Alcohol is everywhere in our culture. Drinking is often viewed as an integral part of socializing and even doing business with others. It's relied upon as an anxiety reducer and a social lubricant. It's no surprise then that it's easy to over-indulge and create unhealthy habits with drinking. April is Alcohol Awareness Month, so a good time to reflect about your own alcohol intake and how it's affecting your health and daily life.  Below are a few resources to help.

​

• National Institutes of Health

Check whether your drinking is healthy or excessive. This link will take you to their easy-to-read web page about alcohol use.

• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

This PDF is their list of national organizations that provide support for addiction recovery.

• Centers for Disease Control

This PDF is the best infographic to illustrate the lines between moderate and excessive drinking. 

By Kambria Kennedy-Dominguez

Getting Sober

What "sobering up" means to you depends on your situation. Sometimes it means decreasing the frequency or quantity of use. Called "harm reduction" in treatment terms, many people naturally do this when they notice a problem with drugs and alcohol but are unsure of its severity. For example, if you find that you binge drink (more than 4 drinks at a time for women and more than 5 for men) when you're out with friends at bars, you might decide to ask your friends to meet you at a movie instead of a bar. Shifting the environment in which problematic behaviors occur is a way to reduce harm. Likewise, you may try to limit the amount you are drinking or using, or you may make deals with yourself not to use at certain times of day or in certain places. All of these methods of control are common once a problematic pattern is recognized. Whether these methods of control work or not depends on your individual circumstances. Here's a guideline for the safe consumption of alcohol, by the way. Great graphic from the CDC. 

Harm reduction is controversial, because many treatment professionals and many of those in recovery believe complete abstinence is the only way to sobriety. They might say that attempting to reduce harm only keeps you in the dangerous cycle of addiction, as you try to negotiate the problem away. There are reasonable arguments in favor of abstinence as the best strategy and it does indeed seem to work best for many. Taking a harm reduction versus abstinence approach is a very personal decision, one that I help clients make based on their own experiences.

Depending on the severity of the addiction and on the substances or substance combinations being used, withdrawal may with abstinence. Withdrawal symptoms range from mild to severe and vary depending on the drug. The process of withdrawal under medical supervision is called detoxification, and is the safest way to discontinue use of a drug when withdrawal is present, particularly with alcohol, opiates (heroin or prescription pain killers) and anti-anxiety drugs (like Xanax and Klonopin). After detox, many continue to residential treatment for 30 days or more, and some choose to move into sober living environments after residential care. These are each options along the way to sobriety, and most everyone's journey looks different depending on what they need. 

Once a more sober life is established, you have entered "recovery." Below is the three part plan that I use with counseling clients to help sustain recovery.

Using coping skills that work

A critical part of therapy for anyone, whether addiction is present or not, is learning to identify and use coping skills that work. What do you do when you feel stressed out at the end of a busy day? What do you do when you fight with your spouse? What do you do when you come up short on your monthly bills? What do you do when your boss yells at you? These are just some examples of possible triggers (see above) that may lead to cravings to use if there are not more adaptive coping skills in place. Some examples of coping skills are exercise, art, reading, talking to trusted friends, 12 step groups like AA, support groups, meditation, spending time with pets, making music, listening to music, walking, drinking tea, taking a warm bath, having a massage, giving yourself a massage, learning a new skill, taking up a new hobby....the list is limitless really. The question to ask yourself is how can I soothe myself in a way that doesn't create harm? 

Recovery is possible and it's happening for many people every single day. There are a ton of resources available to help and lots of evidence that positive change is within reach. If you are struggling with addiction or wanting to know more, please don't hesitate to reach out.