Alcohol Freedom Blog

Once you come to the realization that you have a problem with alcohol the first thing most people think of is “I need to somehow stop drinking alcohol now!” This may well be true but what about the alternatives that are available? Getting your life back from alcohol may not be as final as you think.

If you are alcohol dependent or fall under the category of ‘full blown alcoholic’ your only alternative is to quit drinking or in all likelihood you will depart this life. Serious late stage drinkers will need to cease alcohol altogether in order to regain the lives they once had. It is the recommended recovery method because they have lost the ability to control their drinking. They can’t understand why someone would leave an unfinished drink or why you wouldn’t want to drink even more if one or two drinks make you ‘feel this good’. They have lost all control and need the hard cure.

The problem drinker or the individual who recognizes they may be drinking too much or overdoing it when they are in a social climate where drinking is part of the activities, has some alternatives. Picture coming home from work and unwinding with a drink; does it bother you that one drink turns into three or four before the evening is over? If this is the kind of pattern that concerns you, then you can look to methods of treatment that do not require complete cessation.

This early stage recognition of your drinking problem is an opportunity to look at your options as they exist right then to seek alternative methods for controlling your drinking rather than outright alcohol cessation. You may still able to function day to day relatively normally but you are aware of some emerging problems because of your drinking. These problems are starting to cause some strife in your life such as showing up late for work or missing important family functions.

It’s at this point in someone’s drinking where they reach a crossroads. They can either deny they have a problem worthy of treatment and continue drinking and decline into the more serious stages of problem drinking and alcoholism. Or they can take a serious look at alternative methods for drinking in moderation, control their drinking and perhaps once again return to being a social drinker.

Many problem drinkers are unaware that they have a choice. Once upon a time when you drank excessively you were referred to A.A. or into rehab and you stopped drinking for the rest of your life. As painful or as mournful as that may have been alcohol cessation was the only answer to excessive drinking. Today the approach of cutting off your arm because of a sore finger is being debated by alcohol treatment and medical professionals everywhere.

There are literally thousands of stories of problem drinkers that have been able to continue drinking in moderation or that have returned to social drinking. Stopping after one or two drinks in a social situation is not something many of these people were used to doing but now they can even choose not to drink at all if that’s what they desire. There are two factors that make the modified drinking method viable. What stage are you at in your drinking behavior and what level of desire do you have, how motivated are you to do something about your drinking.

Through the use of FDA approved medications many people who were previously classified as problem drinkers are now able to manage their craving for alcohol so that they can still imbibe if that’s what they want. Anti craving medications prescribed by a professional along with some type of behavioral modification program has proven effective as a treatment for excessive drinking.

Regaining control over your drinking and once again consuming alcohol ‘normally’ is something that was never considered and if it was attempted generally failed because of the strong addictive properties of alcohol. Something was needed to curb the compulsion to drink excessively and that was where medications such as naltrexone and baclofen proved effective in reducing the craving and compulsion to excessively drink or abuse alcohol.

There are also some natural supplements that have anti craving properties as well such as Kudzu, a herb the Chinese have used for years to curb alcohol obsession and after some research is becoming more mainstream as a treatment for alcohol craving. These over the counter and prescribed medications work best when combined with some form of behavior modification.

Its one thing to modify and control your excessive drinking but understanding why it became an issue in the first place is very significant to long term successful treatment of problem drinking. Evaluating your life up to the point when you recognized your predicament then treating the issues that led you to that crisis point, will help put you on the path to a more manageable life.

When combined with life changing strategies for success, achieving personal growth and actually having the life that you really want AFTER your drinking is controlled will complete your new life design. These programs exist today and the successful participants are everywhere living unbelievably productive lives free from the burdens of excessive drinking.

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