Answer the question,how to stop drinking alcoholis pretty simple. It is more difficult to implement this mechanism, the moreon one's own. . . But if you find yourself on this page, ask yourself this question, then you have set yourself a goal, and this is already a large part of the matter on the way of implementing your plan.
So,how to stop drinking?The diagram looks like this:
- Understanding the cause
- Determination of the motive
- Psychological work
- Adaptation
Pretty simple, right? But this is only at first glance. For implementation, it will simply become when we analyze each point, you will catch the essence, the so-called wave of thinking.
A psychologist (psychotherapist) will help to sort out any issue, find the right attitude, soften moral stress, get rid of psychological dependence. Or will you consider yourself weak if you seek outside help? This is a great misconception, since in deciding the issue of getting rid of addiction, the determining factor is not willpower, not the character of a person, but professionalism in a clearly defined area of psychotherapy. Are you a psychiatrist-narcologist?
Willpower is about: 1. setting a clear goal, 2. making a firm decision, 3. getting things done. And in matters requiring competence, attract specialists. And if you yourself are not a psychotherapist, then in most cases, refusal to go to a professional leads to a loss of time, prolonged abandonment and, ultimately, to a breakdown.
Even if you decidestop drinking alcohol on your own, you can turn to a psychotherapist at any stage to resolve any one of the issues (reason, motive, relaxation, self-esteem, adaptation, etc. ).
To understand how to stop drinking, you need to understand why you drink.
Having eradicated the cause of drunkenness, the consequence (the need for alcohol) will by itself become unnecessary, not interesting, simply meaningless. Now you are probably afraid of a sober perspective, you are thinking how to quit drinking so that life does not become boring, does not turn into existence. And people who do not drink live worse than you?
People are forced to drink quite a lot of the most diverse needs of the individual:
- Kill time
- That was not boring
- Enjoy
- Relax, feel comfortable
- Relieve psychological stress
- Forget it, drown out the misfortune
- Add self-confidence (that is, "for courage")
Satisfying these needs with the help of alcohol, the quality of life is sharply reduced compared to the previous sober life, not to mention health. As a result, the person still comes to the question,how to stop drinking alcohol. . . And not many people manage to do this on their own.
Killing time, getting rid of boredom. Surely you noticed that they are highlighted by the first reasons. This is most often the case, the saying "they drink from having nothing to do" is quite justified. A large role in this is played by the psychological moment, the state of anxiety, when a person obsessively searches for anything to occupy himself. He simply does not know other occupations besides alcohol when he has free time. This reason is most pronounced in beer alcoholics, since beer is drunk longer, while hands, mouth, and attention are constantly busy.
Pleasure, relaxation, comfort. You don't know how to enjoy other things. This suggests that there are no things in a person's life at all that bring pleasure and joy. One of two things, either he is not interested in anything at all, this is a psychological disorder, depression, or the person is too lazy to do even those things that bring him positive emotions. In 90% of cases, the first is still fundamental.
Psychological tension, stress, grief. This is the main reason for alcoholics who quickly get drunk after some kind of strong negative emotional upheaval in life. It is also the main reason for systematic use by people who live in almost constant stress and negative experiences.
Self-doubt. This reason is much less common than the others, mostly common among young people, when a person is just entering adulthood, and it can be quite difficult to find a common language with peers, a new society, for example, at an institute.
These are the main reasons for people who drink, and as you already understood, they are all closely related to human psychology. Having understood this, now we can move on to the question of how you can stop drinking alcohol on your own.
Identify your main motive to quit drinking on your own
Ask yourself why are you looking for information on how to stop drinking on your own? What made you think about it? If you could not find the answer, close your eyes and imagine that you have already quit drinking alcohol, how has your life changed? What exactly has become different? What came to mind in the first place is most likely your main motive. Each has its own, you can distinguish the most common:
- Family, children (planning, expecting a child is completely incompatible with alcoholism, as well as small children, the delusion to think that they are foolish, see nothing and do not understand. They understand! And they experience great psychological trauma. The threat of losing a family is also not comparable to alcoholLeft alone, a person gets drunk many times faster, reaches the bottom)
- Health (although this reason is the most important (damage to the brain, heart, liver, kidneys), the main motive for a person, alas, as a rule, is not. The only exceptions are those situations when there is a question between life and death. But there is no point in complainingit's sad, the situation is what it is)
- Career (of course, the prospect of personal achievements, recognition of a person as a specialist is very important, especially for a man. activity, and it is significantly reduced when drinking alcohol)
- Reputation (like health, the main motivator of reputation is extremely rare, this is also due to the fact that alcoholics experience degradation of personality, self-respect ceases to be a value. or a person has appeared in your life whose opinion of you is extremely important to you, it is worth fighting for)
- Fatigue from drunkenness (this is moral exhaustion, from day to day the same thing, the end of the edge is not visible. In this case, a person realizes the hopelessness of the situation, the senselessness of continuing such a life. The main thing is that from this life a person no longer experiences the satisfaction of those needs thatwere originally the cause of drunkenness)
- Important changes in life (not common, since this is a matter of chance, but a strong motive. When something extremely important happens that changes your life drastically or such a change is expected. And most importantly, this change is important for you, it is of great importance. This is a powerful motivefor two reasons: expectation of a bright future and understanding of the gray present, a clear preponderance of the former)
Very important!Tune in right, stay motivated tostop drinking alcohol on your own. . .
