HOW TO STOP DRINKING ALCOHOL FOR GOOD IN 9 STEPS - ARTE - 2025

In this article I will explain how to stop drinking alcohol for good and detoxify from this substance that is so negative for your health. Alcohol contains a very high addictive component, so overcoming an addiction to this substance usually requires great willpower.

If you are addicted to alcohol and you stop drinking abruptly, you can have what is known as withdrawal syndrome. These are all physical and psychological symptoms caused by the fact of not consuming the substance to which we are addicted.

The main idea if you want to stop consuming alcohol is that you will have to do it progressively. If you try to do it overnight, it will be more complicated, because you will suffer from withdrawal syndrome and because you are already used to it. On the other hand, it is important that you replace the activity of drinking with other healthy habits.

Each substance can produce a different withdrawal syndrome. With regard to alcohol, the most frequent symptoms are:

• Anxiety and nervousness.
• Depressive states and mood swings.
• Irritability and impulsiveness.
• Headache.
• Insomnia.
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sweating, cold skin, and shaking.
• Incrise of cardiac frecuency.

Normally, the appearance of these symptoms together with the need to drink, imminently precipitates the relapse in consumption, since when drinking alcohol again, these symptoms will disappear.

This is why if you want to overcome your addiction to alcohol, it is important that you do it in an organized and planned way, and develop the necessary skills to overcome all difficult moments.

10 steps to quit drinking

Build a good attitude

The first step to be able to overcome an addiction is to build a positive attitude… But what exactly does this mean?

Building a positive attitude means creating and maintaining a predisposition, a way of facing the situation that arises.

Overcoming an addiction is not a simple thing, nor is it something that others can do for you, nor can it be done magically through wonderful techniques or medications.

If you want to overcome alcohol addiction, you must start a war between you and your addiction, and therefore, first of all, you must make sure that you can win it.

It will be of no use to you if you decide to stop drinking but are not convinced to do so, if you are not willing to make an effort or sacrifice or if you are not motivated

Therefore, before starting, I recommend that you convince yourself that you can do it, motivate yourself and build in your mind a final goal:

Make a list of all the reasons that lead you to give up alcohol, all the inconveniences that being addicted to this substance has for you (health problems, financial problems, problems with other people, etc.)

Make a list of the barriers that you think you may encounter along the way (desire or need to drink, discomfort from not drinking alcohol, loss of gratification, etc.)

Write down those aspects of your personality that you think can favor change: willpower, ability to overcome, sacrifice, etc.

Make a list of self-words that can help you in delicate moments: "I am stronger than alcohol, I can do it, I will change my life"

The idea is that between the three lists you configure how you will be during the change, what will be your strengths that will allow you to give up alcohol, what will be your points and what will be the motivation that will follow you at all times.

Decrease consumption

Once you have the necessary attitude to start giving up alcohol, the next step you should take is to reduce your consumption.

In this case, reducing consumption does not mean stopping drinking in a radical way, but it does mean trying to drink less and less often.

The goal is for your drunkenness to practically disappear, drink fewer times a day than you are used to, but continue to supply alcohol to your brain.

In this way you will avoid withdrawal syndrome, since your brain will continue to receive alcohol but you will get used to drinking less.

For example, at the beginning you can limit alcohol consumption to 2 or 3 times a day, monitoring the amounts and type of alcohol consumed (better if you drink low alcohol drinks) so that you can control yourself each time you drink.

At this point it is crucial that when you drink you do not consume very high amounts of alcohol, since if you do, you can lose control and be unable to reduce consumption. When you do, think that it is better to drink just a little and know that in a while you will be able to drink a little more.

On the other hand, as time passes you will decrease those amounts until consumption is zero. If you do it gradually, it will not be so complicated and you will not suffer from withdrawal syndrome. Example:

• Week 1-4: decrease consumption to 2-3 times a day.
• Week 5-10: reduce consumption to 1 time a day.
• Week 10-12: reduce consumption to 1 time every two days.
• Week 13: stop using.

Substitute alcohol for other activities

The more things you do, the less time you will have to drink alcohol, so the best way to help reduce your consumption is to keep busy in all those moments that you do not drink.

Look for activities that are of your interest, it does not matter much the characteristics of this, since most will be incompatible with alcohol.

But for example, if you are used to going to the bar in the afternoon, look for an alternative activity.

Decide to go for a walk in the park, play soccer games with your friends, go to the library to get a good book if you like to read or join the municipal swimming pool to go swimming for a while.

The important thing is that you increase your occupation and replace some of the moments that you used to drink for other things, since if you do not do it you will suffer much more to reduce your consumption.

Eliminate stimuli

At the same time that you are substituting alcohol for other activities, you have to work towards eliminating those stimuli that make you drink.

If, for example, whenever you enter the bar under your house you end up with a few drinks on your table, try not to go there. If whenever you meet a friend you drink a few beers, stop meeting him, if when you go out at night you usually end up drinking more than necessary, try to stay home…

Ideally, you should make a list of those stimuli that you think most influence your consumption and decide what type of avoidance you will do.

For example:

• Stimulus 1: bar under my house -> Elimination: I will not go anymore and I will go to other places
• Stimulus 2: Meet my friend -> Elimination: I will only meet once every two weeks.
• Stimulus 3: Going out at night -> Elimination: I will go out only once a month.

