Reduce Your Drinking

Thank you for your interest in reducing your alcohol consumption. This an important step to take. Pending your consulting with your doctor or primary care therapist, here are some straightforward approaches to reduce your consumption.

1. The first step is to identify your goal. We recommend that you keep to the national guidelines for low-risk alcohol consumption that apply to your country.

2. Use one or more of the following strategies:

• Count the number of drinks and the type of drink you are having.
• Increase the interval between drinks.
• Alternate alcoholic with non-alcoholic drinks
• Have some food before drinking
• Think of an alternative activity to drinking

3. Always have a polite way of declining the offer of a drink. For example, “No thanks. I’m on medication and my doctor has told me to keep away from alcohol”.

References and further reading:

Saunders, John B., and others (eds), 'Alcohol', in John Saunders, and others (eds), Oxford Handbook of Addiction Medicine, 3 edn, Oxford Medical Handbooks (Oxford, 2024; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 May 2024), https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780192844088.003.0010

Saunders, John B., and others (eds), 'Screening and brief intervention', in John Saunders, and others (eds), Oxford Handbook of Addiction Medicine, 3 edn, Oxford Medical Handbooks (Oxford, 2024; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 May 2024), https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780192844088.003.0006

• Please see the Drinking Limits section to access the guidelines for low-risk use of alcohol according to your country of residence.
• If you are a pregnant woman please note that most health authorities advise a goal of zero alcohol in pregnancy.