10 reasons to stop drinking for good

If alcohol is controlling your life, you're probably aware there are good reasons for stopping drinking, and stopping for good.

But with denial being a powerful hallmark of the disease of addiction, sometimes those reasons get fuzzy when you'd do anything for a drink.

Here are our 10 top reasons to get sober – and stay that way.

1. You won't be hungover – this one's obvious but if you think about how many days you have lost to hangovers and add them up for the years you have been drinking, it can be shocking to see how much of your life has been wasted.

2. You will sleep better – there's no doubt about it, alcohol ruins your sleep. Although it may seem like it helps you to get to sleep initially, it's not a refreshing, deep sleep and it doesn't last for long. How many times have you woken up in the early hours of the morning after drinking, exhausted and unable to get back to sleep? With more research than ever showing how just how crucial quality sleep is to health, getting a good night's sleep every night will make huge changes to your overall health.

3. You will get better nutrition – a lot of people tend not to eat well when they're drinking heavily, skipping meals and choosing greasy foods to eat through their way through hangovers. On top of these bad habits, alcohol distrubs the digestion process, making it harder to absorb nutrients and also damaging the all-important gut flora that keeps so many systems in your body – such as the immune system and brain – healthy.

4. Your mental health will improve – depression, anxiety and your general mental health can be wrecked by the effects of alcohol. This will affect your work performance, your ability to concentrate, your ability to regulate your behaviours and emotions, to make good decisions and many other aspects of wellbeing.

5. You will probably lose weight – alcohol is full of kilojoules and many people find that they weigh at least a few kilograms less several months after they enter recovery.

6. You will have more money – if you add up just how much money you spend on alcohol, you might be shocked. Many people find that the annual amount they spend on alcohol adds up to an amount that they could use to buy a new car, take an overseas trip, pay down debts, or even to pay for rehab!

7. You will have better self-esteem – being drunk and hungover constantly, and dealing with the consequences, erodes anything good you may feel about yourself. Many people in this position feel guilt, remorse and self-loathing at destroying themselves and their relationships with alcohol. When you're sober, you can say goodbye to those destructive emotions and begin to build a life you can be proud of.

8. You will regain respect from others – when you're sober, people begin to trust you again. This is a chance to re-build relationships that have suffered or been destroyed by your drinking. It's surprising how forgiving people can be when they realise that you are serious about sobriety, and that they can have a relationship with the real you, not the you that was in active addiction.

9. You will have hope for the future – when alcohol is in charge of your life, your days and nights can get smaller and smaller. Any plans you might make are usually stymied by being drunk or hungover all the time. However, the future looks much brighter when you're in recovery, and you have the ability to make plans that you can realisitically achieve.

10. You will have more time – it's amazing how much time drinking and recovering from drinking takes. We are often told, "I can't believe how much more time I have!" by people who have entered a life of sobriety. What could you fill that time up with?

If you're worried about your drinking or that of someone you love, call Elaine on 027 573 7744 for a confidential and compassionate chat. You're never alone.