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Along with medication and other treatment support, a range of alternative therapies may be effective in lessening alcohol cravings and other withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately, urges to drink are short-lived, predictable, and controllable. This short activity offers a recognize-avoid-cope approach commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps people to change unhelpful thinking patterns and reactions. It also provides worksheets to help you uncover the nature of your urges to drink and to make a plan for handling them. Although the desires and cravings for alcohol will never truly go away for good, there are plenty of ways to subdue those negative thoughts and intense desires. You’ll be surprised how much your diet will assist with your recovery from alcoholism.
While you can’t make the urge go away, you can see it for what it is. Discover your earliest red flag signals so you won’t be caught off guard. Nipping temptation in the bud is easier than stopping it when it’s got a full head of steam.
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Counseling, medication, support from family and friends, changing your diet, taking supplements, and alternative treatments may all help lessen your alcohol cravings. There is some scientific evidence suggesting acupuncture provided by a qualified practitioner can help cut alcohol consumption https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/5-ways-to-reduce-alcohol-cravings/ and lessen alcohol withdrawal symptoms (11). These cravings can be frustrating if you’re trying to cut down on alcohol, drink less or stop drinking completely, but they are quite normal. The following activity offers suggestions to support you in your decision to cut back or quit drinking.
How do you drastically reduce alcohol?
- Set yourself a drink limit and count your drinks.
- Swap to low or no alcohol alternatives.
- Limit how much alcohol you keep in the house.
- Change your “after work routine”.
- Delay that first drink.
- Drink only with dinner.
And keeping track over time gives you the chance to see if your efforts to reduce your urges and cravings are working. Like a bad case of food poisoning for your mind, it can overtake you and leave you feeling totally powerless. In the moment, the desire for a drink can feel larger than anything else, including your intention to not pick up. So when you get seriously thirsty, what’s a strategy that will save you? If your buddies aren’t answering the phone and you’re staring a bottle down, playing the tape through is a craving crusher that will help. It’s a mental exercise that is easy to do anywhere and at anytime.
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This can help you feel confident that you won’t act on an urge you might experience. Immediately, firmly refuse to give in to your alcohol cravings. On general principle, you don’t have to reason it out yet again. Whenever you get the idea to resume drinking, you can tell that idea to go to hell.
They won’t judge you for experiencing thoughts about alcohol. They can also share their experience with you as to how they deal with cravings. Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is used for a variety of addictions to different substances to help people maintain sobriety and to reduce cravings.
Tips and Tricks for Managing Alcohol Cravings
If you don’t feel as hungry, you may be less likely to consume beer, wine, or liquor. Focusing on your physical well-being through proper diet and exercise will not only maintain your physical health but will support healthy emotional health too. Getting outside in the fresh air, and getting your body moving will increase your mental functioning and processing while also promoting a natural flow of endorphins.
Acamprosate is prescribed to people after they’ve quit drinking alcohol to help them maintain abstinence. The drug helps ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, and depression. With time, and by practicing new responses, you’ll find that your urges to drink will lose strength, and you’ll gain confidence in your ability to deal with urges that may still arise at times. If you are having a very difficult time with urges, or do not make progress with the strategies in this activity after a few weeks, then consult a healthcare professional for support. In addition, some new, non-addictive medications can reduce the desire to drink or lessen the rewarding effect of drinking so it is easier to stop.