Vivian Marlowe
Alcohol is everywhere and is often associated with good times and bad. However, it's important to periodically assess your relationship with alcohol and redefine it if necessary. Redefining your relationship with alcohol can bring several benefits to your physical and mental health. It can be helpful to understand what a healthy relationship with alcohol looks like and to educate yourself on the common risks of drinking. If you're considering redefining your relationship with alcohol, there are several steps you can take, including keeping track of your consumption, setting goals, finding alternatives, and seeking professional help if needed.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Understanding a healthy relationship with alcohol | Two or fewer drinks per day for men and one or fewer for women, or 14 drinks or fewer per week for men and seven or fewer per week for women |
| Knowing when to redefine your relationship with alcohol | If you are unable to cut down, are experiencing physical, social, work, or relationship issues, or are drinking in unsafe situations |
| Tracking your drinking | Keeping a log of alcohol use, either manually or through apps like Drink Control and Drinks Meter |
| Setting goals | Deciding how many days a week you want to drink and how many drinks you'll have on those days, and including days when you don't drink |
| Finding alternatives | Replacing drinking with healthier activities, hobbies, and relationships |
| Avoiding triggers | Identifying people, events, activities, or feelings that trigger drinking and planning alternatives |
| Support | Support groups, therapy, medication, detox, residential programs, and counseling |
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What You'll Learn
Understanding a healthy relationship with alcohol
Understand the Risks and Impact of Alcohol: Educate yourself about the risks associated with alcohol consumption. Alcohol can negatively impact your health, relationships, work or school performance, and mental health. It can impair sleep, cause weight gain, exacerbate anxiety, and alter your personality. Additionally, heavy alcohol use can increase health risks and be particularly harmful to those with depression, suicidal thoughts, or anxiety. Recognizing these potential consequences is a crucial step in managing your alcohol intake.
Assess Your Drinking Habits: Take an honest look at your drinking patterns and habits. Keep track of how much and how often you drink. Consider using tracking methods such as marking drinks on your phone, carrying a card in your wallet, or using apps like Drink Control and Drinks Meter. Evaluate the pros and cons of your alcohol consumption. Ask yourself why you're drinking and whether alcohol is interfering with your desired lifestyle or goals. Be mindful of any signs of alcohol misuse or dependence, such as an inability to cut down, increased alcohol tolerance, or withdrawal symptoms.
Set Goals and Make a Plan: Decide on realistic goals for your alcohol consumption. Determine the number of drinking days and the amount you'll drink on those days, ensuring you include some alcohol-free days. If you want to reduce your intake, set achievable milestones. Identify triggers or situations that encourage drinking, such as certain people, events, or activities, and make a plan to avoid or manage them. For example, if happy hour triggers the urge to drink, limit your attendance or choose non-alcoholic beverages.
Find Alternatives and Distractions: Replacing a habit is often easier than stopping it altogether. Explore new, healthy activities, hobbies, and relationships to fill your time. If alcohol has been a coping mechanism or a way to manage moods and social anxiety, seek alternative strategies. This could include therapy, support groups, or other healthy distractions like physical exercise or hobbies that don't involve drinking.
Seek Professional Help if Needed: If you feel your drinking habits are problematic or are concerned about alcohol dependence, don't hesitate to seek professional help. Talk to your healthcare provider or a counselor specializing in addiction and alcohol use disorders. They can guide you toward the right treatment plan, which may include therapy, medication, support groups, or residential programs. Remember, alcohol dependence is a treatable chronic brain disease, and seeking help is a sign of strength.
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Recognising the signs of alcohol misuse
Alcohol misuse is when you drink in a way that's harmful or when you're dependent on alcohol. Drinking more than 14 units of alcohol per week is harmful to your health. Alcohol misuse can cause serious health problems and lead to social issues such as unemployment, divorce, domestic abuse, and homelessness.
- Being unable to cut down on the amount of alcohol you consume.
- Drinking alcohol in unsafe situations, such as when driving or swimming.
- Developing an alcohol tolerance, needing more to feel its effects, or having a lessened effect from the same amount.
- Experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms when you don't drink, such as nausea, sweating, and shaking.
- Continuing to drink even though you know it's causing physical, social, work, or relationship issues.
- Giving up or cutting out social and work activities and hobbies to drink alcohol.
If you're concerned about your drinking habits, it's important to seek help. Treatment for alcohol misuse includes detox, counselling, medication, support groups, and residential programs. It's also beneficial to keep track of your drinking habits by using apps or simply writing them down.
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Knowing the risks of drinking
Alcohol is a drug, and like any drug, it has risks. Drinking alcohol can affect your physical and mental health, and even your personality. Alcohol can impair sleep, cause weight gain, exacerbate anxiety, and subtly alter your personality. It can also affect your gut health, which in turn may alter your behavioural patterns and prompt you to drink more.
Alcohol is associated with an increased risk of several cancers, including colorectal, esophageal, and oral cavity cancer. It can also damage the heart, causing high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, and an increased heart rate. Heavy drinking can lead to heart attacks and heart disease. Alcohol misuse can also cause deficiencies in the blood, including anemia and leukopenia.
Drinking excessively can also impair bone and muscle health. Alcohol reduces bone density and increases the risk of fractures, even at low levels of consumption. It also increases the risk of myopathy or muscle wasting.
Alcohol can also affect the nervous system, causing peripheral neuropathy, which can lead to numbness in the arms and legs and painful burning in the feet. It can also cause postural hypotension, diarrhea, and erectile dysfunction.
In addition to these risks, drinking alcohol can also impact your daily life and relationships. It can become a coping mechanism for problems and moods, and it can be challenging to cut down or stop drinking.
