What Makes an Alcoholic Decide to Quit Drinking

The big question in our minds is when will the alcoholic finally decide to quit drinking? Is there something that will make them quit? What can I do to convince them that they are an alcoholic? Will they get sober once they realize they have a drinking problem?

If you take some time to attend a few AA meetings you will get several hundred answers to these questions. The testimonies of people who are living sober are completely different yet they seem to have some common threads. By listening to others stories you will better understand why alcoholics can’t just quit drinking.




Getting a Court Order to Attend Alcoholic’s Anonymous
A court order is a very pinpoint thing that sometimes can influence an alcoholic to abstain from drinking. The stories are many from people whose lives were saved because of being ordered to attend meetings. They all seem to testify the same things; “When I was court ordered to attend AA meetings, I had no intention of getting sober.” What happens to many is that once they are forced to see what alcoholism is and hear how others have gotten sober, they too decide to try living a sober way of life. The statistics of people getting sober because they were court ordered may not be huge, but even if one life was saved because someone decided to stop drinking, the program is well worth all that it took to implement.

Alcoholics Hitting Bottom
Hitting a low place doesn’t always influence an alcoholic stop drinking. I’ve seen people on the streets who are so low that there’s no way to go any lower,yet they continued in their addictions. Although this is just speculation on my part, God really knows how to bring anyone to the place of hitting bottom and realizing they need help. When they sincerely look up and cry out to God, I believe that’s when a person has finally hit the lowest low. Things will begin to change when that happens. That’s why the program of AA is so powerful, it’s the power of God that sets many of the captives free.

It’s a good idea to prepare for when an alcoholic hits bottom. The opportunity will come suddenly like a flash of lightening. You want to make sure you have a “plan-of-action” in place if the problem drinker decides they want help.

no drinking allowedI’ve been to thousands of AA meetings and have heard an untold number of stories that people have shared about what happened when they finally hit bottom and decided to stop drinking alcohol. For some, it happens when they run out of money, for others it’s when the family structure begins to collapse and yet for someone else they may have gotten sober because of the death of a loved one.

The very best thing that you can do for yourself and the alcoholic is get involved with Al-anon. This will better help you understand that you cannot make someone quit drinking. You can learn how to live with alcohol addicted people by joining an Al-anon family group and participating regularly in the program.

What really makes an alcoholic quit drinking is a desire inside to live a better life. Oftentimes, when enablers stop making things so comfortable for the problem drinkers that will help contribute to them making a decision to seek out help. The reality of the situation is this, nothing you or I do will cause them to stop.

This thing is for certain, there’s really nothing that you or I can do to influence another person to quit drinking alcohol. They must make a decision to reach out for help on their own. We can yell, try to manipulate, even beg them to quit and until they are darn good and ready to stop drinking nothing will happen.

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