How To End Alcohol Addiction

Types Of Professionals Involved In Care

Go On An Alcohol Detox

Alcohol detoxification isnt a treatment against alcohol addiction. Rather, its a process to help you quit drinking and give your body enough time to recover and take all alcohol content out of your system. However, many people fear going through alcohol detox due to its expected withdrawal symptoms.

Your withdrawal symptoms may vary depending on how severe your addiction is. If youre worried about the possible withdrawal symptoms you may experience, dont hesitate to consult your doctor so they can recommend you some treatment options against alcohol withdrawal such as therapy, medications, or nutritional support.

Meanwhile, there are two ways you can go through an alcohol detox:

• Inpatient Detox

This option is recommended for people whove been abusing alcohol heavily for several years. In this process, youll be required to stay inside a hospital, clinic, rehab, or detox center. This way, the healthcare professionals and nurses can monitor you full-time while guiding you in surviving alcohol withdrawal symptoms. They may also require you to attend intensive therapy sessions to help you understand and learn about your addiction while sharing your experiences with them.

• Outpatient Detox

This may be suitable for people with mild alcohol addiction. During the day, youll be required to visit your doctor for treatment. Then, you can go home and do your self-detox while recording your progress and giving feedback to your health provider.

What Causes Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Too much, uncontrolled drinking excites the nervous system. Your body becomes dependent on alcohol if you drink daily. When this happens, your central nervous system can no longer function efficiently without alcohol. A sudden stop or reduction in alcohol consumption leads to alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

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Relapse Is Part Of The Process

Relapse is common among people who overcome alcohol problems. People with drinking problems are most likely to relapse during periods of stress or when exposed to people or places associated with past drinking.

Just as some people with diabetes or asthma may have flare-ups of their disease, a relapse to drinking can be seen as a temporary setback to full recovery and not a complete failure. Seeking professional help can prevent relapsebehavioral therapies can help people develop skills to avoid and overcome triggers, such as stress, that might lead to drinking. Most people benefit from regular checkups with a treatment provider. Medications also can deter drinking during times when individuals may be at greater risk of relapse .

Mental Health Issues and Alcohol Use Disorder

Depression and anxiety often go hand in hand with heavy drinking. Studies show that people who are alcohol dependent are two to three times as likely to suffer from major depression or anxiety over their lifetime. When addressing drinking problems, its important to also seek treatment for any accompanying medical and mental health issues.

Tips For Those Trying To Stop Drinking

For many people, abstaining from alcohol is a major lifestyle change. It requires a lot of time, effort and mental energy.Some people can decide to quit drinking and do it without help. If youre reading this page, you probably arent oneof those people. Dont compare yourself to them.

Use these tips to increase your chances of overcoming alcohol problems:

• Stay positive. Quitting is more difficult if you have a bad attitude.
• Commit fully. Sobriety isnt something you can achieve with minimal effort.
• Ask for help. Getting sober is hard to do on your own.
• Have faith. When you believe sobriety is possible, youre more likely to achieve it.
• Take it one day at a time. Thinking about quitting for a year can seem daunting. Taking things one dayat a time is more achievable.

Always think about thebenefits of quitting alcohol and how they will improve your life. It may also help to think about the negativesthat alcohol causes. With a realistic strategy, support and faith, you can quit drinking and beginalcohol recovery.

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Are You At Risk

Although it seems to make you feel good, alcohol can increase the risk of depression and anxiety and also can make these worse if they are already present.

If you are a family member or friend living with an alcoholic you are likely to feel upset, angry, anxious, guilty, stressed, disappointed and helpless at various times.

If you are a carer, carers associations in your state or territory can provide counselling and help to organise respite care. Visit the Carer Gateway website or call 1800 422 737 for more information.

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• Guest Posts

Habits are the gateway to how we shape our everyday activities. They can make or even break us. There are times when we tend to have bad habits that need to be removed from our lives immediately. Have you ever heard about New Years Resolutions? New Years Resolution is a tradition that people perform to resolve to continue good practices. This tradition helps them to change an undesired trait or behavior.

Everyone has their goals on their mind. To achieve the goals at some point in their lives, they need to make their tools prepared. When we lose motivation, the chances are that we will end up forgetting our goals and cave in to our past again. Without the right set of tools and preparation, it is impossible to reach your goals. Its not like your goals are too high to reach. It is because you are not looking in the right direction.

