Many people view addicts as people who have no willpower or are weakminded. This isn't true, however, and addiction is a very misunderstood illness. Our GP home doctor service understands that overcoming addiction takes much more than simply stopping the use of your addictive substance. That's why we'll provide you with plenty of support when quitting alcohol addiction to make sure you quit successfully and avoid any relapses.
Addiction is a recognised illness that affects your brain function and isn't a path that's chosen by anybody. No addict ever makes a conscious decision to become addicted - but they can make an active decision to quit. Getting support when quitting alcohol addiction is key to successfully leaving your addiction behind you and our GP home doctor service will guide you as much as possible. We'll recommend helplines, support groups and coping techniques to help you make a success of quitting.
What Exactly is Alchohol Addiction?
There are two defining characteristics of alcohol addiction. These are:
1: If you have difficulty controlling how much alcohol you drink and find that once you start drinking, it becomes very hard to stop. The next day you may realise you drank far more than you would have liked.
2: You continue to drink even though you know it'll have a negative impact on your mood or life. For example, knowing that drinking is negatively impacting your relationship, but continuing to drink anyway.
How Much Alchohol is Too Much?
The maximum amount of alcohol you should drink in a day depends generally on your gender, however, your size and personal tolerance will also play a part in determining how much alcohol you should have at a time. The recommended maximum intakes of alcohol are:
- Four drinks in a day or fourteen in one week for men.
- Three drinks in a day or seven in a week for women.
A standard drink is classed as a pint of beer, five fluid ounces of wine or one and a half fluid ounces of spirit.
Why Is Quitting Alcohol Addiction so Important?
There are lots of benefits to quitting an alcohol addiction. Some people quit because of the negative impact drinking has on their relationships and ability to function, while others quit for the benefit to their health. Excessive drinking can lead to a range of serious diseases including liver disease, so quitting can have a huge improvement to your health. Whatever your reason, our GP home doctor service will make sure you have access to vital support when quitting alcohol addiction.
Support When Quitting Alcohol Addiction
If you're looking to quit an alcohol addiction, the key piece of advice our GP home doctor service will give you is to not attempt to quit alone. You'll need all the support of your friends and family if you're to quit successfully.
Here are some other tips provided by our GP home doctor service:
1. Make Your Intentions Clear
Make sure your friends and family understand that you're trying to quit alcohol and explain to them why you've made this decision. Once they understand why you want to quit and how important it is to you they'll offer all the help they can and will often avoid putting temptation in your way and won't push you to drink when you don't want to.
2. Frequent Reminders
Reminding friends, family and yourself why you're quitting will help you stay on track and could even encourage those around you to cut down or stop too.
To find out more about what support is available when quitting alcohol addiction and how our GP home doctor service can help, check out our website.