Do not quit alcohol cold turkey
Do not suddenly stop drinking alcohol as a new years resolution if you have been consistently using alcohol most days
Your body gets used to the presence of the alcohol as a sedative in your system
Suddenly removing the sedative you are chemically accustomed to is like suddenly removing the wall you are leaning on - you will topple over
You brain electricity gets overexcited
This causes seizures
This causes sudden onset dementia (Wernicke's encephalopathy)
This causes brain damage
If you use alcohol often (even in moderate amounts)
Or in large amounts
Or you have ever noticed you get shakey tremors and anxious when you stop drinking
Then your body is chemically dependant and you need to be very careful coming off alcohol otherwise you will cause brain damage
Slowly wean down the amount you drink over days or weeks
Talk to a doctor about your goals to quit and ask about support options
Medically supported withdrawal is a lot safer
If alcohol withdrawal goes badly there is a 15% chance it will kill you.
Do not go this alone
You deserve to be safe
Please reblog this or other similar posts and talk about it with people around you
Support your friends to be safe
Remember the Cold Turkey Rule:
Quitting drugs can make you feel like you're dying
Quitting alcohol can make you actually die
Do No Do This Alone
You Are Worth Helping
i would like to amend this with the fact that you absolutely CAN die from certain drug withdrawals, like opiates, for example. its not common, per se, but it certainly happens. i just dont like the idea of unintentionally perpetuating the myth that non-alcohol withdrawals wont kill you. ideally you shouldnt quit ANY addictive substance cold turkey, because addiction typically means your brain has been rewired to be chemically dependant on it
