Alcohol is a complicated thing.You will start with wine and cheese, continue with vodka and dumplings and finish with cognac and an interesting film.And now every day you find yourself thinking: should I knock over one glass or another?And what?It was a difficult day, the boss was an idiot, the wife was a bitch, the weather was disgusting.Waiter, repeat no appetizers!Is it possible and how to stop drinking alcohol alone at home, without resorting to the services of specialists who, for a certain price, will help you stop drinking by visiting your home?Let's try to find out, this time without the bottle.
Consequences of alcohol addiction
The question “To drink or not to drink?”everyone decides for themselves.However, when serving a portion of wine or white wine every evening, it is worth remembering what its constant use leads to.
A man who drinks is an unpleasant character in every respect.But these are letters.There are very definite results from constant alcohol consumption.And they are much more terrible than rumpled appearance and bad breath.
Diseases of internal organs
The main target of alcohol bombardment is the liver.Cleans the blood of toxins and ensures the normal functioning of all body systems.If toxins constantly attack the liver, the organ cannot cope with their destruction, takes the hit and gradually collapses.
Liver cirrhosis, in most cases, occurs due to alcohol dependence.This is a dangerous and fatal disease.If present, even a common cold can be fatal due to the impossibility of treating it with strong medications.For example, antibiotics.
Alcoholism affects the pancreas and disrupts the functioning of the digestive system.Gastritis, peptic ulcers, intestinal disorders, heart and kidney diseases become an alcoholic's best “friends”.In men, potency decreases sharply.Brain cells die, memory fails.
Change in psychological state
It is known that a small portion of alcohol puts a person in a state of mild euphoria and relieves stress.Prolonged consumption has a radically opposite effect.Neuroses, irritability and unmotivated aggression appear.A person is tormented by mood swings, unexplained anxiety and lack of self-confidence.
The world around becomes hostile, people seem hostile.If you do not get out of this state in time, everything can end first in apathy, then in depression and, finally, in suicidal tendencies.
Decreased motivation
The aphorism “Drink in the morning, all day is free” did not appear out of nowhere.A person who drinks cannot manage their time and, most importantly, has no reason to do so.Everything can wait – work, household chores, dissertation, career and even entertainment.What seemed important when sober is of little importance when drunk.Lack of goals leads to a decreased desire to do anything.The meaning of life is gradually lost."Why live if you're going to die anyway? I'd better go get a drink"—the standard reasoning of alcoholics.
Other changes
A person trapped in an alcohol 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 appearance is dull.If you become overweight, alcohol increases your appetite and reduces physical activity.An “alcoholic” appearance can put an end to a decent job, personal life and social status.
The loss of resistance becomes permanent, regardless of power loads.The ability to work is noticeably reduced, there is a frequent desire to rest, postpone tasks until later or abandon them completely.
Meetings with friends are only interesting in the context of alcohol consumption;sober holidays are of no interest.
The family becomes a burden.The spouse and children require constant participation, for which there is neither strength nor emotions.
Those who drink consider themselves insignificant, often feel remorse and suffer from the inability to escape the vicious circle.
Causes of alcoholism
Why do people who only recently drank on holidays start drinking alcohol regularly?Scientists call the medical and social aspects of developing this habit.
The first include:
- genetic predisposition;
- features of intrauterine development during pregnancy;
- past 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, obstinate, prone to depression).
Among the social causes of alcohol dependence:
- alcohol drinking environment;
- economic instability;
- lack of work and constant income;
- family problems, betrayal, divorce;
- personal restlessness, loneliness;
- rejection from society;
- constant stress and fatigue;
- death of loved ones.
Let's model the situation using a specific example.
Maximum, 38 years old.Leading specialist in a large logistics company.Married, three children.
Over the past 5 years, Maxim's life has been stable and growing.A prosperous family, a 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 department of the company.The income allowed him to buy a new car, which he had dreamed of for a long time.
At some point, Maxim realized that he began to maintain the euphoria of a prosperous life with alcohol.This prolonged the feeling of happiness.He could have a drink with colleagues after a successful working day, wash down dinner with a glass of vodka and celebrate not only an important event, but also a small one.
At first, his wife laughed at his proposal to “launder” the purchase of a new bicycle for his eldest son, but then became vigilant.Maxim thought everything was fine.Until he forgot to pick up his middle son from kindergarten because he and his classmates went to a bar after work.And on top of that, he got drunk behind the wheel.A conversation with his wife and remorse brought Maxim back to sober reality.True, not for long.
Other events coincided with another financial crisis in the country.The company where Maxim worked announced a total savings scheme and layoffs began.The prospect of obtaining a new position has been postponed 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 previous feeling of joy.
I had to buy alcohol in secret from my wife.His teenage son began paying attention to his drunken father.The wife constantly accused her husband of drunkenness at home.
Maxim started staying late in cafes with friends.At work in the morning it was difficult for him to carry out his duties.The boss noticed this.For a failed task, he deprived a subordinate of part of his salary and threatened him with dismissal.
Maxim felt more and more attracted to drinking.But one day, waking up with a hangover and looking at his face in the mirror, so to speak, 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” phase is short.
Maxim decided to put an end to it.He talked to his wife and together they developed a program to return the family man to a normal life.
