Right now you can start the journey to a new-found life in sobriety! If you are ready to get started, and end the continuous miserable cycle of Alcohol Use Disorder, you have come to the right place!
WELCOME! I have been down this journey myself and I am extremely grateful for every day that I do not take a drink. Getting sober is a wonderfully rewarding, yet quite difficult process. The first steps are always the hardest, but all you have to do is just put one foot in front of the other. If you choose this journey you will gain strength, and knowledge, and freedom that you have never experienced.
I would love to share a few things with you that may help you get started! Whatever your beliefs about the nature of Alcohol Use Disorder are at this point, we all know that there is a huge amount of stigma associated with it. So I would like to share with you, what the medical community’s definition of Alcoholism is, as it was stated in this 1992, Excerpt from the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) titled, The Definition of Alcoholism:
Therefore, the committee agreed to define alcoholism as a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (JAMA. 1992;268:1012-1014)
You can read the entire article HERE.
Important note:
Before you begin, if you have been drinking large amounts of alcohol for a long time, it is recommended that you see a doctor, or check into a detox center, or your local hospital. Do not try to stop drinking suddenly – alcohol withdrawal can potentially be life-threatening. If you start experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms (panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, severe anxiety, the shakes) you should seek immediate medical assistance. The condition could potentially deteriorate to delirium tremors (DT’s), which can be fatal if left untreated. Ref: Delirium Tremens (DTs)
Now that you are ready, the following tips will help you get started on the road to recovery:
GET READY
If you are ready to start this journey, I would highly recommend that you get rid of any alcohol that may still be in your house. I would even recommend getting rid of the wine openers, the bottle poppers and all alcohol-related glassware, and drink mixers. This will help you when you get triggered to drink, by making it a bit more difficult – it’s hard to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew and this may give you enough time to change your mind about drinking.
THE BEGINNING
Be aware that the first few days will be tough. Your neurons, which have been deadened by alcohol for some time, and now are all busy with activity, which means your body functions are trying to get used to their normal activity levels. Resting and sleep will probably be hard to catch for a couple of days as your body is adjusting. In the meantime, your brain will tell you lies: “It’s not that bad,” “I can just moderate better,” “I don’t really drink that much,” “I will feel better if I have a drink.” Call it a LIAR and go watch some late-night TV till it passes! Keep yourself busy to avoid wandering thoughts!
CREATE NEW ROUTINES
Just like with other changes in life, new routines often need to be established. You may find this to be a crucial part of your early recovery. If your routine used to include specific times for drinking, like 5 o’clock, you may need to find something new to fill that time with. If you always went out on Friday nights, you may need to find a new way to celebrate the end of the week. You can find many helpful ideas for finding new things to do under the Friday Nights Pep-Talk link on this age.
FIND SUPPORT
It may be the hardest part of your path to recovery. Like it or not, few people attain sobriety alone, and even fewer sustain it alone. Don’t feel inadequate about asking for help! Joining a support network like Alcoholics Anonymous, SMART Recovery, or Soberistas, or even telling your family and friends what you are dealing with, can be beneficial to your recovery process. You can also start a blog and connect to the recovery community. There is lots of support online. Click the Support Online from the top navigation menu and check out the resources in the right sidebar.
Check out: Quitting Drinking: Where to Start – Part 2
You can also read about my journey to sobriety on the About Me page.
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