Should You Quit Drinking?

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image: doctor telling female alcoholic about her alcohol testIf you experience serious alcohol-related problems and difficulties in most areas of your life, this could be an indication that you need to quit drinking.  Making the decision to quit drinking is the first step in getting sober and starting on the road to alcohol recovery.

What is also needed for long-lasting alcohol recovery in most instances, however, is professional treatment that you can "buy into" and follow through.

Some Relevant Questions About Your Drinking Behavior

image: female teen in anguish from alcoholism Should you quit drinking?  To best answer this question take a few moments to answer the following questions.  Does your drinking affect your work performance?  Do you get drunk a number of times per year?  Have you received any DUIs in the past year?  Has drinking caused a serious financial drain on your pocketbook?  Do you experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit drinking?

More specifically, do you get nauseous, vomit, have the shakes, have terrible headaches, or simply feel miserable when you try to quit drinking?  Are you starting to sneak drinks all through the day?  Have your important relationships started to become negatively affected by your drinking behavior?  Do you crave alcohol?  Do you think about drinking throughout the day?

If you answered one or more of these questions in the affirmative, you probably have a serious drinking problem and need to get an evaluation from your healthcare provider.  There are, nonetheless, two key questions that you need to ask yourself about your drinking.  First, can you honestly cut back my drinking so that you always drink in moderation?  And second, will moderate drinking prevent you from experiencing alcohol-related difficulties and health problems in my life?

Diagnosing alcoholism can be tricky, since the diagnosis depends on the drinker being willing to honestly answer a series of questions about his or her drinking patterns and attitudes.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

image: should this male teen quit drinking?If you are an alcoholic and have decided to quit drinking, please keep in mind that you should not try to suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms at home.  Everyone who has a drinking problem needs to get professional alcohol treatment for his or her alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

While this is obvious for those who suffer extremely painful withdrawals, many, if not most alcoholism experts openly state that everyone who goes through alcohol withdrawals needs to do so under the supervision of a healthcare professional.

Admittedly, the United States has one of the safest highway systems in the world, due in part to design characteristics, guard rails, highway markings and signs. We have relatively few fatalities per 100-million miles driven. But the portion of our accidents involving alcohol is among the highest in the world.

Alcohol Treatment Options

The good news is that there are many different alcohol treatment methods that can effectively and successfully help you quit drinking.  If you do your homework and look into the various alcohol rehab programs in your local area, you will be pleasantly surprised at the number of quality alcohol treatment programs that are available.  Also keep in mind that successful treatment programs not only help you get sober but through out-patient counseling and therapy, they can help you remain sober.

According to a report published by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, eighty-seven percent of adults who drink alcoholic beverages had their first drink before the age of twenty-one.

Should You Quit Drinking:  Conclusion

image: it appears this male alcoholic needs to quit drinkingThe research findings point out that not all people can drink in moderation.  For a host of reasons, some people simply cannot drink in moderation without losing control over their drinking behavior.  If this applies to you, then it would probably be a very good idea to get an evaluation about your particular drinking situation and see if you need professional alcohol treatment. 

With the number of top-quality rehab and treatment programs that are available, making the decision to quit drinking might be the best health-related decision you ever make.

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There's a lot that could be said about how to "deal" with alcoholics, but these are a few action steps that are essential.  First.  Do not make excuses for them and do not enable their drinking behavior.  Second, encourage them to see their family doctor or healthcare professional for an alcohol assessment.  Third, if things get unbearable, call an alcoholism expert and consider doing a family alcoholism intervention.  Fourth, get some personal counseling for yourself.

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