Is there an easy way to stop drinking?
There is only one way - say a firm “no” to alcohol and clench your will.Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of this.Therefore, the well-known aphorism about smoking can be applied to most people (let's paraphrase it): "It's easy to quit drinking. I've done it thousands of times."
Do not forget that for successful recovery from alcoholism, a person's gender and age are important.It is more difficult for a woman over 45 and a teenager to stop drinking.
What is the benefit of getting rid of alcohol cravings on your own?It can take a lot of time and emotional and physical effort to quit smoking without professional drug treatment help.But first of all, it's free.And secondly, the result will be especially valuable because you will never forget how difficult this road to sobriety was.
The best motivator for making a stubborn decision is fear.Imagine that by becoming an alcoholic you lost everything.External attractiveness, health, work, family, love, money, opportunity to live, in short.
Think about yourself and the people you care about.Think about who you will become with a glass in your hands, what will happen to your parents, how your children will grow up without you, who your other half will go to.Maybe then the urge to drink will leave you alone forever?
How to stop drinking without coding
Relatives of people with alcoholism are worried about how to get a drinker to stop drinking?It will not be possible to force it.It is necessary to try to create conditions around the person that will help them think less about drinking and not have contact with them.Today, rehabilitation centers are open in almost every city.
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 is interfering with normal life.
- List the reasons why alcohol appeared in your life.
- Determine specific tasks that will help you get rid of alcohol addiction.
Important steps on the path to sobriety:
- First, go to the mirror, objectively evaluate your appearance and say to yourself: "I look 10 years older than my age. I have dark circles under my eyes and a double chin, not because I don't get enough sleep and everyone in my family is fat, but because I am an alcoholic."It sounds like something out of a TV series, but without recognizing the problem it's impossible to take the next step.
- Talk to people close to you about your plans to stop drinking.Count on their support on the difficult path.If you don't find mutual understanding with any of your friends, try to reduce your contacts with them and don't meet up during periods that involve parties.Even if they are close friends, health is more valuable.And life will put everything in its place.
- Determine why alcohol bothers you.Remember the “steps” you started to stumble through when you became friends with the bottle.These could be: health problems, irritability that leads to fights in the family, decreased income.
- Formulate the goals for which you need to stop drinking: conceiving a child, regaining authority in the family, getting a new position, saving on alcohol and building a country house.Goals must be specific and achievable.Unfulfilled fantasies can bring you back.
- During rehabilitation, eliminate any self-justification from your vocabulary.“Beer is a drink with low alcohol content.”“I’m only here at night and a little bit.”“A few drinks will help me sleep.”These and similar phrases are the worst enemies of a good intention to stop drinking.
- To avoid temptation, remove all alcohol from your home.In stores, try to keep the alcoholic beverage section out of your sight.Minimize home gatherings with guests who don't mind drinking.
- Keep a diary and plan each day so that it is as hectic as possible.Take on some of the household responsibilities you previously turned down.The fewer “windows” you have to waste time, the less you will think about drinking.
- Create activities to spend your leisure time.They should be active, fun and distract from thoughts about alcohol.
- Eat healthy.Eliminate from your diet those dishes that you previously liked to consume with alcoholic drinks.Try to make the menu tasty, varied and enjoyable.During this period, small joys will not hurt.
- Find substitutes to relieve stress after work.It could be walks, going to the cinema, hobbies, exercise classes, an evening run.
- Calculate how much money you spent on alcoholic drinks per month, week, day.Set them aside.You will be surprised how much this expense item ruined the budget.Use the money you save to buy something good and useful or save it for an important purchase.
- Try to see the positive side of everything.Discouragement is the first and main temptation to return to an old habit.Don't allow yourself to become depressed, regret what didn't come true, or long for fun and wild times.Just change your thoughts to something lighter.
- Take care of your health.You certainly have something to work on after a period of alcohol's prolonged attack on your body.Consult your doctor - he will recommend vitamins that will support your well-being during the rehabilitation period.
Folk remedies for the treatment of alcoholism
Alcoholism has always been considered an unnatural phenomenon for normal life.What is a drunk for?He's a bad father, a useless employee, a terrible sexual partner.Therefore, our ancestors were looking for ways to free a person from this bad attachment.
There are many recipes for folk remedies for the treatment of alcoholism.They include decoctions based on thyme, St. John's wort, wormwood, yarrow, peppermint, bearberry, lemon balm, thyme and other medicinal herbs.You should consult your doctor about this or that collection so as not to cause unwanted side effects in the body.
During the period of recovery from alcohol dependence, doctors recommend replenishing an element such as potassium in the body.It is necessary for the normal functioning of the kidneys and heart and to ensure energy and acid-base balance.Potassium increases performance, maintains normal blood pressure and improves oxygen flow to the brain.
You can replace the potassium excreted along with alcohol at home using products such as:
- tomatoes;
- pepper;
- boiled or roasted potatoes in their skins;
- dried fruits, raisins;
- walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts;
- grape;
- apricots;
- honey;
- black tea.
During the period of abstinence from alcohol, it is recommended to use the aromatherapy method.Fennel, medicinal sage, nutmeg and myrtle essential oils help reduce cravings for alcoholic beverages and even cause aversion to them.