Lena Savoie
Alcohol is a substance that can activate the brain's reward system, which mediates pleasure, and suppress the brain's systems that mediate negative emotional states such as stress, anxiety, and emotional pain. This can lead to addiction, which is associated with reduced reward function and increased activation of brain stress systems. To program your mind to hate alcohol, you must first understand your relationship with drinking and then develop a plan to cut back or quit. This may involve social support, self-care, and new routines. Various strategies can help, such as tracking urges, avoiding triggers, and engaging in alternative activities. Additionally, cognitive bias modification programs and brain training techniques can help retrain your brain to avoid alcohol cues and develop a healthier relationship with alcohol.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Understand your relationship with alcohol | Understand your drinking habits and triggers |
| Social support | Tell your friends and family about your decision to stop drinking |
| Self-care | Improve physical health, practice good self-care, and engage in enjoyable activities |
| New routines | Take up new hobbies and activities that do not involve drinking |
| Cognitive bias modification | Use a joystick to push away pictures of alcohol and pull healthier alternatives towards you |
| Brain training programs | Use smartphone apps like SWiPE to personalise your training and strengthen your motivation for quitting |
| Behavioural health interventions | Teach mindfulness and coping skills to alter neural circuits associated with craving |
| Therapy | Cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, contingency management, couples and family counselling |
| Support groups | Alcoholics Anonymous, SMART Recovery, Secular AA, Al-Anon |
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What You'll Learn
Understand your relationship with alcohol
Understanding your relationship with alcohol is an important step in making a change. Being mindful of this relationship requires honesty and courage about how alcohol impacts your health, relationships, work, and other social obligations. It also requires kindness and compassion towards yourself, and a willingness to reach out for help if you uncover any underlying issues.
Ask yourself: when was the last time you explored the role drinking plays in your life? If you're unsure, it might be time to take a step back and reflect on whether or not you're happy with your relationship with alcohol. It can be helpful to keep a track of how much you are drinking. This can be done in a way that suits you, such as marking a card in your wallet, using a calendar, or a smartphone app. Knowing how much alcohol is too much is critical. Moderate drinking is defined as up to two drinks per day for men and up to one drink per day for women.
Consider the role alcohol plays in your life. Is it getting in the way of your happiness? Are there consequences that affect your family, friends, work, or health? Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterised by problem drinking that becomes severe and leads to adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. This can include binge drinking, which is defined as consuming five or more standard-sized drinks for males and four or more for females in one session. If left unchecked, this can progress to severe alcohol use disorder, which can lead to alcohol dependence or alcoholism.
If you are concerned about your drinking, you might want to modify your drinking habits without necessarily stopping completely. This could be the start of exploring the 'sober curious' movement, which means choosing to think more consciously about drinking rather than mindlessly consuming alcohol.
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Identify your triggers and urges
Identifying your triggers and urges is a critical skill in getting and staying sober. It involves recognising the situations, emotions, or people that increase the risk of relapse. Urges to drink can be triggered by both external and internal factors.
External triggers are people, places, things, or times of day that offer drinking opportunities or remind you of drinking. These include your physical environment, the culture of the place you live, and your interactions with people. For example, drinking at the end of a workday or work week, or during celebrations, can become an ingrained habit and a powerful trigger. Other external triggers could be work pressure, financial worries, family disputes, loneliness, or boredom.
Internal triggers are more puzzling as the urge to drink seems to "pop up" out of nowhere. However, if you pause and reflect, you may find that the urge was set off by a fleeting thought, a positive emotion, a negative emotion, or a physical sensation. For instance, some people drink to cope with negative feelings or to celebrate positive emotions.
To identify your triggers and urges, it is helpful to track and analyse your urges to drink for a couple of weeks. Keep a diary of instances when you feel a sudden urge to drink, noting the time, place, people you're with, and what was happening. You can also use worksheets to uncover the nature of your urges to drink and make a plan for handling them. By practising new responses, your urges to drink will lose strength over time.
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Develop a plan and set goals
Developing a plan with clear goals is an important step in achieving any goal, including reducing or quitting alcohol. Here are some steps to help you develop a plan and set goals to program your mind to move away from alcohol:
Understand your relationship with alcohol:
Firstly, it is important to understand your drinking habits and your relationship with alcohol. Take some time to reflect on when, where, and why you drink. Are there specific triggers or cues that make you want to drink? Identifying these triggers can help you develop strategies to avoid or manage them effectively. For example, if drinking is a way to cope with stress or negative emotions, finding alternative healthy coping mechanisms such as exercise, meditation, or therapy can be beneficial.
Set clear and realistic goals:
Define your goals and make them specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART goals). Do you want to reduce your alcohol intake or quit completely? If reducing, set a realistic target, such as limiting the number of drinks per week or committing to alcohol-free days. If quitting, decide on a timeline, such as quitting gradually or all at once. Remember that everyone's journey is different, so tailor your goals to your needs and circumstances.
Identify your reasons and benefits:
Understanding your "why" is crucial for staying motivated. Make a list of all the reasons you want to cut back or quit drinking. It could be to improve your health, save money, enhance your relationships, or increase your energy levels. Keep this list handy and refer to it often, especially during challenging times. Visual reminders, such as a bracelet, or electronic messages on your phone, can also help.