It is important to note that the risks associated with alcohol consumption are not limited to physical health but also extend to mental health and overall well-being. Excessive drinking can lead to social, work, or relationship issues, and it can be challenging to maintain a healthy relationship with alcohol.
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Tracking alcohol consumption
Use a Drink Tracking App
There are several drink tracking apps available that can help you monitor your alcohol intake. These apps allow you to log each drink and provide valuable insights into your drinking habits. For instance, the DrinkControl app helps you track what, when, and how much you drink, converting your drinks into standard units of alcohol. It also allows you to set goals and stay accountable. Similarly, the MyDrinkaware app helps you identify your alcohol consumption by tracking units, calories, and even sleep quality. It offers a simple way to log drinks by type and size and provides personalised results to help you take control of your drinking habits.
Manual Tracking
If you prefer not to use an app, you can manually track your alcohol consumption by writing it down in a notebook or using a simple spreadsheet. Note down each drink you consume, including the type and quantity. This low-tech approach can still be effective in raising your awareness of your drinking habits.
Be Mindful of Standard Drink Sizes
When tracking your alcohol consumption, it's important to be mindful of standard drink sizes. A standard drink is typically defined as containing a specific amount of pure alcohol, which can vary by country. For example, in the United States, a standard drink is considered to contain 0.6 ounces (14 grams) of pure alcohol. Knowing the standard drink size can help you accurately track your consumption and understand when you may be exceeding recommended limits.
Understand Recommended Limits
To effectively track your alcohol consumption, it's essential to understand the recommended limits. As a general guideline, moderate alcohol consumption is typically defined as no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. However, these guidelines can vary depending on country-specific recommendations and individual factors such as age, weight, and health status.
Note Your Reasons for Drinking
In addition to tracking the quantity and frequency of your alcohol consumption, it can be insightful to note your reasons for drinking. Are you drinking to celebrate, relax, or cope with stress? By understanding your triggers and motivations, you can gain a deeper insight into your relationship with alcohol and identify areas where you may want to make changes.
By utilising these tracking methods, you can gain a clearer understanding of your alcohol consumption patterns and make more informed decisions about your drinking habits. Remember, it's important to be honest with yourself when tracking to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of your efforts.
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Finding alternatives to drinking
Quitting alcohol can be challenging, but there are numerous alternatives to drinking that can help you redefine your relationship with alcohol and improve your physical and mental health. Here are some strategies and substitutes to consider:
Understanding a Healthy Relationship with Alcohol
Firstly, it's important to understand what a healthy relationship with alcohol entails. The recommended moderate alcohol consumption is two drinks or fewer per day for men and one or fewer for women. This equals 14 drinks or fewer per week for men and seven or fewer per week for women. Drinking more than these guidelines does not necessarily indicate alcohol addiction, but if accompanied by other symptoms of misuse, it may be a cause for concern. Signs that you may need to redefine your relationship with alcohol include an inability to cut down, drinking in unsafe situations, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit.
Tracking Your Consumption
One of the first steps to changing your drinking habits is to track your alcohol consumption. Keep a log of your drinking, either using a pen and paper or apps like Drink Control and Drinks Meter. Monitoring your drinking patterns can help you identify areas for improvement and set realistic goals for reducing your alcohol intake.
Choosing Alcohol-Free Days
Designate specific days of the week as alcohol-free. This strategy helps break the cycle of daily drinking and gives your body a chance to recover. You can also try having some alcohol-free weeks or months, as studies show that even a month of abstinence can bring significant physical and mental health benefits.
Finding Alternative Beverages
Explore the wide range of non-alcoholic beverage options available today. These include non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits that mimic the taste and complexity of traditional alcoholic drinks without the harmful effects. Mocktails or alcohol-free cocktails are also a creative and flavorful option, often made with fresh fruits, herbs, spices, juices, and syrups. Many bars and restaurants now offer extensive mocktail menus, so you can still enjoy a sophisticated drinking experience without the alcohol.
Healthy Activities and Hobbies
If drinking has occupied much of your free time, consider filling that time with new, healthier activities, hobbies, and relationships. Exercise is a great alternative, as it releases endorphins and creates feelings of happiness and euphoria, similar to the effects of alcohol. You can try dancing, going for walks in nature, or any activity that gets your heart rate up and that you enjoy, so you're more likely to stick with it. Additionally, finding ways to incorporate humor into your life can be a great alternative to drinking. Laughter reduces stress and anxiety, improves your mood, and helps you cope with life's stressors without the negative side effects of alcohol.
Social Alternatives
Alcohol is often consumed in social settings, and it can be challenging to navigate social interactions without it. However, there are functional drinks that aim to mimic the positive, pro-social effects of alcohol without the associated harms. These drinks are designed to facilitate social interactions and provide a similar experience to social drinking without the alcohol content. While these drinks may not be suitable for everyone, they offer a potential alternative for those looking to reduce their alcohol intake while still enjoying social gatherings.
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Frequently asked questions
There are many benefits to reducing alcohol consumption, even for a month. These include better hydration, more stable blood sugar levels, improved gut health, and reduced anxiety and depression.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a term preferred by medical professionals to alcoholism. If you are unable to cut down on alcohol consumption, or have tried and failed, this could indicate a problem. Other signs include continuing to drink despite negative consequences, giving up other activities to drink, and drinking in unsafe situations.
First, assess your drinking habits by keeping a log of alcohol consumption. Then, set goals for yourself, such as deciding how many days a week you will drink and how many drinks you will have.
Identify the people, activities, times of day, or feelings that trigger your urge to drink and plan something else to do instead. For example, if drinking at home is a problem, keep little to no alcohol there. Find new hobbies and activities to fill your time, such as physical exercise.
Support groups, therapy, medication, and residential programs can all help with alcohol use disorder. You can also try apps like Drink Control and Drinks Meter, or use pen and paper to track your drinking.
