Can You Stop Drinking by Willpower?

The short answer is ‘yes’. Lots of alcoholics have very strong willpower and we can all use that will power to stop at least for a while. We might go through the sweats and the shakes, and feel very ill for 24 hours or more but we can stop. Some of us can even stay stopped for several months or more.  We know we are happier than we were when we were drinking.

Short Memories

However there are two problems here. The first is that we have short memories. The woman who went through a very painful process of childbirth and vows ‘never again’ goes on to have more children as the pain is forgotten and the benefits of having children seem to outweigh the pain of childbirth. For the alcoholic who has given up alcohol, he or she remembers the good old days, the lovely feeling that alcohol gave them, how it made them relaxed and happy, how sociable they felt when drinking. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Sooner or later they will be tempted to try just one drink and so it will begin again.

Underlying Issues

I do know some people who have quit alcohol on willpower but without really addressing the underlying causes and without embarking on a programme of good living. These people  have ‘given it up’ – and that is how they will feel about it. There is a clue in the words. They have made a sacrifice – therefore they are not happy in their abstention. It is a life long sacrifice. Some of these people become ‘dry drunks’ – they no longer drink but they have all the same attitudes and feelings about drinking that they always had. They can be irritable and discontented. They probably envy their friends who are still drinking.

Break the Habit

This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to break the habit and stop. Half of our brain tells us we have made a sacrifice and we want to join in and drink with the rest of our friends. The other half knows that if we drink it makes us miserable. The half that thinks drinking is good is also particularly alert to news items such as ‘a glass of wine a day does you good’, ‘red wine is good for the heart’, ‘moderate drinkers live longer’, ‘the Queen Mother lived to age 101 and drank a lot.’.

Willpower Doesn’t Work

So while we have willpower we are in a drinking culture and willpower alone is unlikely to be sufficient for us to stop drinking and be happy in that decision. We have been led to believe – and through continued practice have actually come to experience this. That we ‘enjoy a drink’ and like the taste.  (But we did not like the first drink and the chances are we have had bad experiences with alcohol including vomiting).

However, believe this, because it is true – we can change our taste. when I first drank coffee I found it bitter and in order to be sociable and drink it, I added sugar. Then I could stomach it. With time, I got to like the taste and cut out the sugar. Now I could not drink it with sugar. So we could go back to thinking alcohol tastes just like the poison it is?

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