Giving up alcohol for the all the right reasons

Alcohol can pose a serious threat not only to a person's health and to the peace of mind of his or her family, but also to a person's self-respect. Alcohol's effects are far-reaching: it impacts on the alcoholic's family, friends and even distant acquaintances. Alcohol abuse erodes relationships because it erodes trust. Behavioral changes resulting from alcohol abuse will ultimately lead to a loss of respect for the alcoholic, and a perception that he/she is an inherently untrustworthy person. Alcohol abuse is an affliction that compromises social aptitude, earning capacity and levels of professional success. In other words, the abuse of alcohol will dramatically and adversely affect domestic and economic relationships alike.

It goes without saying, then, that alcohol poses a real danger to one's overall wellbeing. Fortunately, destructive patterns can be reversed. One way to start addressing alcohol dependency is by utilizing a process called evaluation.

Put simply, evaluation involves taking a 'step back' in order to look at the bigger picture. This is a process that will allow you to understand the underlying causes of your alcohol dependency. It will enable you to gain a clearer and more objective perspective about how alcohol is adversely impacting upon your life and impeding your full potential for happiness.

Evaluation allows you to impartially assess your situation. When I ask you to look at how alcohol may be affecting your life, please be careful to record everything honestly and truthfully. Let's be fair: there are obviously some positive aspects to the use of alcohol – otherwise you wouldn't have started drinking in the first place. What is needed, then, is to take stock of all these 'positive' aspects and then counterbalance them against the negative aspects. This will allow you to arrive at a full and fair assessment. Invariably, an alcoholic will be mired in a pattern of consciously or subconsciously emphasizing the more 'positive' dimensions of his or her dependency, whilst subconsciously ignoring, minimizing or discounting the enormous amount of damage it is causing.

Whether you admit or deny it, the fact is that right now, alcohol will no doubt be playing a central role in your life. By taking a step back and evaluating your situation objectively, you will begin to see that life can offer a great deal more without alcohol. You will start to understand that stepping away from alcohol will afford you access to a far wider range of activities. This process will enable you to realize your full potential, and to become self-actualized as a more complete human being - an infinitely better version of yourself!

One of the main issues that plague most alcoholics is a sense of denial. That is, the refusal to admit that there is a problem in the first place. Now, does this sound familiar? Of course it does, because claiming that you don't have a problem is the first step to being defeated by the problem.

Now, let's start by taking a piece of paper and writing down everything that you feel you benefit from alcohol. This might be a sense of 'companionship,' or perhaps drinking is a way to release stress – whatever it is, you should write it down. Once you have enumerated all of these positive associations, then list all the things that alcohol detracts from you, in terms of relationships, economic security, health, self-esteem, or any other negative impact that it has on your life. Whilst everyone's specific situation is unique, there are commonalities across all cases of alcohol abuse. When you balance out all the pros and cons, and closely examine all the factors, you will actually see that the benefits of giving up alcohol far outweigh the disadvantages.

Please go to the article section for more information on giving up alcohol.