excellent health and mood, peace and comfort not only in society but also in solitude, and increases mental capacity.
There are quite a few relaxation methods: meditation, certain psychotherapeutic methods, yoga, music, massage, etc. You will feel that you no longer have to ruin your health, waste time drinking, endure a hangover, and so on. You need to learn to relax with a psychologist who studies the specifics of the psyche well and selects relaxation techniques accurately.
It used to be good for a nervous and tired person to drink a beer and relax. But once you can, and then calm, relaxed, and in a good mood, why drink? Why do you decide this mood with stunning intoxication?
Rest is the basis of all other reasons. It lends peace and peace of mind, self-sufficiency, and immunity from emotions, fears, and worries. If you are able to reach this state, your need for alcohol will gradually wane off and you will feel good without it.
Once you have stopped drinking, you need to adjust to your new life.
The main job after someone stops drinking is to get used to a new lifestyle. There will be many new things: you, the joys of life, hobbies, habits, occupation, environment, feelings, mood, etc. It is important to understand from the beginning to a serious conditionhow to stop drinking alcoholthat discomfort without alcohol is a consequence of addiction.
After all, you will panic if you think there will be no drunken gatherings in the bars, intimate conversations about life in the "do you respect me? "On the subject, noisy corporate parties with fights, beer kebabs, foam bottles of film to relax after work. We get so used to these things, our lifestyle, that we can't even imagine how to make up for them in a sober life.
Over time, there will certainly be other moments that bring joy without drinking, a variety of ways to have fun and have fun, the ability to relax soberly. But it doesn’t come right away, you have to put up with it. It takes time and some work on yourself.
And finally. The question often arises as to whether drinking should be avoided. At first, try to avoid them so they don’t crash. Then you won’t care because you won’t care about alcohol itself, people have nothing to do with it. With friends and acquaintances who drink occasionally, he is likely to stop communicating due to a lack of common interests. Therefore, be immediately prepared to change the people around you.