How to Quit Drinking: Self-Help Methods and Medical Treatment
How to Quit Drinking Successfully, With Self-Help Methods and Medical Treatment
First, let’s understand what alcohol actually is. Alcohol, whether natural or synthesized, is classified as a substance of dependence because it contains ethyl alcohol — an alcohol produced by processing starchy and sugary plants such as sugarcane, rice, corn, and cassava. It acts as a central nervous system depressant and can create both physical and psychological dependence. Both beer and spirits are alcoholic beverages with low nutritional value and high caloric content.
Today, alcohol is a substance used across nearly every age group, largely because it’s easy to buy and people often don’t recognize it as a genuinely harmful substance. It can also serve as a gateway to other substance use, and it causes harm across physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions.
Generally, people drink alcohol for a few key reasons: seeking pleasure, wanting to relieve distress, or out of habit that has developed into alcohol dependence. What starts as habitual drinking can progress into alcohol dependence in the brain, creating an intense urge to drink. Without alcohol, painful withdrawal symptoms can follow — tremors, palpitations, vomiting, nausea, hallucinations, and delirium, among others.
There Are Several Ways to Quit Drinking — Both Self-Directed and With Medical Support
How to Quit Drinking on Your Own
1. Stopping abruptly (cold turkey)
Stopping suddenly works well for people whose drinking problems don’t involve morning withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, palpitations, vomiting, or nausea, and who have never experienced severe withdrawal symptoms after stopping in the past, such as seizures, severe agitation, confusion, or auditory hallucinations.
People quitting cold turkey should monitor themselves closely, especially during the first three days. If severe nausea, vomiting, tremors, palpitations, sweating, or worsening irritability and agitation occur, they should see a doctor immediately for help managing alcohol withdrawal. People in the early stages of quitting should follow these guidelines:
• Eat enough food
• Sip sweet drinks frequently to keep energy levels up
• Avoid fatty foods, and take vitamins B1, B6, and B12
• Get enough sleep, keep busy with enjoyable activities, and manage stress through music, light exercise, or art
• Avoid risky situations or triggers that spark the urge to drink, such as liquor stores or friends who drink
• Tell family and close friends that you’re quitting, and ask for their support
• When friends invite you to drink, decline directly — for example, saying you have a liver condition and your doctor has told you to stop drinking
• If you also smoke, control your cigarette intake so it doesn’t increase, or consider quitting smoking altogether
2. Cutting down gradually
Reducing how much alcohol you drink improves your health and lowers your risk of various diseases, and it can be another path toward eventually stopping altogether. That said, no level of drinking is entirely risk-free, and people with alcohol dependence often struggle to successfully cut down — stopping completely tends to lead to greater long-term success.
Tips for successfully cutting down on alcohol include:
• Set and stick to a limit on how much you’ll drink
• Eat before drinking, or drink alongside a meal
• Avoid salty food, since it makes you thirstier and more likely to drink more
• Choose drinks with lower alcohol content, such as beer or wine
• Dilute your drinks to reduce alcohol concentration, and alternate with plain water while drinking
• Replace drinking with other enjoyable activities such as music, sports, or hobbies, especially during the times you’d normally drink
• Avoid friend groups you used to drink with, and instead spend time with friends who don’t drink
• If pressured to drink, decline directly — for example, saying “I have a health condition and my doctor told me not to drink”
• Never drive after drinking
• Stop drinking entirely if a health problem arises, and never drink while taking any medication
• If you’re unable to successfully cut down on your own, consult a doctor for further help
Reference: Thawatchai Kusol et al. (2014), “Understanding Alcohol: 1413 Alcohol Quitline,” 2nd edition, Alcohol Counseling Center [Handbook] / Wanida Printing
Quitting With Medical Support
This involves seeking consultation for alcohol dependence treatment at a hospital’s psychiatric department or other treatment departments, as well as at specialized alcohol treatment centers such as Day One Rehabilitation Center.
The Treatment Process With a Doctor or Specialist
1. Preparation stage. At this stage, the doctor conducts a health assessment, provides education, builds motivation for the patient to quit drinking, and helps them understand what the treatment process involves.
2. Detoxification stage. This stage helps the patient stop drinking safely from the start, easing withdrawal symptoms with medication and preventing severe withdrawal reactions. It typically takes about 1-2 weeks. In some cases, the doctor may need to admit the patient to hospital for detoxification, to monitor their condition closely and provide timely assistance.
3. Rehabilitation stage. This stage helps the patient sustain abstinence, tolerate cravings, live without returning to drinking, and adjust to family life and their environment.
4. Follow-up stage. This stage tracks treatment and rehabilitation outcomes and supports the patient in maintaining a normal lifestyle and continuous abstinence, typically over a period of about 1-2 years.
Successful treatment for alcohol dependence — whether from spirits or beer — depends on several factors: the patient’s genuine motivation to quit completely, consistent attendance at treatment, family support and cooperation with the medical team, and the absence of severe co-occurring psychiatric symptoms. In other words, someone seeking treatment for alcohol dependence often needs encouragement from the people around them and supportive surrounding conditions, to prevent continued drinking from developing into chronic alcoholism or affecting other aspects of health down the road.
A private addiction treatment center like DAY ONE takes a holistic approach to treatment, serving as a residential rehabilitation center for people struggling with alcohol, drugs, and gambling — restoring physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Treatment methods include cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, and family therapy, providing comprehensive, well-rounded treatment along with support for readjusting to society — helping bring about lasting behavioral change in quitting alcohol and other substances.
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