(ORDO NEWS) — You may not be aware that drinking has begun to harm your health. Meanwhile, the impact of alcohol on your health may already be irreparable.
The hardest thing is to take the first step and start living a less expensive and healthier lifestyle. But even if you don’t usually drink that much, addiction can come with time, so you shouldn’t ignore this question.
To begin with, you should decide how strong your addiction to alcohol is. You may not notice it, but you may have the first signs of an incipient craving for alcohol. You may be addicted if:
- You can’t easily get through the day without drinking alcohol, or you find it difficult to cut it down
- Many of your social activities involve or are based on drinking
- You find yourself thinking about alcohol a lot or craving a drink
- You find it difficult to control how much you drink after you start
- You need to drink a lot to feel intoxicated
If you recognize yourself in one of these statements, then you already have a mild form of alcohol addiction. The more points you agree on, the stronger your pull can be.
How to start drinking less
The answer to this question depends on how much you are addicted to alcohol. If the addiction is mild (and many people have it, you are not alone), you can deal with this addiction on your own. In the case of moderate addiction, you may need the support of a specialist and loved ones.
If you are heavily addicted, you should see a doctor before making any changes to your alcohol use, because quitting abruptly can cause serious health problems, including seizures and even death.
If you are experiencing a mild to moderate addiction every time you drink, this can be a factor that will lead you to become highly addicted. Therefore, it is sometimes easier to increase the number of days without alcohol than to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink.
If you are not addicted but are trying to reduce your alcohol intake for health reasons or other reasons, switching to non-alcoholic beer or wine may be a good option.
By replacing some or all of your regular alcohol with soft drinks, you can still enjoy the social aspects of drinking without these health risks.
Brief interventions – just five minutes of a GP consultation – can reduce alcohol consumption by 30%, especially for people with mild to moderate addiction. So it’s worth talking to your doctor if you need a little help getting started.
Counseling is the main form of treatment for alcohol addiction. Sessions are usually held once a week with a qualified professional such as a psychologist. Sometimes they are held in groups. Such therapy is suitable for a drinker with any level of addiction. Along with consultations, drug therapy can help, but only a doctor can prescribe it.
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