The Twelve Steps: A Path to Quitting Alcohol and Drugs
Finding an Anchor for the Heart: A Lasting Way to Quit Alcohol and Drugs
Alcohol is an addictive substance that suppresses the central nervous system, causing people who are dependent on it to lose self-restraint in their behavior. Long-term drinking not only damages the body’s internal systems, but also carries a real risk of psychiatric symptoms.
Basic Ways to Quit Drinking on Your Own
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Set a clear goal for why you want to quit — for example, quitting for your health, to bring a worn-down, dull body back to life, or quitting for your family, so you can give them more time and more happiness.
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Gradually cut back on how much you drink, little by little, until you can stop completely.
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If you’re someone whose social life or work regularly requires socializing that involves drinking — to the point where it turned into dependence — you can avoid those same old environments, or learn to say no when it isn’t necessary.
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Exercise, or find activities you enjoy for your free time — this may be the single best way to quit drinking.
That said, for someone whose drinking has become chronic dependence, quitting on your own may not be enough to treat it. If you or someone in your family is dependent on alcohol, DAY ONE Drug Treatment Center encourages you to find a way to quit through supervised care for alcohol withdrawal, along with physical and psychological rehabilitation from a team of doctors and specialists — so you can be treated properly, get through alcohol dependence with confidence, and ultimately stop drinking for good.
Quitting Alcohol Through the Twelve-Step Method
The Twelve Steps began with two people who had themselves struggled with alcohol dependence. Together, they worked to find a way to quit and founded Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), developing the Twelve Steps toward quitting alcohol. This approach later spread widely among people dependent on alcohol and drugs, and was found to support lasting recovery.
The core idea of the Twelve Steps is acceptance — accepting that your problems with alcohol and drugs have grown too difficult to manage on your own, and turning instead to rely on and respect a power greater than yourself (a Higher Power), something you hold onto in faith as an anchor for your heart.
A Higher Power is whatever each person has faith in — for example, the founders of various religions, the Buddha, Jesus, sacred teachings, monks who practice rightly, God, religion, or anything sacred and worthy of reverence, as well as true friends, a beloved parent or partner, children, or teachers.
The Twelve Steps: A Path to Quitting Alcohol and Drugs
Step 1
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that alcohol had made our lives unmanageable.
I am not power.
Step 2
We came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves that could restore us to well-being.
Power does exist.
Step 3
We decided to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood God.
I will rely on Power, not self.
Step 4
We recognized that we were the cause of most of our past mistakes.
I cause most of my problems.
Step 5
We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to others the exact nature of our wrongs.
I falsely claim power and try.
Step 6
We were ready to have God remove all our defects of character.
I will stop claiming and trying.
Step 7
We humbly asked God to help remove our shortcomings.
Power, please guide me.
Step 8
We made a list of the people we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them.
I will stop controlling others.
Step 9
We made direct amends to those people wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others.
I will show more forgiveness.
Step 10
We continued to take stock of ourselves, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
I will do good more & bad less.
Step 11
We prayed to what we believe in and sought stillness of mind, to gain strength and something to hold onto.
I pray to be under God’s will.
Step 12
Having found peace and stability within ourselves, we try to carry this message to others struggling with alcohol and drugs, and to share these principles with those who are still suffering.
I will confess and share this.
In short, to quit drinking or quit drugs, take a clear-eyed look at everything alcohol dependence has cost you, and commit yourself with determination and patience to quitting for good — by finding a motivating goal and holding on to the benefits of quitting, such as a warmer family life, being better able to handle your responsibilities at work, and a stronger, healthier body free of decline. And if you have a family member or friend who is dependent on alcohol, encourage them and be someone they can think things through with, to build hope and encouragement together — inspiration like this genuinely helps a person dependent on alcohol quit, and never turn back to it again.
Or, for the best approach of all: if you or your family are searching for a way to quit drugs, consider consulting DAY ONE REHABILITATION CENTER, an addiction treatment center offering residential care. Our program takes place entirely within the rehabilitation facility, set in a resort-like atmosphere surrounded by water and nature, calm and relaxing, in Nakhon Nayok province, with staff on hand throughout treatment and specialists in each field who design a range of therapy activities suited to each individual (Individual Therapy) — because every person in treatment has different challenges, and good treatment needs to be designed specifically for each person.
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