If you have woken up feeling awful after yet another night of heavy alcohol consumption, you might be ready to quit drinking. Alternatively, you might have had a harsh wake-up call after an arrest or DWI due to your drinking behavior. Or perhaps you have been thinking about getting sober for a long time but are unsure how to get through withdrawal. Regardless of how you got here, it is helpful to familiarize yourself with the stages of recovery.
When you are ready for alcohol detox in San Antonio, Right Step Hill Country is here to support you. Whether you need inpatient or outpatient treatment, call 1.844.675.1628 to schedule an intake assessment. We’ll help you determine which of our programs is best for your recovery needs.
The Stages of Recovery from Alcohol Addiction
If you’ve been considering giving up alcohol but haven’t been able to take the steps necessary to do it, understand that you’re not alone. Contemplating the decision before making it is part of the process. In fact, there are five likely stages of recovery involved in quitting alcohol:
Stage One: Precontemplation
During the pre-contemplation stage, a person may have considered quitting alcohol but has not yet tried to stop drinking. On the other hand, they may have attempted to quit—even numerous times—without success. Either way, those in this early stage often lack the support, resources, or confidence needed to initiate the steps toward sobriety.
Stage Two: Contemplation
At this stage, a person has begun to recognize the benefits of quitting alcohol and how drinking is negatively impacting their life. They may not yet be ready to commit to abstinence, but they are giving it some thought.
Stage Three: Preparation
By the preparation stage, a person is getting more serious about trying to quit drinking, although they are not enrolled in treatment. Instead, they may have made several attempts to quit drinking on their own, which have not lasted.
Stage Four: Action
The action stage is characterized by taking solid steps toward quitting drinking. At this point, the person has likely enrolled in treatment and implemented changes to facilitate a sober lifestyle.
Stage Five: Maintenance
The maintenance stage occurs after a person has successfully quit drinking and completed an addiction treatment program. Their work at this point is to maintain their recovery by employing healthy lifestyle changes and receiving long-term support from aftercare or alumni programs. The maintenance stage can last several years, although recovery is essentially a lifetime endeavor.
Tips to Help You Quit Drinking Safely
Quitting drinking is often not as simple as deciding not to consume alcohol anymore. If someone is not alcohol dependent, they may choose to quit without much problem. However, once you have developed a dependence or addiction to alcohol, quitting can be much more challenging and even risky for some. That’s why it’s important to know how to quit drinking safely. A few things to know:
- If you have a moderate to severe addiction to alcohol, you should never attempt to abruptly stop drinking without the supervision of a medical professional. Quitting suddenly can lead to a condition known as delirium tremens (DTs), which can be fatal.
- When you quit drinking, you will experience withdrawal symptoms that can vary in intensity depending on the severity of your addiction. The discomfort can make it difficult to get through the alcohol detox process without relapsing.
- Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is one of the most effective approaches to quitting alcohol. Your provider will prescribe various medications to reduce alcohol cravings and minimize withdrawal symptoms.
Although you may encounter roadblocks during your recovery, you will achieve the best results if you enlist the help of an alcohol addiction treatment program that offers MAT.
Schedule an Appointment at Hill Country Today for Alcohol Detox
It can be tough to quit drinking, but you do not have to go through it on your own. Hill Country offers a full range of alcohol addiction treatment programs, from residential to outpatient. Our whole-person approach to recovery provides you with relevant behavioral and holistic therapies along with medications to ease withdrawal discomfort. Call us at 1.844.675.1628 to get started or ask any questions about addiction recovery at our San Antonio treatment center.