How to Quit Alcohol

Show of commitment to yourself and family
On those days that you just need a drink, you'll feel that you're letting them down. You could also spread the word around in your gang of friends, colleagues and relatives to create an extended network of supporters, as well as make yourself accepting of their approval.

Cold turkey
You suddenly think - enough! You can’t go on depending on alcohol. You decide to leave alcohol there and then!
It might be the culmination of days of thinking, or observing another alcoholic that creates an aversion to alcohol.
Cold turkey works great for weekend-drinkers and social-drinkers i.e. people who aren’t heavy alcoholics. However, this might be be fatal for people with a major dependency on alcohol. In such cases the person is advised to seek professional help.

Rehabilitation center

For the heavy drinkers, the medical supervision and aid at a rehabilitation centers may be the only safe way of quitting alcohol quickly. 

Learn to say no and make changes
Learning to say no to your friends or the boss or your girlfriend or the pushy colleague who invites you to drink might just be the bravest and the best thing you do in your mission to quitting alcohol. Don’t always be the yes-man! You might also think of making some lifestyle changes e.g. spending your weekends with your parents rather than in the club or on a romantic date with your girlfriend.

Fun ways to quit drinking
Who said quitting drinking always had to be painful?
Get into a relationship with someone intolerant of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes.
Get broke and don’t ask for money
At parties, pour soda or other liquid in a cocktail glass and hold it in your hand and take sips from as if it's alcohol
Make a goal like running a marathon and sign up for a team in training.
Reward yourself with something really fancy like a watch or a new phone after your first dry week. Arrange a small party with your friends and parents to mark the milestone.

A long time alcoholic who suddenly stops drinking will experience physiological discomfort.
These feelings are known as withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms may vary from very light to extremely heavy, and depend on how long an individual has been abusing alcohol.

What happens to you once you quit alcohol? 
Acute withdrawal-the immediate effects: When a person who has been repetitively abusing alcohol suddenly stops, he might observe some of the following withdrawal symptoms :

• Profuse sweating
• Anxiety, irritability, tension and restlessness
• Stomach ache and loss of appetite
• Excessive Headaches
• Hallucinations
• Sleeplessness which might extend to more than 36 hours
• Feeling thirsty all the time
• Rapid heart beat  
• Excessive shaking of hands

It is important to have someone to look after you during this period to provide the mental and physical support required to overcome this painful process. Excessive drinkers should quitting alcohol only under professional supervision.
Protracted withdrawal-the long term effects: This symptom is observed after the immediate effects of withdrawal have passed. Some withdrawal symptoms can linger for at least a year after discontinuation of alcohol.
Symptoms can include

• Craving for alcohol
• Inability to feel pleasure from normally pleasurable things
• Clouding of sense organs
• Disorientation
• Nausea and vomiting or headache
• Insomnia

The ex-drinker has to understand that most incidences of relapse during this phase occur due to insomnia. So if you observe a disturbed sleep pattern over a long period of time, resort to professional help.

What can be done to make the process easier?

The process of alcohol withdrawal is an excessively painful and hence difficult one. It is particularly so if you have been a long time user and have been physically and psychologically dependent on alcohol.
Following are some things you can do to overcome withdrawal symptoms.

• Take up a routine: Joining a gym or a yoga club or just jog in the mornings, anything to take your mind off the sense of loss or the occasional craving you might feel for alcohol. You could also take up mediation.
• Talk it out: Talk to someone. Talk to anyone in your life who can give you encouragement, support or practical help, such as family or friends – the people who love you and want to help you in any way that they can. You might be surprised at how supportive they can be.  If you feel like no one understands and you have no one to talk to about this, please know that there are many other people who do understand and can help you.  Remember, you don’t have to be alone in this.
• Drink a lot of water and fruit juice: This might sound trivial, drinking a lot of water helps you recover a lot faster by detoxifying your blood stream of chemicals acquired through years of alcohol abuse. A recovering alcoholic should drink  between 4 and 5 liters of water a day.