New Year’s Resolution to Treat Alcohol Addiction

A Worthwhile Resolution

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that there are around 75,000 deaths each year that can be attributed to excessive alcohol use, making alcohol abuse one of the top three causes of death in the United States alone. Not to mention that not everyone addicted to alcohol does die. There are other issues and scary statistics associated with heavy drinking each year such as:

• Over two million hospitalizations and four million emergency room visits per year related to abusive alcohol use.
• Domestic violence and child abuse is a prevalent issue and about 35 percent of these violent acts are done by someone under the influence of alcohol.
• Risky sexual behaviors.
• People who abuse alcohol are noted as being at a much higher risk for unintentional injuries such as injury by guns, fire, falls, and more than people who do not abuse alcohol.
• Alcohol poisoning is becoming more prevalent.

The above issues are just the tip of the iceberg. This doesn’t even begin to cover all the health, emotional, mental, crime, and financial costs associated with alcohol abuse. Thus, a New Year’s resolution to treat alcohol addiction (before it results in many of the above issues) is a smart and healthy resolution to make and keep.

The First Steps Towards A New Year’s Resolution to Treat Alcohol Addiction

The American Psychiatric Association notes that there are some long-range goals of treatment associated with alcohol abuse. It’s good to know what these are because it’s important to remember that getting over an alcohol addiction can take a long time and very likely will be hard to do. It's not impossible, but it’s better to know the facts going in.

• The first treatment step: Reduction of, or complete abstinence from alcohol use.
• The second step: Reducing the amount of relapses someone has (if any).
• The third step: Improving both psychological and social functioning once alcohol is out of the picture.

The steps above are what doctors and nurses consider good treatment goals for alcohol abuse – and it’s smart that someone trying to quit know them as well. These are attainable goals that cover the major points someone goes through when fighting an alcohol addiction.

This relates to an individuals’ personal first step on the road to recovery; visiting a care provider to talk about treatment options. The real first step is realizing you have a problem but if you’ve made a New Year’s Resolution to treat alcohol addiction then you likely already know you have a problem and can move on to setting up supports. Visiting your doctor is a great place to start because there are some medications and ideas that will help you manage withdrawals and the entire getting clean process, but these can only be provided by a doctor based on your personal situation and health status.

Sticking With Your Resolution

After speaking with your doctor and deciding what kind of treatment plan is best for your situation it’s time to start thinking ahead. The best way to think ahead when dealing with alcohol addiction is to realize that for most people the urge to drink will still be present; even if you’re dedicated to quitting. Since you can’t plan away alcohol cravings the next best thing is to plan how you’ll deal with them when they do occur.

Supports That Can Help People Meet This Resolution

There are various kinds of supports you can line up to help you manage a resolution to quit drinking. You can look into personal supports, one on one supports, or group supports. As noted above it can be useful to speak with your doctor to see if there are any medications or therapies that they recommend that may ease the stress of alcohol detox. It’s not as important what kind of support you find; so long as you find some kind of support that you are comfortable with. Research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), among many other places, shows that people with the proper supports in place have a far easier time while trying to quit drinking than people with no supports.

Following are some helpful resources you can look into.

• Family and friends: Drinking does cause problems among family members and with friends so expecting unlimited support from loved ones may be unreasonable; especially if drinking has caused harm and stress to these individuals or if you’ve tried to quit in the past unsuccessfully. However, it’s always ok to ask for their support. Deep down family and friends would like to see you succeed with your resolution
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): Group meetings for alcoholics; one of the best known programs around. AA does have a slight spiritual slant that can seem religious to some. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have much research that backs them up as a successful support.
• Personal alcohol counseling: You can ask your doctor about options.
• Online supports: There are numerous online support groups available for people trying to quit drinking such as Sober Recovery Community.
• Alcoholism treatment programs: Plenty of these programs exist. What can be hard is finding one that’s a perfect fit for you. The Substance Abuse Treatment Locater can help.

Quitting drinking is hard. What can be even harder is admitting you do have a problem. By setting a resolution to quit drinking you’ve already tackled that first big mountain and with the proper supports can be on your way to an alcohol-free new year and life.