About this guide

This guide is for anyone who wants to try to give up drinking alcohol. Whilst there is lots of self-help material here, It is not meant to be a stand-alone treatment manual.

Rather, it's meant for people who are wondering if they need to look for help with their drinking, and who want to find out:

  • Information about alcohol, addiction and dependence
  • How to diagnose your own drinking problem
  • What sorts of help & treatment are available
  • How to choose the best help for you
  • How to maximise your chances of success
  • What kind of things you should do after you've stopped drinking

I've aimed this advice at people who already have moderate to severe problems. 'Have you got a drink problem?' tells you more. If you're looking for general information about healthy drinking, try Googling 'NHS, alcohol, units'.

This guide is about stopping drinking, not reducing it. Again, look at NHS sites for advice on cutting down. There is, though, a bit of information and advice from me here about moderate or controlled drinking.

I'm assuming that you're a bright and naturally curious person, and that you want to be as informed as you can before you tackle something. If you want to be in charge, want to take control of things yourself, and want to make well informed choices, then this guide will help you.

A lot of clients who ring me are completely bewildered by the different types of help available, and about various bits of advice to do with stopping drinking that they've come across. This guide should clarify things a little.

I hope this guide will also be useful for anyone who is just thinking about stopping drinking, but hasn't decided what to do yet. I'm sure a lot of partners, friends and families of drinkers will find it useful too (look here for some specific advice).

Where in the world?

This guide is written about services available in the United Kingdom. Apologies to readers from other countries. If anyone wants to contribute about services in your country, get in touch.

Governance

Read all the usual disclaimers and compliance statements here

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