While the term can feel kind of abstract and impersonal, at its root, the concept is truly about the individual. It depends on many factors, such as your personal relationship with alcohol, your health, your life circumstances, and your goals. Get in touch with our team to discuss whether moderation is a possibility for you. The idea of giving up drinking completely is intimidating or discouraging for some people. When they try to quit and fail, they may give up on making a change, feeling ashamed and hopeless. Moderation is a more achievable alternative that allows you to drink occasionally while still enjoying a healthier life.
How Is Recovery.com Different?
Whether you find support in the form of recovery meetings, online forums, or in therapy, finding a place to share and get support from other people will greatly increase your chances of success. If you are looking for support in your drug and alcohol journey, feel free to reach out for support. Pacific Psychotherapy offers drug and alcohol counseling to help you moderate or quit in Santa Cruz, or online anywhere in California. Reach out today with any questions or Alcoholics Anonymous to schedule a free and confidential 20 minute phone consultation. For many, a moderation approach to drinking is more realistic because it shows people how to learn to drink in moderation.
How Do you Handle Relapse after Moderation Management?
Even with the best intentions, some might find it difficult to maintain self-control with discipline and self-awareness, particularly if they have underlying issues related to addiction. Furthermore, studies show moderation vs abstinence that even moderate alcohol consumption carries health risks, such as an increased likelihood of certain cancers. Essential strategies include avoiding social situations where substances are present, managing cravings, and developing new coping skills.
Does Harm Reduction Really Make a Difference?
- You’ll meet hundreds of fellow Reframers in our 24/7 Forum chat and daily Zoom check-in meetings.
- Having a network of people who understand and support their journey can make all the difference.
When recovering alcoholic starts drinking again, they may struggle to limit themselves to just a few drinks, putting their continuous sobriety and well-being at risk. The decision to pursue abstinence or consider moderation should ideally be made in consultation with healthcare professionals. Our primary goal at Sobriety Centers of New Hampshire is to deliver high-quality, evidence-based treatment. Our board-certified therapists, addiction counselors, and medical practitioners provide personalized recommendations based on an individual’s history, health status, and recovery goals. As authors point out, all groups improved to varying degrees particularly in terms of fewer drinks per drinking day, despite the fact that new skills to reduce or abstain were not an explicit part of any of the three treatments in the initial randomized trial. These individuals may be naturally finding ways in their environment to help them reduce or abstain (e.g., seeking social support), for example, or automatically using cognitive strategies to help them stick to limits on days they drink.
These severity levels can greatly affect how https://www.montenuovoapp.it/2022/03/23/10-celebrity-alcoholics-who-drank-themselves-to-4/ someone can learn to drink in moderation. For people with mild AUD, controlled drinking may be possible with the right support and strategies. However, those with moderate or severe AUD may find it much harder because of established patterns of heavy drinking and physical dependence.
Many who practice it find that they are better at understanding how much they are drinking, are able to reduce or eliminate binge drinking, and suffer fewer negative consequences from alcohol abuse. Successful moderation involves understanding yourself (what factors trigger excessive drinking), planning (how much you are going to drink and how you are going to stop), and taking concrete steps to exit or avoid situations where you won’t be able to moderate. Limited social drinking is a realistic goal for some people who struggle with alcohol, and should definitely be considered by people who have not been able to successfully adhere to abstinence.
Abstinence vs. Drinking in Moderation: Which is Right for You?
- We welcome anyone who wishes to join in by asking for support, sharing our experiences and stories, or just encouraging someone who is trying to quit.
- We have safe substance use spaces for alcohol, too, like bars with rules and restrictions, Bathje explains.
- Together they can make abstinence seem more attainable, especially since quitting cold turkey can be dangerous and may present too drastic a change for some.
- However, Fair Oaks Recovery Center and other addiction treatment centers advocate for an abstinence approach to reduce the chances of relapse.
Decisions about our alcohol consumption choices should ultimately be made based on our personal needs and goals with the guidance of our healthcare provider. A subset of individuals—mostly those with lower SUD severity—resolve their substance use problem (Kelly et al., 2017) and experience improved health and well-being despite ongoing substance use (Stea et al., 2015, Witkiewitz and Tucker, 2020). Such ongoing substance use may mean moderating use of a primary problem substance or abstaining from one or more substances while continuing the use of others (e.g., abstaining from opioids while consuming cannabis). What we know is that after one has developed a severe addiction, the simplest, easiest, safest and surest way to keep from repeating past behaviors is total abstinence. This is not to say one may not go thorough a period of “day at a time,” or “week at a time,” or even try a “harm reduction” approach. Still, if you want the easiest way to minimize the problems in your life, go for abstinence eventually.