One can easily form a new habit, but breaking a bad one takes time and takes guts as well. Hence, your goals here should be stopping your addiction to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, which is decreasing the standard of your life. Once you successfully give these bad habits up, you will see how beautiful the world is. Your life will become more enjoyable than it was before.

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Cutting Back On Alcohol Vs Quitting: Which Is Better

Now that weve extensively treated how to overcome an alcohol addiction, its worthy of note that quitting outright isnt the only option available to you. Some people decide, instead, to merely cut back.

But, is merely cutting back better than learning how to overcome alcohol addiction and actually doing it? To answer that, lets first check out the difference between the two.

To quit alcohol is to say that youve had your last bottle. Once you decide to quit, youre pretty much done, and youre not going back. On the other hand, cutting back is more of a move to slow down your consumption levels.

Perhaps, youre trying to lose a few pounds or get your blood pressure under control. Either way, youre not entirely ready to put your bottoms down yet.

Now, when you cut back on your alcohol intake, your life will become significantly healthier. This depends on how much you cut back, but still, you wouldnt have to worry so much about the steps to get rid of alcohol addiction.

However, if youre an alcoholic, things are a lot different. You see, being an alcoholic means you cant control your intake of liquor. As such, pursuing the option of cutting back instead of seizing the bull by the horn might not work.

Nevertheless, if youre not quite at that stage yet, weve got some useful tips to help you cut back on your intake.

How To Stop An Alcohol Addiction

Withdrawing alcohol addiction is maybe a strenuous way but not inaccessible. If you want to get out of it then try with determination and self-confidence you will win.

The experts at soberlink will help you to make your journey much easier and comfortable. Soberlink has changed the lives of many peoples and helped them to live sober lives. Soberlink is on a mission to improve the lives of as many people as possible.

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Tips To Overcome Alcohol Abuse

For hundreds of years, it has always been part of the social norm to serve alcohol during parties, celebrations, or other social gatherings. Even today, alcohol is still one of the leading beverages served by party hosts and always sought by guests. Thats because many people believe that alcohol helps reduce social anxiety, which is prevalent among guests who arent so used to attending social activities.

Furthermore, drinking alcohol can add more fun to the party as it can alleviate stress, boost your moods, increase camaraderie, and lead to more spirited interactions. But despite the positive effects of alcohol, youre also reminded to drink in moderation and always practice safe drinking. Otherwise, drinking for fun could soon lead to alcohol misuse problems.

Treatment Options For Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol addiction rehab treatment may sound like a daunting prospect however, there are many benefits to a person who wants to get sober & stay sober. Statistically, people who undertake an inpatient rehab treatment program for alcohol addiction will:

Be more likely to successfully stop drinking for good Visit the doctor and emergency departments fewer times, especially for alcohol-related issues Report having an improved mood, with less depression and anxiety Have fewer problems with the law and are less likely to be involved in the courts Less likely to have financial problems Less likely to be homeless Be safer, having fewer accidents at home or work Improve their work and school performance, with better evaluations and attendance Will have better relationships with loved ones, work colleagues and friends

This list alone should give a person suffering from alcohol addiction food for thought. The benefits of giving up alcohol successfully mean that you will have the tools and space to find a truly healthier and infinitely better way of life.

If you or someone you love struggles with an addiction to alcohol or other drugs, do not hesitate to ask for help. Contact us now for immediate help and advice. We will conduct a free and confidential alcohol treatment assessment and advise you of the best alcohol addiction treatment options to suit your treatment needs, location and budget.

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How Does Addiction Develop In The Brain

Alcohol, like other drugs, has a powerful effect on the brain, producing pleasurable feelings and blunting negative feelings. These feelings can motivate some people to drink alcohol again and again, despite possible risks to their health and well-being. For example, research shows that over time, drinking to cope with stresswhile it may provide temporary relief from emotional discomforttends to enhance negative emotional states between bouts of alcohol consumption. These changes can motivate further drinking and cause an individual to become stuck in an unhealthy cycle of alcohol consumption.1,2

As individuals continue to drink alcohol over time, progressive changes may occur in the structure and function of their brains. These changes can compromise brain function and drive the transition from controlled, occasional use to chronic misuse, which can be difficult to control. The changes can endure long after a person stops consuming alcohol, and can contribute to relapse in drinking.

How Do You Know When Youre Abusing Alcohol

Many people love the unique sweetness and bitterness of alcohol. Thats why its often hard for some people to notice when theyre still drinking moderately or too much. But how can you tell if youre already abusing the usage of alcohol?

