Alcohol is a tricky thing. You will start with wine with French cheese, continue with vodka with Siberian dumplings, fix the result with cognac under a Hollywood movie. And now every day you catch yourself thinking – not to overturn a glass? What about? The day was hard, the boss was a fool, his wife was a bitch, the weather was disgusting. Waiter, repeat without appetizer! Is it possible and how to stop drinking alcohol on your own at home, without resorting to the services of specialists who, for a certain price, will get you out of the binge by going home ? Let’s try to figure it out, this time without a bottle.
Content
1 Consequences of alcohol dependence
2 Causes of alcoholism
3 Is there an easy way to stop drinking
4 How to stop drinking without coding
5 Folk remedies for the treatment of alcohol addiction
The consequences of alcohol addiction
Almost Hamlet’s question “To drink or not to drink?” everyone decides for himself. However, when pouring a nightly portion of red or white, it is worth remembering what their constant use leads to.
A drinking person is an unpleasant character in all respects. But this is the lyrics. There are quite definite results of constant drinking. And they are much more terrifying than a rumpled look and bad breath.
Diseases of the internal organs
The main target of alcohol bombardment is the liver. It cleanses the blood of toxins and ensures the normal functioning of all body systems. If the toxins attack the liver constantly, the organ cannot cope with their destruction, takes a hit on itself and gradually collapses.
Liver cirrhosis in most cases occurs due to alcohol dependence. This is a dangerous and fatal disease. If it is present, even an ordinary cold can be fatal due to the impossibility of treatment with strong drugs. For example, antibiotics.
With alcoholism, the pancreas suffers, the work of the digestive system is disrupted. The best “friends” of an alcoholic are gastritis, peptic ulcers, bowel disorders, heart and kidney diseases. In men, potency decreases sharply. Brain cells die, memory fails.
Change in psychological state
A small portion of alcohol, as you know, introduces a person into a state of mild euphoria, relieves stress. Long-term alcohol consumption has a radically opposite effect. Neuroses, irritability, unmotivated aggression appear. The person is haunted by mood swings, unexplained anxiety , self-doubt.
The world around you becomes hostile, people seem unfriendly. If you do not get out of this state in time, everything can end first with apathy , then depression and, finally, suicidal moods.
Decreased motivation
The aphorism “I drank in the morning – I’m free all day” did not appear from scratch. A drinker is not able to manage his time, and most importantly, he has no motive to do this. Everything can wait – work, household duties, dissertation, career, even entertainment. What seemed important when sober does not matter much when drunk. The lack of goals leads to a decrease in the desire to do something. The meaning of life is gradually being lost. “Why live if you die anyway? I’d rather go have a drink ”- the standard reasoning of alcoholics.
Other changes
A person trapped in an alcoholic trap changes externally and internally.
Swelling occurs on the face and body due to heavy loads on the kidneys. The skin looks unhealthy, the hair is dull, the look is dull. Overweight appears – alcohol increases appetite and reduces physical activity. “Alcoholic” appearance can put an end to decent work, personal life, social status.
The loss of strength becomes permanent, regardless of power loads, the ability to work is noticeably reduced, there is a frequent desire to rest, move things forward, abandon them altogether.
Meetings with friends are of interest only in the context of drinking alcoholic beverages, sober holidays are not of interest.
The family becomes a burden. Spouse, children require constant participation, for which there is neither strength nor emotion.
Self-rejection arises. The drinker considers himself insignificant, often experiences remorse, suffers from the inability to break out of the vicious circle.
Causes of alcoholism
Why do people who recently drank only on holidays start drinking alcohol regularly? Scientists name the medical and social aspects of the development of this habit.
The first are:
- genetic predisposition;
- features of intrauterine development during pregnancy;
- suffered injuries and illnesses;
- metabolic disorders;
- mental disorders;
- belonging to a special psychotype (people with low self-esteem, low resistance to stress, increased anxiety, insecure, suspicious, weak-willed, prone to depression, etc.).