As is usually the case when we decide to quit drinking alcohol on our own. Today we feel terrible, we curse yesterday's booze, we are determined to send it all away and forever. The right attitude! We understood why we started drinking (the reason for our drinking), we know why we want to quit alcohol (our own motive). The soul rejoices and sings, it seems that we can turn the whole world upside down.
A sober lifestyle continues for several days. But it doesn’t bring anything good, because it doesn’t leave the feeling that you have lost your life, but didn’t find a new one, the state of health is not important, the desire to drink haunts, and in the evenings it is boring and there is nothing to do. There are thoughts that you can drink a bottle of beer to improve your mood, it won't hurt anything, since you have held out for so many days, it will not be difficult to hold out after one bottle.
Inspiration at the beginning gives you the feeling that everything will go smoothly and easily. And this is far from the case, since the enthusiasm will not last long. Therefore, it is necessary from the very beginning to tune in to what will be difficult, but only for the first time, while you are rebuilding your life in a new way, to adapt.
Psychological work before and after you quit drinking
Any addiction, including alcohol, is mostly mental, much less (according to the drinkers themselves, but not physicians) - physical. Physical consists in feeling unwell after stopping the use (hangover, withdrawal symptoms). This is not an addiction as such, just an unwillingness to endure a painful overwhelmed state. The hangover is pretty easy and quick to remove.
After you quit drinking alcohol, the body will quickly get used to the absence of ethanol and rebuild, there will be no physical craving for alcohol. The situation with the psychological craving to satisfy needs is much more complicated for the reasons listed at the beginning of the article. Therefore, before you quit drinking alcohol, especially on your own, make a work plan to combat these causes.
When you learn to satisfy your needs without alcohol, the very meaning of it disappears, and, accordingly, the craving. Well-being, excellent mood, freedom from addiction (and this is moral oppression) will quickly, but not immediately, of course, form an "anti-alcohol" program in your mind so as not to return to the past.
So, there are not so many main directions for psychological work, but you may have completely different, different from everyone:
- Get rid of boredom, find something to do in your free time
- Learn to relax, have fun
- Relieve psychological stress
- Raise self-esteem, build self-confidence
Activities, hobbies. It is worth finding a lot of other joys, and at first better than those that are incompatible with alcohol, as another incentive, how you will cheer yourself up, find something to do in your free time, and most importantly, you will not need alcohol, there will be nothing to replace it.
Relaxation. If you learn to relax on your own, without the help of any substances, you will make yourself the most valuable gift in life. A relaxed state gives the body a rest, otherwise it wears out quickly, gives excellent health and mood, calmness and comfort not only in society, but also in loneliness, and increases mental capacity.
There are quite a few relaxation methods: meditation, certain methods of psychotherapy, yoga, music, massage, etc. You will feel that you no longer need to ruin your health, waste time drinking, endure a hangover, and so on. It is necessary to learn how to relax with a psychologist who will study well the peculiarities of your psyche and will select exactly your relaxation techniques.
It used to be nice being nervous and tired to have a beer and relax. But when you can do it already, and after that you are calm, relaxed and in a good mood, then why drink? Why knock this mood off with stupefying intoxication?
Relaxation is the foundation for all other reasons. It gives serenity and peace of mind, self-sufficiency, freedom from emotions, fears and worries. With the ability to achieve this state, the need for alcohol will gradually wither away, and you will feel good even without it.
After you quit drinking alcohol, you need to adapt to your new life.
The main work after a person stops drinking is to get used to a new way of life. Much will be new: you, the joys of life, hobbies, habits, occupation, environment, sensations, mood and so on. It is important to understand from the very beginning that a serious condition afterhow to stop drinking alcohol, is that the discomfort without alcohol is a consequence of addiction.
After all, panic seizes, if you think that there will be no drunken gatherings in bars, intimate conversations about life on the topic "do you respect me? ", Noisy corporate parties with scuffle, beer with a kebab, a foam bottle for a movie after work to relax. We get so used to these things, the way of life, that we can't even imagine how they can be replaced in a sober life.
Over time, other moments will surely appear that will bring pleasure without drinking, a lot of ways to have fun and have fun, the ability to relax soberly. But this will not come right away, you will have to endure. It will take time and some work on yourself.
And finally. The question is often asked whether it is worth avoiding people who drink. At first, you will try to avoid them so as not to break down. Then you will not care, because alcohol itself will not be of interest to you, people have nothing to do with it. With friends and acquaintances who occasionally drink, most likely you will stop communicating due to the lack of common interests. Therefore, immediately be prepared to change the people around you.