Develop a strategy:
Now that you have your goals and reasons, create a strategy to achieve them. This may include a combination of behavioural, cognitive, and lifestyle changes. For example, if certain social situations trigger your urge to drink, plan how you will handle those situations. You might decide to avoid such situations initially or bring a trusted friend who supports your goal. Consider alternative drinks, such as mocktails, to reduce the pressure to drink.
Build a support system:
Share your plan with supportive friends and family who can encourage and motivate you. Consider joining support groups or finding a buddy with similar goals. Professional support from a therapist or healthcare provider can also be beneficial, especially if you feel you need guidance or are struggling with addiction and withdrawal symptoms.
Remember, developing a plan and setting goals is a personal process, and it's important to tailor it to your unique needs and circumstances. Be patient with yourself, and celebrate your successes along the way.
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Seek support and practice self-care
Seeking support and practising self-care are crucial steps in programming your mind to hate alcohol. Firstly, recognise that you don't have to go through this process alone. It is important to confide in your friends and family about your goal to quit drinking. They can provide emotional support and help hold you accountable for your actions. If you feel comfortable, seek support from your community or join support groups such as Al-Anon Family Groups or Family Drug Support.
Additionally, professional help can be immensely beneficial. Consider visiting your doctor, who may refer you to treatment or a specialist. Behavioural treatments, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy, can aid in developing the skills needed to avoid and overcome triggers that lead to drinking. These therapies can help you identify the feelings and situations that contribute to heavy drinking and manage stress, which can trigger a return to drinking. Remember that it is normal to have cravings or urges, and these can be managed with the right strategies.
Practising self-care is also essential. Identify your reasons for wanting to quit drinking and keep them in mind to stay motivated. Reward yourself for reaching targets and set clear, achievable goals. Exercise is a great form of self-care as it helps manage stress and can be a healthy distraction. Finally, be kind to yourself. Recovery is a journey, and setbacks are normal. Don't be too hard on yourself if you encounter obstacles along the way.
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Change your drinking habits
Changing your drinking habits can be challenging, but it is possible with the right strategies and support. Here are some detailed tips to help you change your drinking habits effectively:
Set Clear Goals and Make a Plan
It is important to set clear goals for yourself and decide whether you want to reduce your alcohol consumption or quit drinking altogether. Having a plan will help you stay focused and motivated. Your plan can include specific details such as drinking one less glass each time or abstaining for a certain period.
Understand Your Triggers
Recognising and understanding your triggers is crucial to changing your drinking habits. Triggers can be external, such as people, places, or things associated with drinking, or internal, such as emotions or physical sensations. By identifying these triggers, you can develop strategies to avoid or manage them effectively.
Avoid Temptation and High-Risk Situations
Once you are aware of your triggers, actively avoid situations that tempt you to drink. Keep little or no alcohol at home, and minimise your exposure to places or activities that are strongly associated with drinking. If you can't avoid certain triggers, try substituting alcohol with alternative behaviours or activities that support your goal.
Practice Saying No and Refusing Drinks
Learn to politely refuse drinks and practice saying no in advance. You don't have to drink just because others are, and it's important to stand firm in your decision. Let your friends and family know about your plan so they can support you and help you stay accountable.
Distract Yourself and Find Alternatives
When you feel an urge to drink, distract yourself with alternative activities. Pick up a new hobby, revisit an old one, or engage in physical activities like walking or sports. Mindfulness or meditation practices can also help you manage cravings. Additionally, having a non-alcoholic drink between alcoholic beverages can help slow your consumption.
Seek Support and Stay Motivated
Changing drinking habits is easier with support. Consider joining support groups or reaching out to friends and family who can encourage and motivate you. Regularly remind yourself of the benefits of reducing or quitting alcohol, and reward yourself for reaching milestones.
Remember that urges are normal and manageable. With time and practice, your cravings will become weaker, and you will gain confidence in your ability to control your drinking habits.
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Frequently asked questions
There are several ways to train your brain to avoid alcohol. One way is to use a smartphone app that employs cognitive bias modification (CBM) techniques. CBM trains people to "avoid" alcohol-related cues and "approach" neutral or positive ones. Another way is to use a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART Recovery. Additionally, therapeutic approaches that teach mindfulness and coping skills can help to alter neural circuits associated with craving and improve resistance to urges.
Some strategies to avoid drinking alcohol include:
- Keeping little to no alcohol at home and avoiding activities involving drinking.
- Identifying and avoiding triggers, which can be external (people, places, things, times of day) or internal (fleeting thoughts, emotions, physical sensations).
- Practicing refusal skills, such as saying "no" to drinks and preparing responses in advance.
- Engaging in alternative activities that don't involve alcohol, such as exercise, outdoor activities, book clubs, museums, or alcohol-free mocktail bars.
- Improving self-care practices, such as staying hydrated, eating regular balanced meals, and getting regular physical activity.
Here are some ways to stay motivated:
- Set clear goals and keep them in mind. Goals can include improving your health, saving money, having more energy, or enhancing your relationships.
- Make a plan that works for you. This could involve quitting all at once or slowly reducing your drinking over time.
- Write down your reasons for wanting to quit or cut back on alcohol, and refer to them when you need motivation.
- Reward yourself when you reach your targets.
- Seek social support from friends, family, or support groups who can encourage and motivate you.
