There are many reasons why you might want to stop drinking. For some people, it’s a lifestyle change – say goodbye to hangovers, sleep better, lose extra pounds and have more energy. It might even be about challenging yourself, bonding with people who are quitting drinking or raising money for charity.
For others, quitting may be necessary for medical reasons. Perhaps it’s because of an alcohol-related condition, such as liver disease, or because they’ve started taking medication that reacts badly with alcohol.
Whatever your reason, the good news is that anyone can quit drinking. If you want to cut alcohol out of your life, you’re not alone.
This guide has lots of practical tips on how to quit drinking and the benefits you can expect. You’ll also find out about the withdrawal symptoms you may experience after going from heavy drinking to not drinking at all, and advice on where to get support.
Before you stop drinking
First, if you think you might be dependent on alcohol, you should talk to your doctor or other health professional. You can talk to your GP or a member of their team, or you can get confidential advice and support from some of the national alcohol support services.
Becoming dependent on alcohol means you feel you can’t function without it, and stopping drinking can cause physical withdrawal symptoms, such as shaking, sweating or nausea. If you experience these symptoms when you're not drinking, it can be dangerous to stop drinking too quickly without the right support.
Potential alcohol withdrawal symptoms
Short-term effects
Even if you're not an alcoholic, you may experience some short-term effects after quitting drinking. Some people feel a bit irritable, shaky or tired, or find themselves having trouble concentrating, having trouble sleeping or having nightmares.
If you drink regularly, you can experience these symptoms, even if you were previously drinking at relatively low levels. For most people, these symptoms pass quickly and are only temporary blips before they start to feel the benefits of quitting drinking. But if you experience these symptoms for more than five days after quitting drinking, or find them particularly bothersome, your GP will be able to offer some advice.
Physical symptoms
Most people don't experience any physical symptoms after quitting drinking. But if you're an alcoholic or alcohol-dependent, suddenly quitting drinking (if you're used to drinking a lot and suddenly stop drinking altogether) can cause severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
These physical withdrawal symptoms include shaking hands, sweating, headaches, nausea, vomiting, palpitations and loss of appetite. In severe cases, symptoms can include convulsions, fever and even hallucinations.
Top Tips to Help You Stop Drinking
1. It Doesn’t Take Willpower to Quit
Willpower and abrupt quits (such as those suggested by the Drinking Awareness website) are likely to lead to extreme misery and failure because you’ll feel like you’re giving up something you want and need. Willpower is the hard way to quit drinking, not the easy way to stop drinking.
2. Change your mindset about drinking and alcohol
The willpower approach suggests avoiding temptation – some suggest you should find restaurants that don’t serve alcohol when you stop drinking!
Wouldn’t it be easier and more enjoyable to change your mindset about alcohol so you can enjoy going to any restaurant, bar, club or party without feeling left out or deprived by not drinking?
3. Don’t Cut Down
The hard way to quit drinking is to constantly remind yourself why you’re quitting. Wouldn’t it be more wonderful to constantly remind yourself how blessed you are to be free?
Mainstream advice suggests gradually cutting down to control your drinking. But they don’t realise that cutting down is harder than stopping. How many times in the past have you tried to cut down and failed? The end result is torture and pain, and “old habits” die hard, but as we explained, they are not habits.
4. Be Cool About Withdrawal Symptoms
The willpower method constantly talks about “giving up”. The key is to realize that you are not “giving up” anything at all. You are just getting rid of something that is causing you huge problems. Many other methods of quitting alcohol put fear in your heart – warning you of scary “severe” symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. However, when you probe further, they confirm that these symptoms are “irritability, difficulty concentrating, shakiness, tiredness, trouble sleeping or nightmares”.
Doesn’t sound that hard, does it? I know some guys who feel that way on the weekend when their football team loses!
5. Set a date and quit drinking naturally
You may be concerned about the negative physical symptoms that come with quitting drinking, as sites such as Alcohol Awareness talk about trembling hands, nausea, sweating and other effects, but these effects are extremely rare and are mentioned in the fine print of these sites.
Even at their worst, they sound no more unpleasant than a cold!
If you’re worried about what alcohol will do to you – would you waste even a minute worrying about catching a cold in a few days’ time in exchange for freedom?
Of course not, having said that, if you’re an extreme alcoholic, have experienced delirium tremens or seizures in the past, have been hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal, or are concerned about quitting drinking suddenly, you should discuss this with your GP or doctor.
6. Enjoy freedom from cravings and temptations
Live an alcohol-free life and be wary of falling into the trap again.
If your mind starts playing tricks on you and thinking about “just one drink” or “one glass of wine”, remember that there is no such thing.
The question you need to ask yourself is not “do I want to have a drink now”, but “do I want to be an alcoholic again and never be able to stop?”.
The answer is “no”. Why not?
"Because I don't like drinking - that's why I'm free".
That way, those moments will be enjoyable when you're thankful you're free.
Of course, if you're worried about quitting drinking, you should talk to your GP, but first find out more about the best way to quit drinking - Alan Carr's Easy Quitting and why you really don't have to be afraid of quitting.
