Why can’t I stop drinking?
If you find yourself battling with alcohol on a daily basis; it may be destroying your relationships, your employment opportunities, your health and even your sanity, you may frequently ask yourself why it is that you cannot stop. You may have every good reason under the sun to stop drinking, yet time and time again you find yourself irresistibly drawn to the bottle. What is it that is so powerful about alcohol?
The first thing to consider is whether you have a physical addition to alcohol. If you are drinking frequently and a regular amount, your body may have been come accustomed to having alcohol in it. In other words you may be alcohol dependent. If this is the case, and try to stop suddenly, you are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms such as uncontrollable shaking, anxiety, agitation, nausea, panic, sleeplessness and even some more serious symptoms such as seizures, violent outbursts and hallucinations. The severity of the withdrawal symptoms will be dependent on how much alcohol your body has become used to having. If you do feel that there is a chance you may be alcohol dependent, it is vital that you seek medical advice prior to attempting to stop. To ignore this advice could result in disastrous consequences, even death. Help is available, whether it be an alcohol reduction plan or medical detox within a rehab clinic.
You do not have to be physically dependant on alcohol to experience difficulty in stopping. Many binge drinkers, who over indulge on the weekends or on special occasions with embarrassing or tragic consequences, may find themselves time and time again, swearing to stay off alcohol for good. Sometimes they achieve abstinence for a period of time, weeks or even months, but find themselves at some point returning to alcohol again, with the same depressing results as before.
Alcoholism is a truly baffling illness, and the crux of the problem resides in the individuals thinking patterns. When it comes to alcohol they find themselves at certain times having no mental defence against taking alcohol. It is an overwhelming compulsion that does not resolve itself with time or tactics. Most people battling in this way, are too ashamed to ask for help, it means to them admitting that they are weak, or somehow mentally defective. The truth is that alcoholism as we see it, is an illness and a very serious one at that. Without professional treatment and rehabilitation to tackle the mental compulsion to drink, there is little chance of the person’s recovery if they are alcoholic.
