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After the New Year, January 1 comes, and then the second, third, fourth … It is very difficult to stop when every day there is a reason to celebrate something, and you don’t need to go to work tomorrow. How not to go into an alcoholic «peak» and why the known methods of getting out of binge do not work?
For many, 2020 has been a challenging year, and now it’s finally time to get some rest and relaxation. The pandemic dictates its own conditions — we celebrated the New Year at home. But some plan not to get up from the festive table until the first working day.
Alas, during this period, even light drinkers often go into a binge. How not to lose your head for such a long weekend? Follow the 4 rules of a sober vacation.
1. Give preference to non-alcoholic parties
Alcohol is strongly associated with the holidays, and not only with the New Year. But what if this connection is broken? Believe me, it’s much easier than it looks. Conduct an experiment: when meeting with friends and acquaintances on vacation, give up alcohol.
It may sound strange, but you can not eat, for example, tangerines or chocolate if you are allergic to them. So why not give up alcohol? Just do not turn the experiment into a test of willpower. Do it easily, without coercion and mental anguish, just by your own choice. Go ahead and save.
2. Find useful activities for the holidays
Alcohol only at first amuses and relaxes. It’s actually a depressant. A person who abuses alcohol disrupts serotonin metabolism in the body, which is why there is a craving to drink more and more, tolerance to alcohol develops, which means that more and more is required to achieve the effect.
It all starts with champagne on New Year’s Eve, the feast smoothly flows into the first, second, and then the tenth of January. Of course, this is a serious blow to health and the nervous system. This is worth understanding. Treat yourself with love and respect, take care of yourself!
What happens when one hundred grams of alcohol enters the body? The pulse quickens, the blood thickens, the production of adrenaline and noradrenaline hormones, as well as gastric juice, increases, the vessels expand. This is a typical response of the body to stress.
What happens if alcohol enters the body regularly? The brain begins to starve, because thick blood flows more slowly through the vessels. The pancreas suffers, which means that the metabolism worsens. The heart also experiences a load, because alcohol triggers the production of cholesterol, increases blood pressure. Not far from inflammation of the liver — cirrhosis. This is the medical side of the issue.
Now think and answer the question — don’t you really feel sorry for your body? Instead of drinking, fill the holidays with walks, sports, go to the pool, buy board games at home, do things that you have been putting off indefinitely.
3. Never get drunk
On the Internet you can find a lot of advice on how to get out of binge on your own. Allegedly, you can’t stop drinking abruptly, but if you do it gradually, that is, reduce the amount of alcohol every day or switch to lighter drinks, the body will experience less stress. In fact, the best way to get out of a binge is to try not to get into it and never get drunk. Because «hangover» does not cure, contrary to popular beliefs.
“Switching” to lighter drinks can last for weeks, that is, only aggravate the situation. It’s not an exit, it’s just a continuation. And «hangover» can easily turn into a binge.
There is an opinion that sour-milk products — kefir or tan — will benefit. But they have lactose, fat and protein. Binges are accompanied by a deterioration in digestion, and all these products will not be digested and assimilated.
There will be no benefit from either enterosgel or activated charcoal. Therefore, it is better if the New Year’s party turned out to be stormy, pay attention to spicy food, drink more plain water in order to restore the water and electrolyte balance, and still refuse to continue drinking alcohol.
4. Do not be afraid to turn to a narcologist
Binge drinking is a serious condition that sometimes requires the help of specialists and treatment with medications. If this happened to a loved one, support him. He may not want to drink anymore, but the body requires a new dose just to feel normal.
What can be done? Do not be afraid to turn to a narcologist, this is not at all a “shameful” doctor, but a specialist who, believe me, does not care about the moral side of the issue. Alcoholism is a disease that can be treated. Domestic drunkenness, hard drinking is a state from which you can get out. We just need to recognize the problem and work together to find a solution.
Of course, everything is individual in this delicate issue: someone can stop drinking on his own, for someone it’s enough to call a narcologist at home, but for someone not, and going through a rehabilitation course in a clinic is the only option for him.
After all, the body after the «moratorium on alcohol» is restored within 3-5 days. The person begins to feel good, and the firm decision “never again” is replaced by the thought that a glass of beer will not hurt at all. And the situation repeats itself. That is why in some cases a person needs medical supervision and a complete rejection of alcohol.