Dealing with high alcohol cravings is one of the most challenging parts of recovery from alcohol abuse. This is an important element contributing to the chronic, relapsing nature of the illness.
The strength of cravings can be so great that they draw people back into drinking, returning them to a cycle of alcohol abuse, relapse and recovery. Read on to learn more about cravings and recovery, whether they ever go away and how to manage them.
Alcohol Cravings and the Recovery Process
If you suffer from alcohol Substance Use Disorder, drinking heavily and frequently, your body and brain become dependent on alcohol. If you stop drinking suddenly you go through withdrawal.
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms usually start within a few hours of your last drink, peak in 1-3 days and improve in 5-7 days. Not only is withdrawal from alcohol painful, for heavy drinkers it can be dangerous and may require medically supervised treatment..
Most people in withdrawal experience intense cravings to return to drinking. And this may continue for at least 6 months. For some it never goes away.
Dealing with Alcohol Withdrawal
Detoxing on your own at home is very difficult to do. The recommended approach for withdrawal from alcohol is to enter a residential treatment center with detox facilities. Under medically supervised care and with appropriate licensed therapists and counselors you can go through withdrawal and initial recovery with knowledgeable, compassionate support.
What are Alcohol Cravings?
Alcohol produces pleasurable or rewarding effects by increasing activity in brain systems related to reward processing. While alcohol initially reduces, it then promotes negative emotional states and pain. [1]
When we crave alcohol, we are in a state of anticipation; we want to drink. Cravings result from either a withdrawal or a trigger.
In withdrawal, certain brain chemicals make the brain demand more alcohol so it can balance out the lack of alcohol and achieve its rewarded “normal” state of functioning while using alcohol.
Triggers, or cues, are based on memories. Alcohol floods the brain with the feel-good reward chemicals like the neurotransmitter dopamine. Well after our last drink, our brains and memories still associate drinking with this flood of reward. When we are exposed to a cue or stimulus that triggers these memories our brain calls out for more reward in the form of alcohol. This creates the craving feeling.
Causes of Cravings
- Changes in brain chemistry: With time, alcohol use affects certain neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers in the brain. This can lead to tolerance, a need to drink more to feel the same effects. This can also lead to you being more sensitive to alcohol’s effects and increase the risk of withdrawal symptoms. This may make you feel anxious or stressed when not drinking, together with strong cravings. There are also brain function factors related to a lack of decision making control and emotional regulation in managing a strong desire or impulse to drink alcohol. [2]
- Habit formation: You may have begun to drink alcohol because it leads to positive feelings or an improved mood, such as at a party or a difficult day at work. The reward you feel in the form of pleasant euphoria becomes a reward and may reinforce you to habitually use alcohol in other situations.
- Triggers: Cravings often happen as a response to a trigger, possibly a memory of something associated with alcohol or an emotion such as being stressed. Usually there may be both internal and external triggers. Internal triggers may be memories, thoughts, emotions or physical sensations that cue the desire to drink. External ones refer to cues in the environment that connect you with alcohol such as times, places, people or situations.
Cravings for alcohol can vary in intensity and length. They may be triggered by a variety of factors, including:
- Stress
- Alcohol addiction
- Withdrawal
- Poor mental health
- Exhaustion
How Long Does it Take for Cravings to Go Away?
Cravings are highly variable in length. While the craving is momentary and may last only 5-15 minutes, for some they may continue for a few days or weeks. Others may have them for months or even years after stopping drinking.
How to Manage Alcohol Cravings?
One of the key elements of treatment is learning to plan for triggers that may invoke cravings and risk you relapsing to drink again. Triggers or cues, are people, places and things that you associate with drinking. Here are some approaches to managing cravings:
- Talk to people you trust: Your family, friends, therapists, sponsor
- Distract yourself until the craving passes—often 5-10 minutes. Take a walk, run an errand, listen to music, clean house
- Refresh your memory of why you stopped drinking; recall the negative effects of your drinking and that it won’t make you feel better right now, or ever
- Accept the urge to wait it out, instead of trying to fight it. This is called “urge surfing’ where you think of the urge as a wave that will soon crash and dissipate.
Seeking Professional Help
If you or someone you know is showing signs of addiction or mental health issues, reach out for help. Compassionate licensed addiction specialists are available at The Encino Recovery & Detox Center. Remember, taking the first step towards recovery is a sign of strength. With the right support and treatment, overcoming addiction is possible, paving the way to a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Sources
[1] National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2022. Neuroscience: The Brain in Addiction and Recovery.
[2] Dongju Seo, Rajita Sinha. 2014. Chapter 21 – The neurobiology of alcohol craving and relapse. Editor(s): Edith V. Sullivan, Adolf Pfefferbaum. Handbook of Clinical Neurology,
Elsevier, Volume 125, 2014
