Steps to Reduce Stress Related Drinking
Many individuals turn to alcohol as a way to relieve stress but is consuming alcohol a way to reduce stress?
What is stress?
Stress is the emotional strain or tension an individual feels as a result from a good or bad circumstance. It can be triggered by various things such as buying a home, starting/ loosing a job, getting married and there are many other factors that can create stress.
Stress and drinking alcohol
Individuals could feel stressed for different reasons and some for the same reasons. Feeling stressed is nearly always down to a change in your life, whether it be a positive or negative change. To deal with the feeling of stress, many people will turn to alcohol.
There are many factors to the consider such as the problems alcohol can cause on your physical, psychological and mental health. Over time, you will make the stress worse by consuming alcohol to relieve it. This is due to the fact that alcohol is referred to as a ‘depressant’. For this reason, it can interfere what the brain needs for good mental health and wellbeing and therefore can disrupt daily tasks such as sleeping; making it harder to deal with the stress you are feeling.
How you can reduce stress related drinking
Below are some suggestions to help you reduce stress related drinking:
- Try and slowly cut the alcohol out. Create a gradual plan to completely remove alcohol consumption. You can even write this in a calendar/ diary to record your results. However, if you are struggling to do so, you may have an underlying alcohol addiction.
- Look for an alternative – instead of turning to alcohol to relieve your stress, maybe starting walking, attending the gym or try another activity to distract you.
- Establish some rules which will allow you to keep drinking alcohol to a minimum.
- Swap from an alcoholic drink to a non-alcoholic drink.
- Yoga and meditation help to reduce stress levels. This may be a good opportunity for you to try it out.
If you are drinking due to stress, you are not alone but don’t struggle on your own. Contact us today at New Leaf Recovery project by our online call back form or call us on 0300 999 0330.
