Alcohol Abuse – Take Back Control Over Alcohol

Has alcohol taken over your life? Alcohol abuse can creep up gradually – at first you feel in control over your alcohol consumption but over time it takes more and more control away from you.

And whilst drinking is a generally accepted activity, you may have found that you need a drink, that you can’t stop once you start, that you regularly drink more than you intended to and that you need more and more for the same effect. It is likely that it has started to cause problems in your life whether that is in relationships, friendships, your career or your health and self esteem.

Depending on your level of alcohol abuse, you may have found that you are no longer in control – it controls your life.

So how can you start to take back control?

Alcohol Abuse Treatment

In recent months I have helped many people stop their alcohol abuse and take back control over their drinking habit.

For some people it is about stopping their daily drinking habit that means they reach for a bottle as soon as they walk through the door and don’t stop until the bottle is empty.

For others, that first drink leads to hours of drinking, many lost hours and even lost days as they move from drink to drink.

 

 

Then there is the guilt, the covering up, the arguments and the apologising to loved ones for drinking too much again or doing something stupid under the influence of alcohol.

And perhaps one of the clearest signals of alcohol abuse is when you decide you aren’t going to drink or are going to set a reduced limit for yourself, only to find that you can’t stick to those good intentions.

So if your drinking is causing problems in your life and feels out of control then what can you do?

 

Take Back Control Over Alcohol

1) Be Honest With Yourself

Before you can make any changes, you have to accept that there is a problem to sort in the first place.

Start keeping a record of every alcoholic drink you have. Start looking for patterns in your drinking – are you drinking when upset, because you feel out of control in some area of your life, or unhappy, or to cover up a lack of confidence?

You need to know the scale of the issue ready to tackle it and you need to tackle anything that drives you to use drink as a mask for what may really be going on.

2) Avoid Temptation

Sound obvious doesn’t it? But to strengthen the process of taking control over alcohol you need to avoid situations where you may be tempted to drink too much. For example, one client decided to cancel going on a stag weekend because alcohol would have been central to it; instead he spent the weekend with his family (who were his main motivation for change).

 

 

3) Change Patterns

All addictions and habits work on patterns. Whether those are emotional patterns or environmental, you will probably use alcohol in the same way in similar situations as you have in the past. The more you do this the more automatic it feels and the harder it gets to break it.

Knowing this, start changing your patterns in small ways consistently. For example, if you drive past the shop every day and feel compelled to go and buy a bottle then drive a different route. If you usually pour a glass as soon as you walk through the door then go and do something else immediately as you get in.

By changing the patterns you stop your mind working on auto pilot and you can start to diminish those old associations and create more helpful ones in their place.

4) Do More and Do Less

Fighting the urge to drink can completely take over your thoughts as you try and logically tell yourself you don’t need it, whilst at the same time a part of you is tempting you to just have some. That battle is exhausting and the longer it persists the weaker your willpower becomes.

So to start feeling stronger and healthier, start being more active. Get out for a 10-15 minute walk every day. This gets you away from things and also gives you an outlet for all that stress.

And also take time to do less. Find 20 minutes a day to do nothing but relax mentally and physically. Take time to calm down so you can think more clearly. You can use my free audio track to help you with this.

 

 

5) Programme Your Mind

Instead of focusing on what you don’t want to happen with thoughts such as ‘I’m not going to drink’, start focusing on what you do want to happen. Close your eyes, relax and vividly imagine going through the day being healthy, happy, strong and in control. Depending on what you were doing before, you may want to imagine getting in and doing things you want to do, or imagine handling anything that comes your way naturally and calmly so you don’t need anything to help you unwind. Do this consistently and soon it will feel more natural to remain in control over alcohol and to get on with your life.

 

Alcohol Abuse Help Ely, Newmarket, Online

If you are struggling in your relationship with alcohol and are desperately seeking a solution to take back control and end the struggle, then get in touch and book your free consultation. Find out more about how you can start breaking those patterns of alcohol abuse and get any questions you have answered before you decide to go ahead.

To your success,

Dan Regan

Addiction Hypnotherapy Ely, Newmarket, Online

 

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