There are several reasons why you may over drink. It’s not unusual if you have no idea why you drink and why you can’t stop drinking after having a few drinks. There are several persons who don’t know why they drink in the first place and sum it up to: ‘it’s just a habit’ or ‘I have been drinking since I was young’, but it’s much deeper than that. To understand why you over drink and how to stop over drinking it is important to understand why you are drinking in the first place.
4 Reasons Why You Drink
- For fun, to enhance your mood or to celebrate – due to the effects of alcohol, it may lighten your mood and make you feel happier and more relaxed than you otherwise would.
- To be inclusive – you may drink because others are doing it. If you’re in a social circle or at an event where everyone else is drinking, you’ll want to do it as well so you’re not the odd one out, especially if persons are asking you to drink.
- To escape your realities – you may be stressed, depressed, anxious, nervous, experiencing difficult problems and alcohol is used as a coping mechanism to escape the difficult situations in your life. When you drink, it distracts you from your problem and you feel more relaxed, free, satisfied and at ease.
- Your environment or your genetics – you may have grown up around family or in an environment where drinking was common or socially accepted.
15 Reasons Why You Over Drink
- The burden of your issues are too heavy and you keep drinking relief yourself from the pressures of life.
- You are hurt, disappointed, angry, depressed, anxious, etc., and the more you drink, the better you feel so you keep drinking.
- You are not taking a note on how much drinks you are having, you are just going with the flow of drinking because it make you feel better.
- You don’t have control over your thoughts to make the decision to stop drinking.
- You don’t have the will power to say ‘this is enough drinks, I don’t need any more’.
- The more you drink, the more your brain adapts to your drinking quantities, patterns, and habits. As such, it create cravings for the drinks and controls when and how much you drink based on your habits, your desires and your stress level. As a result, you won’t be satisfied with less drinks, there is an inclination to have more drinks and you have little control over stopping your drinks. By the time you realize that you are over drinking, the habit of over drinking has already been created.
- You’re drinking on a empty stomach. The emptier your stomach is, the more capacity you have to intake more drinks.
- You are unable to cope with your fears, disappointment, failures, losses and hurt so you use alcohol as a crutch.
- You are unable to confront your problems and find solutions to them so you run away from them and towards alcohol. And since alcohol temporarily distracts you from your problems you keep engaging in it.
- You may be in or about to go in an environment where you’re anxious, uncomfortable or self conscious and you over drink to feel more at ease and more confident.
- You over drink to muster the strength and courage to deal with someone you’d rather not deal with, for example, an in-law, a co-worker, an ex, a neighbor or a family member.
- You’ve had a stressful, defeating, difficult or embarrassing day and you want to mentally escape to something more peaceful and comforting so you keep drinking.
- You have a lot of workload and you overdrink to have enough endurance to get through that work because naturally you don’t have the motivation or desire to complete the tasks.
- You over drink to numb the pain, hurt, loneliness or sadness that you feel and you keep drinking to have the full effect of that reprieve that the alcohol provides.
- You overdrink to relax and unwine due to a long hard day but you keep drinking because you haven’t set a goal of how many drinks you will have and keep yourself accountable for sticking to that limit. It’s a limitless drink which is a recipe for disaster.
- You over drink because you have access to too much alcohol. For example, you go though half a bottle of wine and think that instead of wasting the remaining half, you should just have it all. Or you have a cabinet of wine that you can easily access.
Does any of the reasons above on why you overdrink applies to you? If not, we challenge you to identify the reason why you over drink. When you have your next drink be mindful of how you are feeling and why you’re unable to stop your drinks when you want to. The answer to why you over drink will help you to find the solution to reduce your drinking.
How to stop over drinking?
- Define your alcohol limit. Get a pen and paper and write down the maximum number of drinks that’s acceptable for you in one day.
- Track your drinks with.
- Have a plan for what you will do once you’ve hit your alcohol limit.
- Track your drinks with our Cravings Tracker Worksheet.
- Identify when you are close to your defined alcohol limit and tell yourself that you will not drink more than your limits and why it’s not good for you to exceed your limit.For example, if you decide that you’ll have no more than 3 drinks per day, then you need to be aware of how many drinks you are having. When you’re on your 2nd drink you should remind yourself that the next drink is your last drink.
Once you have the last drink, tell yourself that you will not drink any more and remind yourself why it is important to not drink more than 3 drinks.
If you are still having trouble resisting having another drink, remove yourself from the drink and engage in another activity that you enjoy, for example, watching a movie, eating ice cream, calling your best friend, play a video game, listen to music, go for a walk, go to the store, etc.
- Remove excess alcohol from your home.
- Find alternative non-alcohol drinks.
- Drink more water and eat a full meal before drinking.
- Resist the urge or temptation to drink by distracting yourself with other healthy activities such jogging, reading, walks on the beach, watching a movie, talking to a friend, seeking professional help, etc.
- Use alcohol-free ways to cope with your stress and problems.
- Talk to a close family member, friend or a professional for advice and support or to help you find a solution for your issues, stresses and problems.
- Try another drink with less alcohol content in it.
We’ve helped hundreds of people with their alcohol problems, for personalized, one-on-one counselling for your over drinking problem, click here.