“How do I stop drinking?” That might be the question you are asking yourself as you read through our website. If so, you’re not alone. Tens of thousands of people all across the UK are reaching the same conclusion every day – the conclusion that they have a drinking problem that requires help.

The fact that you’re asking the question is a step in the right direction. You’ve acknowledge that your drinking habits are not normal. Perhaps you have even recognised they might be symptomatic of addiction. That’s great. The next step is to do something about it.

Stopping your drinking habit requires a proper assessment of your current condition be made. You can contact your physician or an appropriate counselling service to get that assessment. They will help you determine whether you are an:

• Excessive Drinker – The first step in any alcohol addiction is drinking excessively. An excessive drinker can consume alcoholic beverages several times per week without being considered an abuser or an addict. Excessive drinkers do not always get drunk, but they do consume more alcohol than is generally accepted as being healthy.

• Alcohol Abuser – A clinical diagnosis of alcohol abuse is rooted in frequent episodes of excessive drinking. For example, someone who engages in binge drinking every weekend is likely an alcohol abuser. Drinking too much, too often, is the most common sign of abusing alcohol.

• Alcohol Addict – Alcohol addicts are also known as alcoholics. Alcohol addiction is characterised by a number of very definitive symptoms, including drinking first thing in the morning, planning your entire day around alcohol, and gradually increasing the amount of alcohol consumed in order to achieve the same pleasurable benefits.

Developing a Strategy

Once the extent of your alcohol use or abuse is determined, you and your doctor or counsellor can begin planning a strategy to help you quit. If it’s determined you are simply an excessive drinker, your doctor might recommend:

• counselling

• self-help solutions

• prescription medications.

Self-help solutions include removing all alcohol from your home or asking your friends and family to interrupt you every time you look like you’re getting ready to drink. The accountability factor is something that is crucial to self-help strategies. Accountability helps to keep you from cheating.

If your doctor believes medication is in order, he or she can prescribe a drug that will make it physically uncomfortable for you to drink. Just remember that prescription medications will not work if you continue to drink. In fact, continued regular drinking will cancel out all of the positive benefits of the medication.

Your doctor or counsellor may also recommend the following:

• Options for Abuse – The alcohol abuser will generally be directed to outpatient programmes that would include counselling and group support. The idea is to use these programmes to intervene before the abuse graduates to addiction. Outpatient programmes can be accessed free of charge through the NHS or various alcohol charities.

• Options for Alcoholics – If you are diagnosed as a full-blown alcoholic your treatment options will be a bit more intense. You can choose from among the outpatient services previously mentioned or enrol in a residential rehab programme at a private clinic. The most hard-core of alcoholics usually require both detox and residential rehab to break their addictions.

Make the Decision

Now that you know the basics of alcohol recovery and rehab, the next step is left up to you. You must make the decision to willingly seek help. Otherwise, any strategy you employ will be ineffective. You will approach it with a half-hearted attitude likely to lead to relapse down the road.

Here’s the question you must ask yourself: “Am I attempting to quit drinking because I feel like I’m being forced to, or is my attempt rooted in my own desire to be free from addiction? How you answer this question is pivotal in terms of how successful treatment will be.

While you’re thinking that over, we want to challenge you with a question of our own: Do you realise that your alcohol addiction is harming other people in addition to yourself? It’s true. There are other victims of your behaviour; victims you probably consider to be very close to you. They include:

• your spouse

• your children

• your parents

• your siblings

• your close friends.

We suspect you don’t do what you do out of a desire to purposely hurt those closest to you. Nevertheless, we also know that your addiction to alcohol may prevent you from recognising the harm you’re causing. Now we’ve told you. Now it’s time to decide whether you want to continue harming those you love by refusing to seek treatment for alcoholism or abuse.

Whether you know it or not, your family members and friends are genuinely concerned about you and the road you’re on. They would love nothing more than to see you enter a rehab programme, come clean, and live the rest of your life addiction free. They may even be willing to help you make it happen.

It’s Time to Get in Touch with Us

You may not know where to go to get the help you need to stop drinking. You’re not alone. Most people in your situation have no idea where to turn. However, that’s why we’re here. Our mission, as an independent referral service, is to assist people just like you in locating the help you need. All it takes is a phone call or e-mail on your part.

We work with the best private rehab clinics in the UK. We also have access to public programmes and charitable organisations offering a variety of services. Our job is to help you sort through all of your options, determine the correct course of action, and make admission arrangements.

How do you stop drinking? By making the choice to get help today. The sooner you get in touch with us, the sooner we can help you get on that road to recovery. However, remember this: every day you delay is another day you are being held prisoner by alcohol. That’s certainly no way to live, is it?