Great Tips if you want to try Quitting Drinking on Your Own

Great Tips if you want to try Quitting Drinking on Your Own

Quitting drinking on your own is absolutely one of the biggest challenges you will have to face in your entire life if you have alcohol dependence.  As no man is an island, it is just naturally easier to get out in a situation when there are willing hands to help.  However, when all you got is yourself, or you decided to take things on your own, the story becomes totally different.

According to studies, alcoholics who decided to quit on their own had more number of failures than those who chose otherwise.  However, it is not really that hard to understand why many people opt to face the problem on their own.  For one, adults have egos as big as they are.  Asking for help is just something naturally “degrading.”  Two, alcohol is a part of everyone’s life and it just seems pathetic for one to have a serious problem about it.  Anyway, whatever your reason is, here are some tips that may be able to help you quit alcoholism on your own:

• Face the problem– The very first step if for you to accept—wholeheartedly—that you have an alcohol problem.  Many alcoholics have a hard time doing this because they think that one sip of their favorite liquor daily can’t possibly cause them harm.  When alcohol starts to be indispensable in your life, you must finally face the fact that you have a substance problem.  Quitting drinking on your own will require you to be honest to yourself.

• Find alternatives– If drinking binges have occupied a lot of your time, you must find other things to do as replacements.  Create new hobbies or re-start old ones.  Try to cultivate new relationships or rekindle ones that you have set aside for some time.  Find healthier things to do instead of grabbing a drink with friends and co-workers.

• Stay away from triggers– Be wary of the things that urge you to drink.  If there are certain individuals, places, or moods that make you want to drink even in times when you don’t want to or shouldn’t, avoid them.  When there are times of the day or when there are feelings that drive you to grab even just a glass of wine, dispel them.

• Know to say No—It is impossible for you not to be offered any drink during the course of your quitting.  Learn how to politely turn down an invitation by saying a convincing “No.”  The faster you decline, the better.  Hesitating may lead you to think of alibis to give in.

• Plan to handle temptations– Even when no one has invited yet, you must plan how to handle temptations. Again, quitting drinking on your own is no easy thing.  Since you are on your own, it is important that your guards are on at all times, even when it means you are guarding yourself against your (other) self.  Always be reminded of your goals, come up with a distracting activity, talk with someone you trust.  All these could help you fight the urge to get back to the old habit.