How to Quit Drinking Alcohol on Your Own

You may want to quit alcohol for any number of good reasons. If you are sure that you are an alcoholic, you know that quitting is the only choice that does not lead to an untimely demise. Even if you are not addicted, you may still have strong motivation to quit alcohol for good. You can maintain a better focus in life when you don't drink, you save money that you can spend on other things, and you can reclaim time that would normally be lost in an alcohol haze.

Commitment

• Commit to this process before you do anything else. Consider how hard it will be to go completely without alcohol at parties and during nights out with friends. Steel yourself for the resentment and the repeated requests and opportunities to lapse back into drinking. Motivate yourself by reviewing all the good reasons to quit that matter to you. Write them down as they occur to you. Go over this list many times and be ready to refer to it many times in the future.

Remember

• When you are tempted to drink again, remember times in your life when you regretted drinking. You may have ruined a relationship or simply lost a chance to talk to someone important to you because coherent thoughts drifted away while you were with that person.

Plan

• Make plans to avoid drinking. If you have alcohol in the house, get rid of it. Remove posters and other items that remind you of drinking. If your route to or from work takes you past a liquor store or bar, change the route to something safer. Announce this change to friends and family so that you may get support from some of them. Doing this, you will also learn who will not be able to support you in difficult moments. Plan to avoid those people.

Vision

• Imagine the life that you want to lead without alcohol. It might be a lifestyle with more money or with more time to accomplish important goals. See the healthy, sober version of you in your head and keep this vision in mind when you are tempted to drink again.

Aversion Therapy

• Picture disgusting things whenever you think of alcohol. Pretend that the glass of beer is full of urine or that someone has spit or put out a cigarette in the glass. It sounds extreme but if it gets you successfully through a tight spot you will appreciate the method.

Bad Company

• Cut ties with people who lead you to drink. This may be painful but, if you are serious about quitting alcohol, you will not be able to do it in the company of people who do not take your decision seriously. You do not necessarily have to forgo seeing these friends. However, you may have to limit yourself to phone conversations for some time.