How to quit alcohol and get sober (7 keys)

Alcohol is the most widely used legal drug in the world, and the most standardized. It has been culturally integrated into society for thousands of years, it is part of the way many people understand socialization and life in general.

But alcohol is a drug, and it is the one that causes the most harm to the people who consume it and to those around them.

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7 Tips for Getting Sober

More and more people realize that they need to give up alcohol and become abstinent, transform your life towards sobriety.

But giving up alcohol is not easy, because we live in a very alcoholic society, in which the habitual and extreme consumption of alcohol is normalized. People who get drunk and consume alcohol as a way of life (and who probably suffer from dependence or alcoholism) are applauded socially, while people who choose to drink water at a dinner with friends are often penalized, they are looked at as if they were weird bugs.

In this article I will give you 7 tips to help you quit alcohol for good and start enjoying life in sobriety.

1. Don't wait until you hit rock bottom

Unfortunately, the world is full of people who don't change until they have to. Most people who decide to give up alcohol completely do so because they have already had a problem. from habitual (or extreme) alcohol consumption, or because they have reached the point of alcoholism.

Overcoming alcoholism is possible, but it is difficult, and it's much easier (and wiser) to decide to give up alcohol on our own, before we reach the extreme.

Many people make the decision to stop drinking when their doctor diagnoses them with an illness (cirrhosis, colon cancer, heart disease, etc.), when they have a serious accident due to drunk driving, or because their partner gives them an ultimatum and tells them that if they do not stop drinking, it will be the end of their relationship.

It is best to stop drinking before we are forced to because we have no other choice.. In addition, quitting alcohol is much easier when we have not developed an addiction or a strong dependency, so the sooner the better.

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2. Make a firm decision to give up alcohol

Reflect on the damage that alcohol has done to you throughout your life. Hangovers, making a fool of yourself, health problems, the risk of an accident, all the money spent, the damage to your relationships, your self-esteem, your anxiety...

And then imagine how your life will be in 10 years if you stop drinking now, how you will feel, all the vitality and energy, health, and how glad you are that you made such a brave decision now (when you can still to choose).

Then make a firm decision that marks a before and after. Begin to define yourself as a teetotalerLike not drinking alcohol is part of your identity and something you don't need in your life.

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3. Understand why you drink alcohol

People use drugs as ways to escape from reality, as ways to cover up unpleasant emotions, discomfort, and forget about problems or difficult situations to face.

Alcohol only hides problems temporarily, and also has a second effect. It makes the person less and less able to cope with the pain and discomfort of everyday life, because they become dependent on alcohol.

If you want to stop drinking for good, it is essential that you understand why you drink, how you use it on a daily basis, what unpleasant or painful emotions do you run away from on a daily basis, what insecurities are you trying to cover up, the void you are trying to fill...

Alcohol (like the consumption of any other drug) occupies a place in a person's life, because most people get used to use alcohol since adolescence, to feel stronger, more confident, to feel like a more interesting person or daring

We need to understand the insecurities that make us crave alcohol. If we understand our relationship with drinking, it will be much easier for us to give up alcohol and make changes to our personal world so that we never need alcohol again.

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4. Stay away from your drinking buddies

Most heavy drinkers have had an environment that has reinforced their drinking behavior. Family members, friends or partners who frequently abuse alcohol as a way of life, whose free time plans revolve around alcohol consumption or drunkenness.

Many of the people I have worked with in therapy have told me how they realized that many of their friendships were toxic, in the sense that they were only left as an excuse to drink, and that if there was no alcohol involved, they were not able to share nothing.

Filter your friendships, recognize which ones are not real friendships and only revolve around alcohol, and put a healthy distance. Otherwise, they will become sources of relapse sooner or later, because those people will continue to reinforcing in your mind the message that “alcohol is not so bad and I need it to feel good”.

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5. Get back to your healthy hobbies

Giving up alcohol is not easy, and alcohol has played some kind of role in the person's life. Therefore, we must fill the void left by alcohol with other alternative activities, hobbies and pleasant and satisfying experiences, which are also incompatible with the consumption of alcohol (that is, they are healthy).

Exercise again, enjoy nature, spend more time with our loved ones or start projects that make us feel excited and want to get up in the morning. When we reinforce our pillars of well-being, it is more difficult for bad habits to find their way.

Because they will make us feel good about ourselves, and we will lose the need to use alcohol to deal with our problems.

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6. Strengthen your social support system

Spend more time with people who love and support you, as well as people whose lives don't revolve around alcohol. Some people find this social support in alcoholism peer support groups. And it is true that these groups help many people, but they are not for everyone. You can also receive this support from your family, your partner or other friends who do not abuse alcohol or who have also decided to become abstinent.

7. Ask for help from a psychologist specializing in addictions

Quitting drinking is not easy, because for this we need to fight against many conditions of our education and the influence of a society that normalizes and idealizes alcohol consumption. Also, alcohol is an addictive substance, which only makes things more difficult.

If you're having trouble staying abstinent, don't wait. contact a professional.

My name is Luis Miguel Real.I am a psychologist specializing in addictions.

I've been helping people enjoy life without having to take drugs for years. If you need it, I can give you a hand to quit alcohol and get sober. Contact me and we will get to work as soon as possible.