The process of overcoming alcohol addiction, It may be long and bumpy for everyone. Some even think that To quit drinking, It is impossible. But this is not the case. If you are ready to quit drinking, And is willing to receive the necessary help, So, no matter how heavy the alcohol addiction is, No matter how powerless you feel, You can get rid of alcoholism and addiction, Let the messy life gradually get back on track. Don’t wait for a [turning moment] that will make you fall to the bottom. You can make changes at any time. Start waking up from your drunkenness today. Let us begin with our determination, Step by step to complete the six stages of abstinence. Today, let’s introduce the first two stages: Make up your mind, Set goals. Phase I: Make up your mind to stop drinking. Most alcoholics do not make up their minds to stop drinking immediately or the next day. Recovery is a much longer gradual process. At the beginning of abstinence, Admitting to being an alcoholic, It can be counted as a [hurdle]. And even if alcoholics admit that they have alcohol problems, It is also likely to continue to make excuses and procrastinate. Importantly, We have to admit that we are very contradictory about [stopping drinking]. If we don’t know if we are ready, Or are you still struggling to decide whether to quit, think about the costs and benefits of [quitting] and [not quitting]. This method can help people make better decisions. You can make a similar list and weigh the costs and benefits of continuing drinking and quitting drinking respectively. Is it worth continuing drinking? The Benefits of Drinking: The Benefits of Quitting Drinking: The Cost of Drinking: The Cost of Quitting Drinking: Phase 2: Set Goals and Be Ready for Change Once you have decided to quit drinking, the next step is to set clear goals. The more specific, realistic and clear the better. Example 1: My Drinking Goals Example 2: My Drinking Goals 1. When can I drink? Our motivation determines the specific setting of abstinence goals. If our motivation for setting goals is to reduce drinking, Then we need to decide which days to drink and how much to drink every day in the specific goals. If we decide not to drink again, then we should first choose at least two days a week and definitely not drink during these days. 2. Starting from what? Do you want to stop drinking from what time or reduce your alcohol consumption? Tomorrow? In the next week? Before the end of next month? In half a year? If you want to give up drinking, you must set a specific date for giving up drinking. 3. How do you plan to limit yourself? After setting the goal of abstaining from alcohol or reducing alcohol consumption, You need to write down some ideas that can help you achieve these goals. For example: Get rid of temptation. Throw away all alcoholic beverages, drinking utensils and anything that reminds you of [drinking] in the office and at home. Announce your goals. Let friends, family and colleagues know that you want to quit drinking. If they drink, Ask them to support you by not drinking your noodles. Stick to your self-requirements. Make it clear to family and friends that, Drinking is not allowed in your house, You will not be able to attend any place or activity that provides alcoholic beverages. Avoid adverse effects. Stay away from people who will not help you to quit drinking and do not respect your self-requirements. This may mean that you must give up some friends and social relationships. Learn from past experiences. Reflect on previous attempts to quit drinking. What is effective? Which are not? This time what can try something different to avoid starting drinking again? Lao Wang finally made up his mind to give up drinking. The first question he needs to decide is: Should I just reduce the amount of alcohol I drink, or should I give up drinking completely? Basically, it depends on how addicted Lao Wang is to alcohol. If Lao Wang is addicted to alcohol, He’s an alcoholic, That is to say, the amount of alcohol drunk cannot be controlled. It’s best to try not to drink and stop drinking completely. However, If Lao Wang is not ready to take this cruel step, Or if Lao Wang does not have a drinking problem, but restricts drinking for personal life or health reasons, then the following tips can provide some help for Lao Wang. 1. Setting a Drinking Target Lao Wang needs to choose a specific drinking limit. If Lao Wang is Aunt Wang, then she must ensure that she drinks at most one cup a day; If Lao Wang is Uncle Wang, Then you can only drink two cups a day at most. Then, Lao Wang wants to write down his drinking goal on a piece of paper. Put it in a prominent position, For example, on the refrigerator door or bathroom mirror. 2. Keep a drinking diary. In order to achieve your goal, It is very useful to record how much you drink each time and not drink a cup every day. For a week in a row, Lao Wang wrote down every drink in his drinking diary. After keeping it down for 3 to 4 weeks, Lao Wang found that, The diary can intuitively show the amount and frequency of drinking. Lao Wang was quite surprised by the results: In fact, the amount of alcohol drunk is a little different from the original target. But I don’t feel that much, It really needs to be well controlled. 3. At home, you have to control your head and not prepare wine. Or just a little wine. In this way, Lao Wang found that when he wanted to drink, he didn’t have any wine at hand, and the cost of drinking suddenly became higher: he had to take money, go out the door, find wine, buy wine, bring it back and drink again. Lao Wang found that it is a good way to control drinking not to let the temptation of alcohol linger around him. 4. Drink slowly Lao Wang knew that when drinking, the following habits can make the amount of drinking smaller: sip slowly; The interval between the two cups is at least one hour; After drinking, have some soda water or juice. He also found that Never drink on an empty stomach, Be sure to eat while drinking. 5. Set a Weekly [No Alcohol Day] Lao Wang chose not to drink every Tuesday or Thursday. After sticking to it for a month, Lao Wang plans to try to give up drinking for a week. After that, looking back on the physical and psychological feelings of [No Alcohol Day] and [No Alcohol Week], Lao Wang felt that it seems easier to stick to not drinking now. Next, he has to face what? After no wine day, no wine week, Alcoholics are likely to experience physically uncomfortable [withdrawal reactions], Even need psychiatrist’s care and treatment. After the withdrawal reaction, the physical dependence on alcohol can be regarded as abstaining. However, we still need more time and energy to solve the psychological dependence. In the next article, we will continue to introduce the long recovery road of abstinence. Now, let’s start with [the costs and benefits of abstinence]. Responsible Editor: Chuyang
