Many of my clients see a dramatic improvement in relation to drinking in a short space of time. Please feel free to get in touch with me to book a FREE phone or Zoom consultation using the link below. “Our findings add one piece to the growing evidence that low to moderate alcohol drinking should not be recommended for health reasons,” Dr. John said. When examining alcohol abstinence vs moderation the mortality rates of the study participants, the researchers observed that 119 (26.6%) of the 447 people abstaining from alcohol had passed away 20 years after the initial interview. Also, 248 (11.26%) of the 2,203 participants who drank low to moderate amounts of alcohol in the 12 months before the interview had also passed away by the 20-year mark.
Levels of Care in Drug and Alcohol Rehab Programs
Are you someone who likes to ease into things, or do you prefer an all-or-nothing approach to change? If you lean towards gradualism, moderation may be a more comfortable place to start. If alcohol is playing a central role in your life, you might find more success exploring sobriety. A key component of goal setting is also identifying what feels achievable.
What would a good Moderation Program involve?
People who have had problems with alcohol in the past may want to consult a doctor or therapist for help regulating their behaviors around drinking. Take this “getting back to normal” as a chance to rethink your relationship with alcohol. Doing a reality check with a simple online self-assessment might be the first step. Take the Alcohol Use Disorders Test (AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) online.
Alcohol Moderation Management Programs
- This means addressing not just the physical symptoms of addiction but also the psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects as well.
- Therefore, our programme includes evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT).
- As we get back to more social events, business meetings, and situations where you may have abused alcohol in the past, it may be time to consider how you can achieve moderation.
Starting from zero can give you the clarity and confidence you might need to engage in a moderate relationship with alcohol or your drug of choice. Whether or not moderation would work for you often depends on how serious the consequences are that you are experiencing because of your use. If you are having life threatening, relationship ending or otherwise serious consequences that you need to get a handle on immediately, then perhaps abstinence is the only route for you.
Addiction and Dental health
You don’t have to attend AA meetings and introduce yourself as an alcoholic, and you don’t have to answer questions at parties or social gatherings when people notice you aren’t drinking. Many people think that abstinence is the only solution for problem drinking. Abstinence means giving up alcohol completely, and it’s the foundation of traditional treatment options like AA and most inpatient rehabs.
During the study, Dr. John and his team examined data from a random sample of 4,028 German adults who had taken part in previous interviews. The original interviews included questions from a standardized AUD identification test and took place between 1996 and 1997. So whether you raise a glass to Schaffner’s takeaway from the review paper (“don’t drink too much”) or lower it in response to Rahman’s (“don’t drink”), it’s best to imbibe responsibly, if at all. If you think you or a loved one may have developed a dependence or AUD from binge drinking, consider reaching out to a physician or therapist for help. However, it’s important to keep in mind that naltrexone will not prevent you from becoming inebriated or drunk from alcohol.
Many people with an alcohol use disorder end up drinking more than they intend and struggle to return to moderate levels. Moderation may work for you as someone who has not experienced addiction or any other issues from drinking. If your drinking does not result in any negative impact on your social, mental, or physical health, moderation may be a good option. The benefits would be that you avoid the physical and mental health harms that could emerge from alcohol use. We are here to help you change your relationship with alcohol and meet your personal goals, whether that is taking a break, cutting back or quitting. Family involvement plays an important role too since their understanding and encouragement can fuel your determination even more on challenging days.
Growing up with an Alcoholic Parent
- If you don’t feel you can effectively quit completely your drug of choice, you can try starting with moderation to see if that works for you.
- Seek skilled guidance from an addiction psychologist to get feedback when selecting goals, assessing progress, and setting appropriate boundaries.
- Once you are able to control how much you drink, you may find that you’re better able to enjoy family gatherings, social events, and work events.
- While total abstinence is necessary in some cases, in other cases people are able to reduce their drinking to moderate levels without needing to abstain totally.
If you use alcohol to manage stress or self-medicate, fear of how you’ll cope without alcohol might hamper your efforts to regain control of your drinking. If you consider alcohol as a coping strategy, then it makes sense why heading straight to abstinence would be terrifying. We offer alcohol and drug detox services, dual-diagnosis addiction treatment, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and more. Although the decision to pursue abstinence is difficult, it could be your best bet. Abstinence may be the answer if moderation and harm-reduction approaches are not sustainable. At CATCH Recovery, we understand that your journey towards overcoming addiction is deeply personal and unique to you.