Among the social causes of alcohol dependence:
- drinking environment;
- economic instability;
- lack of work and constant earnings;
- family troubles, treason, divorce;
- personal disorder, loneliness;
- social rejection;
- constant stress and fatigue;
- death of loved ones.
Let’s simulate the situation with a specific example.
Maxim, 38 years old. Leading specialist in a large logistics company. He is married with three children.
For the last 5 years, Maxim’s life has been stable and has developed incrementally. A prosperous family, beloved wife, desired children. At work, the salary was increased, career growth was outlined – the man was offered the position of head of the main division in the company. The income allowed him to buy a new car, which he had long dreamed of.
At some point, Maxim noticed that he began to support the euphoria from a prosperous life with alcohol. This prolonged the feeling of happiness. He could have a drink with colleagues after a successful day at work, accompany dinner with a glass of vodka, celebrate not only an important, but also a small event.
At first, the wife laughed at his proposal to “wash” the purchase of a new bicycle for her eldest son, but then she became wary. Maxim, on the other hand, thought everything was in order. Until the moment when he forgot to pick up his middle son from kindergarten, because he went with colleagues to the bar after work. And, besides, he got drunk behind the wheel. A conversation with his wife, remorse returned Maxim to a sober reality. However, not for long.
Further events coincided with the next financial crisis in the country. In the company where Maxim worked, a total economy was announced, and redundancies began. The prospect of getting a new position was frozen indefinitely. The eldest son approached a difficult adolescence. Conflicts began in the family. The desire to drink visited Maxim more and more often. I wanted to return the feeling of former joy.
I had to buy alcohol in secret from my wife. The teenage son began to pay attention to the tipsy father. The wife constantly reproached her husband for drunkenness at home.
Maxim began to sit in a cafe with friends. At work in the morning it was hard for him to carry out his duties. The boss noticed it. For one failed task, he deprived a subordinate of a part of his salary and threatened to fire him.
Maxim was drawn to drink more and more. But one day, waking up in a drunken state and looking in the mirror at his, if I may say so, face, he admitted to himself that he had become an alcoholic. The disease has not yet become chronic, but in alcoholism the path to the “terminal” stage is short.
Maxim decided to put an end to this. He talked with his wife, and together they developed a program to return the father of the family to normal life.
Is there an easy way to stop drinking?
Only one thing – to say a firm “no” to alcohol and squeeze the will into a fist. Alas, not everyone is capable of this. Therefore, Mark Twain’s famous aphorism about smoking (we paraphrase it) applies to most people: “Quitting drinking is easy. I’ve done it thousands of times. ”
Do not forget that the sex and age of the alcohol addict are important for the successful recovery from alcoholism. The hardest thing to stop drinking is for a woman over 45 and a teenager.
What is the advantage of getting rid of alcohol cravings on your own? It can take a lot of time, emotional and physical effort to “quit” without professional drug treatment. But first, it’s free. And, secondly, the result will be especially valuable, because you will never forget how difficult this path to sobriety was.
The best motivator for making a volitional decision is fear. Imagine that by drinking yourself, you have lost everything. External attractiveness, health, work, family, love, money, the ability to live, finally.
Fear for yourself and those who are dear to you. Think about who you will turn into with a glass in your hands, what will happen to your parents, how children will grow up without you, to whom your beloved other half will go. Maybe then the urge to drink will leave you alone forever?
How to quit drinking without coding
Close people of alcohol addicts are concerned about how to make the drinker stop drinking? It will not work to force. It is necessary to try to create conditions around the person that will help him think less about drinking and not be in contact with it. Today, rehabilitation centers are open in almost every city. So, for example, in Odessa, treatment for alcoholism completely without coding, so to speak “on dry”.
To get rid of alcohol addiction without the help of a narcologist or coding methods, three important conditions must be met:
- Recognize that alcohol use has become a problem and interferes with a normal life.
- List the reasons why alcohol has appeared in your life.
- Identify specific tasks that will help you get rid of alcohol addiction.
