A Choice To Quit Drinking by Timothy Welch

Those who struggle to quit drinking are finding that often the mainstream thinking isn't helping them. Three or four alcohol rehabs later, many counseling sessions attended, and hundreds or even thousands of dollars spent only to find out that relapse is a part of treatment and the alcohol addiction "disease" is with you forever! What? Then why go? Why quit drinking? If something does not produce acceptable results, why continue in it? Because we have been led to believe that alcohol addiction is a disease. We have been told that the only way to "recover" or quit drinking is to attend treatment and endless AA meetings for the rest of our lives. The truth is that most people who have had problems with alcohol in the past quit drinking on their own. Even those currently struggling to quit drinking will tell you that they have often refrained alcohol use for a period of time. There is no mysterious disease here, it is a matter of choice. You are in complete control right now! No one is stopping you from cracking that beer. If you want to use alcohol, you will. Addicts always find a way. So why is the alternative to using (not using) alcohol so difficult to comprehend? We can choose to pick up a beer whenever we fancy. But if we want to put that beer down and quit drinking, all of a sudden there are diseases, character defects, meetings, counseling treatment sessions, etc., to contend with! Many who have had an alcohol problem, have quit drinking on their own and without all the drama and struggle! There are vast amounts of information out there on the whole "recovery" process to quit drinking. With this vast information, I believe, we often lose sight of what matters most. We may lose site of the individual differences and dignity of all who struggle to quit drinking to receive the kind of help that will be most beneficial for them to succeed in life. Diversity enhances life experiences and we should not limit ones options for success in "recovery" by presenting only one view of how to quit drinking. We are all free to choose and have every capability and tool necessary to live the life we dream without alcohol. Alcohol addiction is a painful business. Because of the pain and struggle involved to quit drinking we may search endlessly for the one cause or cure to end the madness. We become afraid, and through this fear cling to any shred of evidence we can find to lift us from our state. Is there one way to succeed in "recovery"? Who is right? Who is wrong? When it is all said and done, it does not matter which path you take to quit drinking alcohol. It's your choice, your life. Find a way. For whatever reason, you gave alcohol power and control. Drinking served a purpose for you. This purpose allowed you the ability to control your fear and feelings of helplessness. Relearning a healthy coping strategy when you quit drinking may take time, and you will make mistakes. Don't go to hard on yourself. Learn from your mistakes. You are more than your alcohol addiction! Those that struggle to quit drinking will continue to drink until they are convinced that they can successfully live life without the use of alcohol. Addiction as a choice does not avoid responsibility. Rather it acknowledges mistakes and enables ownership of positive change when you decide to quit drinking. So why can't people quit drinking when everything they say indicates they want to? Simply, they feel they cannot live life without it. They have made the wrong choices for so long and depended on their drinking as a crutch. To quit drinking would strip them of the only constant they know: The ability to control their fear and helplessness with alcohol or drugs is the way they perceive as most effective for their particular situation. You have used alcohol so long to buffer you from these stressors and emotions that you wonder if you can still face them alone when you quit drinking. You doubt yourself and your abilities. How would you handle yourself? Would you be overwhelmed with unwanted emotions? Could I live with the reality that I created this mess? How would I resolve all this? It is safer to hide in a bottle than face the unknown when you quit drinking. Someone struggling with drug addiction or alcohol addiction will continue to use until he or she is convinced that they can successfully live life without the use of alcohol or drugs. This can come at any time. There is no "bottom". It is relative. Drug addiction and alcohol addiction has more to do with why people think they can't quit, than why people continue to drink. In other words, I am not going to quit drinking until I think I can. There are many who continue to struggle in addiction recovery. They struggle with AA or treatment. These people may have been told that there is only one way to recover. That if they do not subscribe to the current thinking of addiction being a disease, then they are in denial, or will never recover or quit drinking. They do not want to forever be called an "addict" or attend meetings for the rest of their lives in order to stop drinking alcohol. They do not want to continuously talk of their past mistakes, but move on. They feel their drinking does not make them powerless, but challenges them to a higher understanding of why they use. There is hope and there are alternatives to quit drinking. There is no disease and you can recover forever.