You’re looking at this page, which means you want to quit. That’s the good news!
You can start your journey towards a better life today!
Getting sober is an amazing, life changing process, that at times may feel almost impossible. It is NOT. If you’re ready to stop drinking, and you are willing to get the support you need, and make your recovery the priority, you too can recover from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).
Here is my list of the 10 basics to help you in early sobriety, and keep you focused on what’s important in those early months!
- For your first few weeks sober, your only goal each day is to make it through without a drink. That’s all! Not fixing your entire life, not figuring out the future, just not drinking for the next 24 hours at a time.
- Remember, you’re not giving up a good friend who has treated you well. Instead, you are getting rid of an enemy, and gaining a new, better, healthier and happier life.
- Seek out in-patient/outpatient treatment if you can and are willing to attend. Look into starting therapy. Usually, any addiction is a symptom of other underlying issues. You will have an easier time quitting if you can get to the root of the problem.
- Don’t misjudge your control over your addiction. Everyone does at some point. Stay away from places where alcohol is the main event! You have no business being in a bar if you are trying to stop drinking. Don’t add that kind of stress to your new-found sobriety.
- Keep busy, especially in your first few months of sobriety. Staying sober is hard enough, but keeping busy will help you not obsess about not drinking, and/or what are you going to do with the rest of your life. Practice staying in the present moment.
- Don’t mistake an enthusiasm to change with actual action. Only action will produce actual change. That means that getting sober will take some work and adjustment to your life’s routines.
- Reach out to others in recovery. Find meetings, blogs, podcasts, and search for online resources. See the link at the top of this page to Find Support.
- If possible, cut out toxic relationships from your life. This includes family, friends and romantic relationships. If you keep hanging out with the same people you will continue to do the same things.
- Remember, you’re responsible for your own sobriety. No one can make you do it! There is lots of support out there, but you have to do the work.
- Move beyond self-pity. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t accomplish anything. Having an addiction is not the end of the world! Neither is not drinking! You will be OK!
For more great tips, please check out my post on Quitting Drinking: Where to Start
NOTE: If you choose to start the path to sobriety unaided, bear in mind that if you start experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms (panic attacks, severe anxiety, the shakes, rapid heartbeat) you need to seek immediate medical assistance. Withdrawal from alcohol in some cases can cause death.
Sources:
How to Quit Drinking Alcohol – wikiHow
How to Stop Drinking and Start Recovery – Help Guide
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