Most excessive drinkers at one time or another try and stop or curtail their drinking on their own. Good luck with that! Once a drinking problem is suspected or recognized by an alcoholic they may be able to stop drinking for a period of days, weeks or even months. Eventually though, the trigger for your abusive drinking will rear its ugly head and once again you will be drinking as much or more than before you quit.

It may be a particular celebration like a birthday or family reunion. Perhaps it's when you hang out with a particular group of people. Whatever your trigger is you will make an excuse for picking up the bottle or glass and all the same alcoholic behavior will return. A recent study showed that 70% of alcohol abusers who quit drinking whether by treatment support or on their own returned to previous drinking patterns within 72 hours of starting up again. Many actually drank much more than they did in round one!

Achieving true freedom from alcohol requires more than just sweating out a few days of alcohol withdrawal. There's a reason why rehab centers like to keep you for a minimum of 28 days. Physically refraining from a drink is difficult but managing your cravings can take months or for some alcoholics' even years. Is it any wonder it's so difficult to quit on your own?

Alcohol is the great equalizer; it has no preferences when it comes to who is susceptible to abusing it. Many excessive drinkers feel if they only imbibe on weekends or on special occasions (and there are lot of occasions) that they can't possibly be addicted to it. They fool themselves into thinking they are strong enough to quit whenever they like so they can drink however much and on every occasion they want. They can turn it on and off at will. They're wrong. Alcoholics are famous for playing these games with themselves.

This is the kind of behavior that needs long term management. This treatment can be in the form of support groups or professional counseling. Either way it is a method of reinforcement of new thinking and techniques to control your compulsion to drink. Learning new behaviors and understanding why you drink are critical to long term abstinence. Developing self discipline to combat your indulgence in alcohol will bring sanity back into your life.

Think about it logically for a moment. How normal is it to drink excessively than stop cold turkey for maybe a few weeks only to start drinking heavily again because you turned 40? You stop drinking again because you got stopped at a police drunk driving check point and were lucky enough to only have your license suspended for 24 hours! A very close call so you stop again for months only to start back up again while on vacation because the drinks are part of the package. Talk about playing with fire.

If you can relate to anything here you must stop fooling yourself and ask for help. Remember the alcohol tolerance issues when one abuses alcohol meaning that the more you drink the more you need to catch the buzz. Upon your return to drinking, you reach your previous alcohol consumption levels quickly. You soon find yourself drinking even more to attain the level of impairment you were used to, getting that high that you need.

Realizing you have a drinking problem is important, reaching out for help when you can do so before you spin out of control is praiseworthy and truly commendable adult behavior.