Seek support

If you do it alone, it will cost you much more than if you have someone to support you and accompany you along the way.

Sometimes we may think that seeking help to overcome our problems makes us seem weak or incapable, but that is not the case. Having the help of others is the most logical and most convenient.

The life of the human being cannot be explained without the relationship between people, so to overcome complicated situations it should not be an exception.

Choose those most trusted people, friends, parents, siblings, children, etc. And tell them your problem, why you want to change the situation and how you plan to overcome it.

If they get involved and help you, you will have a great advantage.

Mark a date

When your consumption has already been decreasing and you feel more or less comfortable with that situation, it is time to mark one or more dates.

It consists of deciding what will be the day that you will stop drinking completely, or what days you will have goals to meet.

Doing this is vitally important so that the process acquires structure and you do not stop drinking aimlessly.

So, sit down with those people who are helping you to stop drinking and together agree on the dates. Let's see an example:

• Week 1: I will drink only 3 times a day.
• Week 3: I will drink only twice a day and at no time will I go drunk.
• Week 5: I will drink only once a day and at no time will I go drunk.
• Week 7: I will drink only 3 times a week and at no time will I go drunk.
• Week 10: I will stop drinking completely.

Drink only when you eat

To reduce consumption, a very effective technique is to drink only when you eat food.

Drinking more or less controlled amounts when you eat will allow you to ensure that you will not reach it into a drunken state.

So, whenever you can, try to drink when you eat or dine instead of at other times

Work on your motivation

Sometimes the motivation will be simple since if you have been meeting your goals, you will be satisfied with your performance and this will increase your motivation. However, there are times when motivation can be more complicated.

If one day you do not meet your goals, you drink more than necessary or you are not able to follow the "plan" you have set, do not despair.

At that time, you should not think that all the work has been thrown away, but that it has been a misstep that will not happen again.

Stay firm with the attitude that you have built at the beginning, with the motivation that has led you to fulfill various objectives, get up and continue.

Control your emotions

Along the way, not everything will be easy or flowers and colors, there will be critical moments and situations in which you will have a hard time.

That is why you must learn to control your emotions when you find yourself in a situation that exceeds you.

In those moments that you notice that you cannot hold without drinking, try to calm down, go to a place where you are alone, take a deep breath, take out your list of self-words to motivate yourself, and call one of your supports to help you.

If you do this, you will be able to change your thoughts in those situations, and realize that this discomfort will only last for a while, so all you have to do is try to hold the moment to continue with your goals.

do exercise

Finally, once you have satisfied all the previous points, the best way to maintain your overcoming of addiction is to carry out activities that are incompatible with drinking, and among them, the one I recommend the most is exercising.

In this way, you will not only change your habit of drinking in isolation, but you will also change your unhealthy lifestyle habits globally, for lifestyle habits that are more suitable for health.

If you manage to exercise, physical activity or a sport that you like regularly, alcohol will no longer have a place in your life.

Here you can read more benefits of exercise.

Statistics to convince you

According to the WHO:

• The harmful use of alcohol causes more than 200 diseases and disorders.
• 5.1% of global morbidity and injuries can be attributed to alcohol consumption, calculated in terms of disability-adjusted life expectancy (DAL).
• 3.3 million deaths occur annually worldwide due to the harmful use of alcohol.
• In the 20-39 age group, 25% of deaths are due to alcohol consumption.

According to drugfreeworld.org:

• Alcohol kills more teens than all other drugs combined. It is one of the three leading causes of death among 15-24 year olds: accidents, homicides, and suicides.
• Young people who drink alcohol are 7.5 times more likely to use illegal drugs and 50 times more likely to use cocaine.
• Of the approximately 500 million people living in the European Union, some 23 million are alcoholics.
• In the European Union, alcohol contributes to one in ten cases of illness and premature death annually.
• Approximately 40% of violent crimes occur while under the influence of alcohol.

What is an addiction?

Addiction is considered a chronic disease of the brain in which the brain performs a pathological and recurrent search for reward through the abuse of a substance.

In other words: an addiction occurs when we get used to our brain to consume a substance so that it can function normally.

This means that we need to consume that substance compulsively to ensure our psychological well-being.

Obviously, this compulsive consumption that our brain forces us to when we are addicted to substances produces multiple negative effects on both a physical and psychological level.

And is that no substance of abuse is spared from having negative effects on our health, so if we become addicted to one of them we will pay dearly.

Alcohol is no exception, and being addicted to alcohol can be a huge drawback.

It can cause multiple physical pathologies such as pneumonia, high blood pressure, adrenal deficit, hypoglycemia, cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, among many others.

It can also be a risk factor for suffering psychopathologies such as Wernicke's syndrome, Delirium Tremens, Alcoholic Dementia, delusions or sexual dysfunctions.

In addition, apart from the pathologies that it can cause, alcohol addiction produces a high sensation of discomfort, can cause multiple personal problems, and can prevent us from leading a satisfactory life.

References

1. Guardia, J Dr. Jiménez-Arriero, MA, Pascual, P., Flórez, G., Contel, M. (2012). ALCOHOLISM Clinical Guidelines Based on Scientific Evidence SOCIDROGALCOHOL.
2. Norembuenta, P., (2011). Brief interventions to reduce risky alcohol consumption.