Important milestones on the path to sobriety:
- First, go to the mirror, objectively assess your appearance and say to yourself: “I look 10 years older than my age. I have circles under my eyes and a double chin, not because I get enough sleep and everyone in my family is fat, but because I am an alcoholic. ” Sounds like the show, but without acknowledging the problem, it’s impossible to take the next step.
- Talk to loved ones about your plans to quit drinking. Enlist their support on a difficult path. If you do not find mutual understanding with some of your acquaintances, try to shorten contacts with them and do not meet during periods that involve a feast. Even if they are bosom friends, health is more expensive. And life will put everything in its place.
- Decide why alcohol is bothering you. Think of the “footrests” that you started to stumble over when you became friends with the bottle. These can be: health problems, irritability that led to quarrels in the family, lower income levels, etc.
- Formulate the goals for which you need to quit drinking: conceiving a child, regaining authority in the family, getting a new position, saving on alcohol and building a country house, etc. Goals should be specific and achievable. Unfulfilled fantasies can bring you back.
- During rehabilitation, exclude any self-justification from the vocabulary. “Beer is a low alcohol drink.” “I am only in the evening and a little bit.” “A couple of glasses will help me sleep.” These and other similar phrases are the worst enemies of good intentions to quit drinking.
- Avoid temptation, remove all alcohol from your home. In stores, try to keep the alcohol department out of your sight. Minimize home gatherings with guests who are not averse to drinking.
- Create a daily planner and plan each day so that it is as eventful as possible. Take on some of the household chores that you gave up before. The fewer “windows” for empty pastime you have, the less likely you will have thoughts about drinking.
- Create leisure activities. They should be active, enjoyable, and distract from thoughts of alcohol.
- Switch to a healthy diet. Eliminate from the diet those dishes that you previously liked to consume with alcohol. Try to make the menu tasty, varied and enjoyable. During such a period, small joys will not hurt.
- Find substitutes for relieving stress after work. It can be walks, going to the movies, hobbies, gym classes, evening jogging.
- Calculate how much money you spent on alcoholic drinks per month, week, day. Put them aside. You’d be surprised how ruinous this expense was for the budget. Use the money saved to buy something pleasant, useful, or save for a serious purchase.
- Try to see the positive in everything. Despondency is the first and foremost temptation to revert to an old habit. Do not allow yourself to be depressed, regret the unfulfilled, nostalgic for the fun riotous times. Just switch your thoughts to something brighter.
- Take care of your health. Surely, you have something to work on after a period of prolonged alcohol attack on your body. Consult your doctor – he will advise vitamins that will support your well-being during the rehabilitation period.
Folk remedies for the treatment of alcohol addiction
Alcoholism at all times was considered an unnatural phenomenon for normal life. What’s the use of a drunken man? He’s a bad parent, a useless worker, a lousy sex partner. Therefore, even our ancestors were looking for ways to rid a person of this bad attachment.
There are many recipes for folk antialcoholic remedies. They include decoctions based on thyme, St. John’s wort, wormwood, yarrow, peppermint, bearberry, willow herb, thyme and other medicinal herbs. You should consult with your doctor about this or that collection, so as not to cause undesirable side effects in the body.
In the period of recovery from alcohol dependence, doctors recommend replenishing such an element as potassium in the body. It is necessary for the normal functioning of the kidneys, heart, energy and acid-base balance. Potassium increases efficiency, maintains normal blood pressure, improves oxygen supply to the brain, etc.
You can replenish the potassium excreted along with alcohol at home using products such as:
- tomatoes;
- Bell pepper;
- boiled or baked potatoes in a peel;
- dried fruits, raisins;
- walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts;
- grapes;
- apricots;
- honey;
- Black tea.
In the period of refusal from alcohol, it is recommended to use the aromatherapy method. Essential oils of fennel, medicinal sage, nutmeg, myrtle, leuzea help to reduce cravings for alcohol and even cause aversion to them.
