Managing Alcohol Consumption

Drinking alcohol is often linked with positive associations: social occasions, enjoying celebrations and relaxation. But drinking alcohol can become problematic when we use it to manage our moods or feelings or to increase our social confidence.

Social drinking can be pleasurable, and moderate drinking may even have health benefits for some of us. However, drinking also has some potential downsides.

Although it can feel as though alcohol initially acts as a mood-enhancer, it is ultimately a depressant. Heavy drinking is likely to leave you feeling worse rather than better. The more you drink, the larger the quantity you will need to feel the same effects.

Over a period of time, habitual over-consumption can have a wide range of consequences—social, psychological and physical.

Attitudes about Alcohol

Alcohol can often become associated with some of the issues and stressors that you are facing. Its ability to reduce inhibitions can help you relax and reduce tension, but it also lends itself to being used to avoid or manage difficult situations.

Reducing or Limiting Intake

Here are some ideas that may help you cut down your intake:

• Use an online tool to learn about how much alcohol is present in different drinks that you consume.

• Keep a diary of your alcohol intake to clarify your pattern of use and quantities. Cutting down works best if you set limits for yourself that you feel you might reasonably stick to. Those limits need to be low enough so that you are not intoxicated because at that point sticking to a limit becomes very difficult.

• Space out your drinks, start drinking later and alternate consumption with non-alcoholic drinks.

• Identify the occasions, times of day, companions or moods when you are prone to excessive use. This might help you learn to avoid trigger points.

• Rather than just focusing on reducing your alcohol intake, think about increasing some other activity.

• Try to have 2-3 drink-free days every week.

• The influence of others can be powerful, so use it to support yourself. You may have friends that have been concerned about your drinking, and they can help encourage you to limit your consumption.

• It can be helpful to make a sheet of the pros and cons of drinking in order to clarify whether you are really determined to cut down.

• Make sure to eat some food when you are drinking. Alcohol mixed with food takes longer to absorb than alcohol consumed on an empty stomach.

• It might also help to try to cut down your intake with the support of a group.

Seeking Help

• Visit with your medical doctor

• Visit https://www.sobercowboy.org/ for help that has an agriculture and ranching mindset to reduce your drinking

• If you feel that you need urgent support out of normal working hours, go to the Emergency Room at the hospital or call 911.