Advised to stop drinking

dubdev

Hi there

I recently visited a counsellor regarding problem drinking habits that I've developed over the past year and a bit, and part of his advice was to quit cold-turkey for a few months.

While I can see that it would require willpower and I understand the benefits of quitting, like better mental and physical health, saving money and losing weight etc, I did think it was a bit abrupt or flippant to just suggest stopping drinking after one session with them before getting to the roots of the problem and without giving any advice on how to beat cravings, dealing with social situations like work nights out etc.

I was curious to know if anyone thinks that it was also a bit of a cop-out or if you think you just need to suck it up and cut it out completely in one fell swoop.

Thanks

myshirt

The fact that you've found cause to be in front of s counsellor, you're about 5 stages past the point where you should have cut out the drink.

Now look, going cold turkey is not as delicious as it sounds, but you just need to go for it. No messing. No complicating it. Leave all that part for down the road when you can look back on all this. For now it's no joke, you need to bite down hard and just f#cking do it.

wexie

hmkay.......hold on a sec, re-read your own post and tell me it doesn't sound like a plea for an excuse to not just quite cold turkey.

If so.....why?

Really what it translates to (to me anyways) is :

I know I'm doing something that's bad for me and someone's told me to stop doing it and even though I know they are right I would really like an excuse to not have to stop doing it because I don't really want to. Even though I know that it would be the right thing it would be a lot easier if I could find a good excuse to not take the advice (that I know to be right) I was given.

So unless there's a serious medical reason you can't stop cold turkey....just do it.

Yes it'll suck, yes it'll be hard...but unless you can admit to yourself honestly that you wouldn't be able to do it (which would indicate quite serious issues and you'd need to consider rehab, and you'd certainly need to mention it to your counselor) you have no excuse not to.

Have a think, sit down and have a proper think where not following this advice (your counselor's advice, not mine) would lead.....

Work it out and decide.

quite possiblyle the counselor would like to see the reaction to the suggestion, as well as see how any attempt went.

you might think it too early to ask you to take this step but theres probably no better way for them to gauge the situation than by seeing how this request goes.

Sigma Force

dubdev wrote: »

Hi there

I recently visited a counsellor regarding problem drinking habits that I've developed over the past year and a bit, and part of his advice was to quit cold-turkey for a few months.

While I can see that it would require willpower and I understand the benefits of quitting, like better mental and physical health, saving money and losing weight etc, I did think it was a bit abrupt or flippant to just suggest stopping drinking after one session with them before getting to the roots of the problem and without giving any advice on how to beat cravings, dealing with social situations like work nights out etc.

I was curious to know if anyone thinks that it was also a bit of a cop-out or if you think you just need to suck it up and cut it out completely in one fell swoop.

Thanks

Whatever your reasons for going to the counsellor it's a great first step if you are struggling with anything. The counsellors comments seemed to of hit home. You are right it is best to be more informed if you drink regularly and have any time of shakes or withdrawals then you need more than just advise. Best thing to do is go to a good GP to discuss weaning yourself off they will give you options and discuss it all with you. It's important to find one that is non judgemental and experienced not all are my OH went to loads over the years and none of them helped matters then again he wasn't ready because he didn't have the right support or information. If I were you I'd keep going to the councillor during this time, if the councillor specialised in addiction etc. All the better. I'd get the back up and support in place then go for it. At the end of the day it's up to you to do it but you don't have to go through the whole process alone.

dubdev

In the end I went the inpatient route and am 4 weeks into a 5 week treatment. I'm definitely starting to feel better and am glad I did it, but I won't be going back to that addiction counselor. As I suspected, his advice was hopeless and actually irresponsible based on what counselors have told me and what I've learned about alcohol dependency while in here. What I've seen in here is that anyone who presents with alcohol issues is put into an observation bay and monitored closely for signs of withdrawal, and medicated if necessary. Contrary to what some posters have said here, going cold turkey without consulting your GP is not advisable even with moderate alcohol dependency.

The counselor, instead of taking €150 off me should have advised me to go to a GP who would have advised me with cravings, triggers and possibly referring me to an occupational therapist or counselors as well as AA meetings. One guy telling you to just stop drinking is not a solution, and in fact I'd argue that there is no place for addiction counselors without clinical intervention alongside them.

3rdDegree

dubdev wrote: »

In the end I went the inpatient route and am 4 weeks into a 5 week treatment.....

Very good advice here, unlike the previous advice given to you above. Like you say, If you are dependant on alcohol, quitting cold turkey, unsupervised, can be dangerous.

Well done mate and keep with it.

sham6999

goodman

sightband

dubdev wrote: »

In the end I went the inpatient route and am 4 weeks into a 5 week treatment. I'm definitely starting to feel better and am glad I did it, but I won't be going back to that addiction counselor. As I suspected, his advice was hopeless and actually irresponsible based on what counselors have told me and what I've learned about alcohol dependency while in here. What I've seen in here is that anyone who presents with alcohol issues is put into an observation bay and monitored closely for signs of withdrawal, and medicated if necessary. Contrary to what some posters have said here, going cold turkey without consulting your GP is not advisable even with moderate alcohol dependency.

The counselor, instead of taking €150 off me should have advised me to go to a GP who would have advised me with cravings, triggers and possibly referring me to an occupational therapist or counselors as well as AA meetings. One guy telling you to just stop drinking is not a solution, and in fact I'd argue that there is no place for addiction counselors without clinical intervention alongside them.

You are in inpatient treatment for addiction and they are permitting phone/laptop internet usage?

Maybe what the counsellor just wanted to suggest that in order to solve any issues clarity is needed and for that clarity to occur you need sobriety for a period of time.

I’m guessing the addiction counsellor asked you about your drinking habits? Are you reaching for a bottle of spirits first thing when waking up etc. DTs are rare. A lot of vulnerable people quitting alcohol get scared into looking for librium when it is not necessary.

€150 is nuts for a session I’ll admit that.

Sigma Force

You did the right thing getting medical help. I don't believe DT's are rare and they can be mild or severe but always should be monitored. Good on you for looking somewhere else for help it's a sure sign you're really wanting this. It takes time to learn about the addiction getting sober is a small part of it even though it can be very difficult at first. You'll find that it's also very interesting how alcohol can change the brain and the way people feel and act. It's seems obvious when you go to any pub in the country that alcohol changes people but the long term effects are what you are working on here. Wishing you the best of luck with it, stay positive and look after yourself