How To Stop The Craving For Alcohol

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How To Stop The Craving For Alcohol

In This Guide

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

To stop the craving for alcohol:

Recall the negative consequences of previously giving in to cravings
Find alternative coping mechanisms to deal with cravings without drinking
For psychological cravings - identify and consider the meaning behind the cravings - does the craving exist in the outside world?
Seek professional assistance to resolve physical cravings [1]

Avoiding Cravings vs Resolving Cravings

Avoidance and distraction techniques, or urge surfing (observing and describing urges without reacting) are commonly suggested to avoid cravings [2].

Whilst this may help resolve short-term cravings, this is not a long-term resolution and can lead to:

Unhelpful self-talk
Associations to triggers that reduce ability to overcome cravings in the future

This is especially true when dealing with intrusive cravings.

Dealing With Triggers In The Short Term vs Long Term

Continual short-term avoidance of known triggers is not viable in the long term as:

Continual conscious attention to triggers can exacerbate anxiety associated with them
Consciously overcoming triggers using affirmations or reinforcing beliefs is time and labour intensive
Practically, avoiding triggers is not always possible during day-to-day life activities

Whereas, taking action to resolve triggers for the long term means:

The need to consciously react to trigger situations is eliminated
Day to day life is no longer consumed by fears of being triggered

Stopping Emotional Cravings vs Physical Cravings

Emotional cravings are the result of psychological associations and conditionings that occur during periods of drinking [3].

Whereas, physical cravings are created as a result of withdrawal symptoms and deficits in neurotransmitters and receptor sites in the brain [4].

Differentiate between the two types before attempting to resolve either.

Physical cravings cannot be overcome alone, professional assistance to detox is required [5].

How To Stop Emotional Cravings For Alcohol

Separate Intention From Behaviour

Where the trigger involves another person:

Identify the trigger situation in the external world
Identify and emotionally separate, the behaviour that you saw in the external world, from the intention the individual had
Question any negative assumptions held - is it really likely or true that the individual had a negative intention? [6]

Separate Meaning From Events

Where the trigger involves a situation, or circumstance:

Identify the trigger situation in the external world
Identify the conclusion or meaning you arrived at, which ultimately causing cravings
Consider whether this conclusion is really true
Anything existing in the outside world has a colour, shape, and location in space. Consider where in the world is your conclusion? What colour is the conclusion?
Is it clear that the meaning you gave the event is NOT in the outside world, and therefore does not exist?
Remember that an event in the outside world means nothing about you as a person [7]

Recall Negative Consequences

Recognise consciously that the craving is occurring
Consider that alcohol is just one of many possible reactions to this issue
Consider the short term negative consequences that arose, when giving in to alcohol cravings in the past
Consider the very long term negative consequences and knock-on effects, as a result of deciding to drink in the past
Turn to a more suitable resource, to deal with the trigger situation more appropriately
Improve and add to this more positive resource, for future triggers.

Understand That Alcohol Did Not Fix Anything

Acknowledge that whilst alcohol may have functioned as an escape in the past, it did not fix any issues
Consider whether drinking really fixed the underlying situation
Consider whether drinking helped overcome or resolve your responsibility in the situation
Consider whether drinking was useful in this situation [8]

Identify Your Why

Write down - in detail - bigger picture reasons and rationale for quitting drinking
Recall, visualise, and relive these reasons when experiencing cravings

Find An Alternative Way To Address The Need/Stressor

Plan ahead to find alternative ways to overcome triggers, without using alcohol as a coping mechanism:

Trigger	Underlying Issue	How to Resolve
Negative association	Recurrence of previous negative events - leading to alcohol relapse	Collapse underlying beliefs and meanings attached to previous events
Positive association	Trying to recapture positive feelings from previous alcohol use	Challenge the positive meaning attached to previous experiences with alcohol
Environmental cue	Being at parties, bars etc where alcohol is normalised	Consciously recognise craving. Remember that drinking doesn't fix issues. If unable to tolerate, leave.
Conditioning	Previous drinking paired with specific environments or times - causing cravings at those times/places.	Plan ahead of time or environment. Be aware of triggers and implement positive coping mechanisms [9].
Trauma	Association to old trauma being re-triggered	Recognise trauma is causing craving. Separate trauma from the conditioning/meaning attached via CBT [10].

Identify And Resolve The Underlying Beliefs

When considering a previous occasion of feeling triggered to drink, write down:

What is the feeling that's not there, that then appears, when you did decide to drink?
What is the feeling that's not there, that then appears, when you decided NOT to drink?

For both versions, look for beliefs about self, that surface, e.g. I'm good enough, I'm worthy, what I say matters, etc.

If having a drink results in feelings of "I'm good enough again", or "I'm important now", is it clear that these point to underlying beliefs of "I'm not good enough" and "I'm not important"?

And is it clear that if these beliefs were resolved, there would be no need to turn to a coping mechanism, like alcohol?

This is what we help our clients identify, every day, in our Scotland and Gloucester clinics.

Always address the core underlying beliefs with professional therapeutic assistance.

How To Stop Physical Cravings For Alcohol

Acknowledge that cravings resulting from physical withdrawal/dependence on alcohol are more dangerous than emotional cravings, due to brain normalisation of neurotransmitter levels [11]
Be aware that professional help must be sought for physical cravings, and that these must never be tackled without professional assistance

Aftercare Plan vs Cravings Plan

The differences between an aftercare plan, usually done when leaving rehab, and a cravings plan are:

A cravings plan could be considered to be a mini aftercare plan, that tackles only cravings
A cravings plan replicates the same approach as an aftercare plan (including identifying a personal need for alcohol, setting up supports in advance and creating a long-term plan) but addresses only cravings

Being confronted by a situation initiating cravings compromises clear thinking, and our ability to access help, in that moment.

Therefore, a cravings plan should be as detailed as possible to make it easy to follow through at the point of crisis, and describe:

Clear directions of what to do when experiencing a specific craving for alcohol
Previously successful coping mechanisms
Telephone numbers for relevant support channels

Trigger	Support	Long Term Plan
Contact from social services re access to children - fear they will be taken away	Contact therapist, sponsor or in-person/ online parents in recovery groups [12]	Demonstrating sobriety to improve access to children - using a drinks diary and keeping contact with ADP key worker
Manager unhappy with work quality - fear of losing job	Therapy, self-help CBT worksheets or employee counselling	Breaking old associations and beliefs through therapy - remembering work was not the problem, alcohol was
Previous drinking habits and routines - drinking associated with specific times or places [13]	Contact sponsors or therapists - self-help worksheets to identify triggers	Changing environments or using distraction techniques at specific times/ places until habits and routines are broken

Persistent Cravings Over Time

When emotional or psychological cravings have persisted over long time periods, consider:

Seeking professional therapeutic CBT or counselling
Using self-help worksheets or CBT/DBT to challenge the beliefs, conditions and associations of cravings [14]
Seeking private addiction specialist treatment

About the author

Harriet Garfoot

Harriet Garfoot BA, MA has an Undergraduate degree in Education Studies and English, and a Master's degree in English Literature, from Bishop Grosseteste University. Harriet writes on stress & mental health, and is a member of the Burney Society. Content reviewed by Laura Morris (Clinical Lead).

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Last Updated: September 27, 2023