Alcohol continues to be regarded as one of the most addictive and dangerous substances in the United States. It’s harmful effects lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of individuals each year, and it’s social acceptance and even promotion make it one that’s difficult sometimes to avoid throughout our everyday lives. Whether by social gatherings with family and friends, work functions, holidays or perceptions of relief from a tough day, alcohol supplants itself in many of our lives, but those harmful life-threatening effects continue to linger. With so many Americans impacted by alcohol each and every year, it’s easy to fall trap to an alcohol addiction, over indulgence, or even a fatal binge. To help avoid such pitfalls, Long Island Center for Recovery (LICR) has put together the following list of top five tips on how to control alcohol cravings.
Many of us feel that we fall into cravings by chance, but these are still likely predictable and routine, it’s just a matter of working towards identifying what your individual triggers are, and having a plan for when they occur. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends a recognize-avoid-cope method to limiting cravings, a method which is commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which helps individuals change these patterns and their own reactions to those situations. For a tip on how to recognize your triggers so you can plan ahead of time, think about the last time you craved or asked for a drink, what we’re your feelings at the time? Were you excited? Sad? Perhaps with a group and joining others? Identify these settings and feeling as far back as you can, and see the pattern presented. This can help you get ahead of cravings, so say the next time you are feeling sad in a group setting, you know that is likely a trigger for your alcohol craving, know it’s coming, and have a plan when it does.
The easiest solution once you planned out your triggers is to avoid them. If you know a certain situation or setting typically triggers your cravings, work as best you can to avoid those situations, or the groups of individual that may bring on and surround themselves with alcoholic tendencies. If you can’t avoid these tempting situations entirely, try to avoid the access or triggers before they occur. If excitement is your trigger, calm yourself down with a deep breath and calming thought pattern/mantra. We know this isn’t always possible to avoid all tempting situations, but when it is possible avoidance is a strong solution to stifling alcohol cravings.
When you’re unable to avoid, have a distraction pattern. Similar to a thought pattern like repeating a mantra or affirmation you feel helps curb your alcohol cravings, a distraction pattern can act as your go-to replacement until the peek intensity of your craving passes. Take a brief walk, head to the bathroom, hold a deep breath for five seconds, inhaling, and then slowly, exhaling. Even a facial patter like, scrunching your nose, counting your blinks or any number of small distractions can become an armor of defense against the onset of alcohol cravings. The physical distractions work for some, but if you’re an individual who likes to talk things out in the moment, try challenging the thought to drink. “One more wouldn’t hurt…” can be reframed as “one more could really hurt…” and the more your frame these outcomes to yourself to block versus allow such alcohol cravings should slow the progressive drinking and allow you to make decisions instead of reacting on impulse.
All the tips mentioned thus far focus on the moment when alcohol cravings occur, but building healthier habits as a way of life looks to have long-term impacts on the consumption of alcohol. The thinking here is with a healthier lifestyle, you may not need to distract yourself from taking that next drink, but will begin to eliminate triggers and cravings entirely. Some ideas on healthier habits include but are far from limited to the following::
Depending on what your interests may be, endorsing a healthy rewarding hobby could indirectly work toward limiting your alcohol cravings.
The final tip we have is to seek professional help when you’re ready and if you feel you are struggling with alcoholism. Alcohol addiction treatment at LICR is fully comprehensive and works on all these tips and several others in a more thorough, guided, structured, and safe environment. There’s no shame in seeking help to better your life or the lives of your loved ones, and you’re far from alone in the struggles against alcohol addiction.
We hope these tips on how to control alcohol cravings are helpful and make you feel better prepared going into certain situations or identifying your own unique relationship with alcoholic substances. If you or a loved one needs any additional assistance with addiction treatment services, please reach out to Long Island Center for Recovery at 631-728-3100, and we’d be happy to assist you or your loved ones in any way possible.
References:
National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Rethinking Drinking – Alcohol & your health
https://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/tools/worksheets-more/handling-urges-drink
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