In a recent interview, movie star Johnny Depp admitted that he felt the need to give up alcohol eighteen months ago but denied being an alcoholic. He used alcohol for years to help him deal with the pressure of being a famous celebrity, eventually reaching a point where he felt the cons of drinking were outweighing the pros. Johnny claims that he never had a physical need to drink alcohol, but it became a crutch he eventually decided to get rid of.
It is Not Only Alcoholics Who Should Give up Alcoholic
There are many people who would be better off if they didn’t drink alcohol, but they avoid giving this drug up because they believe that this is just something that only alcoholics need to do. This kind of reasoning can mean that people fail to make a life change that would have a positive impact on their life. Johnny Depp must have felt this way for a long time. There are many good reasons to give up alcohol other than alcoholism, including:
- feeling that you spend too much of your free time drinking alcohol, and you want to focus on different interests
- giving up this drug as a way to improve your health
- noticing the warning signs that alcohol could become a problem in the future, and you want to quit now before things get worse
- already experiencing problems related to alcohol, and even though you don’t feel you are addicted, you decide to quit anyway
- wanting to give up drinking so that you can save a bit of money
- just becoming bored with the whole drinking scene.
Unable to Stop Drinking
Johnny Depp does not seem to have had a problem walking away from alcohol. He doesn’t talk about experiencing any withdrawal symptoms or having to deal with long-term cravings. This is not the situation with many people though. It may be that it is only when trying to stop consuming alcohol do people find that they are, in fact, alcoholic. The signs that this might be the situation in your case include:
- experiencing withdrawal symptoms when giving up alcohol – this could include flu-like symptoms, shakiness, insomnia, and bad dreams
- feeling unable to cope without alcohol – this is a sign of at least psychological dependence
- having cravings for alcohol
- finding it hard to imagine how you will be able to live the rest of your life without this drug
- feeling anxious and suffering from mood swings when trying to quit
- finding that you are unable to stop drinking permanently.
Struggling to give up alcohol is usually a sign that the person in question is an alcoholic. If this is the situation, the best option for that individual might be to enter rehab or some other type of addiction recovery programme.
Johnny Depp Enjoying Life without Alcohol
Johnny Depp gave up alcohol 18 months ago and seems to be having no problem adjusting to his new sober life. He likely finds that he is more productive after giving this drug up, and it is almost certain to improve his health by not overindulging in this substance. One of the problems with alcohol is that it can swallow up a huge chunk of our time when we start to abuse it. It becomes a liability in our life and even if we are not an alcoholic, this will be a good enough reason to give it up.
