How To Beat Alcoholism

Recovering from alcohol addiction may be a long and winding path. It may even feel impossible at times. But it isn’t. You can beat alcoholism if you’re ready to quit drinking and prepared to obtain the professional help you need.

Recovery is achievable with the appropriate methods, no matter how severe your alcoholism is or how powerless you feel.

This article will provide information to start the path to recovery today. Continue reading to learn how to beat alcoholism.

Key takeaways

It is difficult to live with alcoholism. When someone struggles with alcoholism, it may majorly impact their emotional and physical health and relationships.

This article will highlight the following:

  • The first step towards recovery is admitting to yourself that you have a problem and deciding to change
  • Identify triggers and find ways to avoid them so they won’t affect your recovery progress
  • Discovering alternatives to deal with unpleasant thoughts is critical
  • Rehab centers are well-equipped to help individuals who want to alter their life and overcome addiction

So, do you want to beat alcoholism and don’t know what to do? Don’t worry. Professional addiction help is available at The Recovery Team.

We offer tailored treatment plans and therapy per patients’ unique needs to beat alcoholism. Call us at (800) 817-1247 today and get on the path to a sober life.

Alcoholism: What Is It?

Alcoholism is a drinking problem that severely affects your physical and mental health. The desire for excessive alcohol consumption is strong and often overwhelming. Alcohol addiction, alcoholism, alcohol dependence, or substance abuse are all used to describe alcoholism.

It is medically recognized as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) that may be treated. The disorder differs from harmful drinking (another alcohol-use disorder), which causes health harm without creating dependency.

Furthermore, someone with alcohol addiction often prioritizes drinking over all other duties, like job and family. This way, the person will develop a physical tolerance, which means they will drink more and more to get the same impact. They also may have alcohol withdrawal symptoms if they go cold turkey, i.e., stopping the intake of alcohol abruptly.

Negative Impacts of Alcoholism

Alcoholism can negatively affect you physically and psychologically. Following are some of the most potential short-term effects of alcohol abuse:

  • Nausea
  • Hangovers
  • Alcohol poisoning
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Loss of bladder control
  • Accidents or bodily injury
  • Impaired judgment and slurred speech

There are also some possible long-term effects of alcohol abuse which are as follows:

  • Liver failure
  • Risk of diabetes
  • Heart problems like high blood pressure
  • Possible brain conditions such as dementia
  • Mental health issues like depression and suicidal ideation

Furthermore, these negative impacts highlight why the prevention of addiction is essential.

Methods to Combat Alcoholism

Quitting alcohol may seem difficult. The following are helpful ideas for quitting alcohol and making a change.

Identifying a Problem

Recognizing when drinking has become a problem is the first step in combating alcoholism. A person struggling with alcoholism has established a physical and psychological dependence on alcohol.

Alcoholism does not appear suddenly. It results from a lengthy period of forming habits and getting to the point where alcohol consumption is a regular part of a person’s daily routine.

A person struggling with alcohol addiction eventually develops a tolerance, requiring more to have the same effect. Health, family life, and relationships begin to deteriorate.

Times of perfect sobriety become scarce, requiring greater work to become sober again and operate regularly becomes more evident.

An individual with alcoholism is usually the last person to realize they have a problem. They offer explanations. Overcoming alcoholism can be extremely challenging unless an individual is willing to recognize that a problem must be addressed.

Start With a Plan

When you decide to stop drinking, sit down and explore your choices. Choose a structure that works for you and have it medically monitored. Because stopping alcohol may cause withdrawal symptoms, it’s important to have a medical practitioner manage the process.

Alternatively, consider things in general. What will you do if you get the temptation to drink? Who will you contact if you need assistance? Will you participate in a program or abstain from alcohol at home? Decide what you want your future relationship with alcohol to look like, establish a long-term strategy, and be willing to stick to it.

Measure Your Drinks

“After admitting that you have a drinking problem, you need to know how much you’re drinking,” as per Katie Witkiewitz, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of New Mexico.

A regular glass of wine is five ounces and contains around 12 percent alcohol. A shot of distilled spirits, such as vodka, is 1.5 ounces in size and contains 40 percent alcohol. As per the NIAAA, a 12-ounce can of beer has around five percent alcohol, whereas a normal glass of wine is three to four ounces and has about 17 percent alcohol.

Use the NIAAA’s drink size calculator to calculate the quantity of alcohol in various beverages. This might be helpful if you plan to cut down the intake slowly.

Avoid Triggers

Cravings will be at their peak throughout the first six months of your commitment to recovery. You must not be discouraged by desires. Instead, avoid the things that make you want to drink alcohol.

You may have to avoid the company that used to drink with you and participate in activities that distract you from cravings, such as exercise, music, cleaning, or creativity.