For women, its considered alcohol abuse when youre drinking seven drinks or more per week and more than three drinks during every occasion. Meanwhile, alcohol abuse for men is when you consume fourteen drinks in a week and take four drinks during special events. Alternatively, moderate drinking is limiting yourself to two drinks or less per day for men and one drink or less for women.

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Why Do So Many People Fail In Recovery

There are lots of reasons that retention and success rates are so low for 12 step programs.

I know there are some people who feel that AA did little for them. I also know people who benefited tremendously from AA. I do not think the high relapse rates for AA and other recovery programs are because the programs dont work. They definitely work for some people, but theyre not necessarily for everyone.

Any recovery program can work if you take massive action and stick to the steps. Dont dismiss them because you read something negative, if youre on the fence about AA, just try it out for yourself. It might be the best decision youve ever made in your life. For more on this, you can read my post on AA success rates.

What You Need To Know About Alcoholism

Alcoholism is one complicated problem. There are millions of people struggling with alcohol addiction all over the world.

Once you are an addict, almost every aspect of your life feels the adverse impacts. An alcoholic undergoes all kinds of suffering from mental, emotional and eventually physical. Its at this point where almost all the victims want to know ways of quitting alcohol, and its related products.

We dont have a standard profile of an alcoholic. Everyone, men, women of different professions, racial, and financial background, all walks of life, suffer or at least have suffered from the same conundrum.

If youre reading this, its likely that youre looking to help yourself or someone around you.

In this guide, we offer tips on ways to quit drinking alcohol and discover the best methods of treatment.

A report by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse declares alcoholism is a National Priority because it causes the most harm. Its only second to tobacco. The yearly economic cost of damages related to alcohol across Canada is $14.6 billion.

Alcohol abuse disorder is diagnosed by a professional using a book referred to as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders .

As earlier mentioned, we have three stages of alcohol addiction going by the DSM: mild, moderate and severe. So that you are diagnosed, one must meet a minimum of two of the 11 symptoms within 12 months.

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How Can I Prevent Alcohol Use Disorder

To prevent alcohol problems, avoid high-risk drinking:

• For women: No more than four or more drinks in one day or eight or more drinks per week.
• For men: No more than five or more drinks in one day or 15 or more drinks per week.

If you drink more alcohol than that, consider cutting back or quitting. Talk to your healthcare provider about proven strategies.

Ways To Get In Contact With Us

If you believe you or someone you love may be struggling with addiction, let us hear your story and help you determine a path to treatment.

There are a variety of confidential, free, and no obligation ways to get in contact with us to learn more about treatment.

• Verify Your Insurance Coverage for Treatment

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A Concede That You Have A Drinking Problem

If you are a victim of alcohol use disorder, there is a high likelihood that you are aware of this problem. Accepting that you are an alcoholic is the first step you will be doing yourself a huge favor.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by circles of thoughts, you cant stop comparing your level of drinking to that of others, consider trying the following.

• Know the right questions to ask. The moments you start questioning yourself whether you are an alcohol addict or not, chances are you are one. Instead, questions like: Is this the life I want? Should ring in your head, if you can get the right answer for that, you are making the right steps towards recovery from alcohol use disorder.
• Stop comparing yourself with other alcoholics. The comparisons do not do you any good. They make you think you are better than other victims of alcohol addiction when in the real sense you might even be worse. Look at yourself as a person, unique in your way and not as a group. There is no better addict!
• Paint some picture of the future you want. Three years down the line, do you still want to be the same Dave the drunk? As long as you can find the right answer to such cases, you are on the right path. Its that simple. Admit you have the problem and start treating it.

How To Recover From Alcoholism

Once youve passed the initial stage of withdrawal, the process of recovering from alcoholism can still take some time. Changing daily habits, avoiding drinking triggers, managing anxiety or insomnia as your internal chemistry rebalances, and rebuilding your social life are among the challenges you may face.

Start by being patient with yourself. Its normal for the readjustment period to take time, and for people to encounter speed bumps along the way. Assume that for several months to a year you will need to focus on this process, and continue to problem solve as you go along. Its important to remember that it takes time to develop alcoholism, and it takes time to recover from it.

Persistence is key, but so is self-care. Good strategies include a mindfulness practice, a focus on new activities that dont involve alcohol, and having a support system to help you when you experience difficult emotions or a strong urge to drink. Its also a good idea to check with a doctor to assess any strain or damage that drinking has done to your body, and take steps to restore your overall health.

Overall, recovering from alcoholism is about giving yourself time, caring for yourself, finding a healthy support system, and remaining persistent.

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