Acknowledge, recognize, and embrace the impulse. Instead of battling what naturally occurs within, allow it to exist but do not allow it to rule you.

Build a Strong Support System

Recovering from alcoholism is a journey that cannot be accomplished alone and sometimes be emotionally overwhelming.

Suppose you have loved ones who are willing to assist you. Do not hesitate to take help this way. You will not be alone on this journey. Friends, family, sober communities, and support organizations are all there to encourage, comfort, and advise you.

You can break away from your addiction habits and start a new sober life as an alcohol-free individual with the help of your loved ones’ support.

Learn To Say No

Prepare yourself for the occasions when someone offers you a drink. Discover ways that help you gently but firmly say no. “No thanks” is a brief remark.

Per the NIAAA, you might also keep a nonalcoholic drink on hand, ask a friend to provide addiction support in tough situations, or leave the space early if the temptation becomes too intense.

Exercise and Nutrition

Physical health restoration is critical to a successful rehab outcome. So, to beat alcohol addiction, you must focus on your fitness and nutrition.

To replace muscular mass, strength, and stamina while increasing mood, the nutritionally depleted brain and body require a constant diet of regular cardio activity, like running, cycling/spinning, walking, hiking, swimming, and dancing cardio.

Create a diet that includes lean meats, whole grain bread and pasta, fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, and plenty of water.

Find Support Groups

It is strongly advised that you attend meetings or self-help groups. Attending these sessions with like-minded folks who have been in your shoes will benefit you as you continue your recovery journey. Moreover, support groups assist persons in maintaining long-term sobriety.

With so many organizations to choose from, select one that best suits what you want to get. When seeking a support group to help you recover, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do you feel inspired to stay sober?
  • Once you’ve left, do you feel stronger?
  • Is your treatment giving you new hope?

Know your gut feeling. If you feel positive and inspired, support groups can be fruitful.

Seek Rehab Treatment Programs

Aside from the above tips, if your alcoholism is severe, you must require medical treatment to conquer addiction. Alcoholism may damage many facets of your life. The expert treatment strategies combine various recovery programs.

Additionally, many specialists advocate entering a recovery facility to conquer alcoholism safely. They consider it the finest technique to assist a person with alcoholism in becoming sober for good. Alcohol recovery is broken down into three fundamental categories:

  • Physical: This refers to a body’s physical reliance on alcohol.
  • Mental: This refers to the sentiments and concerns ignored by drinking, which individuals prefer to avoid, such as stress and sadness.
  • Psychological: This refers to false sentiments of confidence or self-assurance induced by alcohol.

The recovery process takes time. Short-term rehab programs are rarely as successful as long-term programs for persons with a significant addiction to alcohol. However, this is not to argue that short-term initiatives are not beneficial.

Therapy is more rigorous, and these programs perform better for persons with less severe addiction. The first stage is to adjust the body to work again without alcohol.

The next step is to address the reasons why a person drinks. This includes both the mental and psychological aspects. It begins with recognizing the causes, and triggers,  discussing them, and determining alternate solutions for dealing with the difficulties that led to the drinking in the first place.

The final stage is accepting responsibility and seeking the right treatment option that assists you in attaining long-term sobriety. The following are some of the treatment plans available in rehab centers.

Inpatient Rehab Programs

For people recovering from alcoholism, a residential treatment center provides the most controlled treatment setting.

These rehabs are often designed to treat the most severe alcoholism and require clients to stay on-site throughout the treatment. These programs are usually 30, 60, or 90 days long.

Outpatient Rehab Programs

Outpatient alcohol rehab is a common and successful method of treating Alcohol Use Disorder(AUD). Outpatient programs let people seek therapy for their AUD without interfering with their regular duties like jobs, education, and family obligations.

This treatment plan does not obligate you to stay at the facility. However, taking regular recovery sessions and medications is mandatory.

Transitional Living Program

Patients who have finished a residential addiction treatment program can enroll in a transitional living program. Individuals in recovery often stay in this program for six to eighteen months. Still, you can stay for longer or shorter lengths based on your specific needs.

This addiction treatment program can help the homeless, although stays in regular transitional housing programs are often shorter than those in addiction recovery programs.

Relapse Prevention

The first practical step to help shore up recovery after inpatient treatment is to develop a relapse prevention strategy. A relapse prevention plan is a practical strategy for keeping someone fresh in recovery on track. This may be a written document, a workbook, or a spoken plan created during therapy.

Dual Diagnosis Program

Dual diagnosis therapy addresses both mental illness and substance use disorder at the same time because both have a significant influence on a person’s life. As a result, a dual diagnosis program integrates the two conditions rather than concentrating on each separately.