The most common mistake people make when dealing with alcohol-related issues is waiting until they've lost everything before making a change. The notion of hitting rock bottom as a prerequisite for change is a myth and a dangerous belief. To debunk this idea, I've invited my friend Leon from the YouTube channel Sober Leon to share his personal and professional experiences overcoming alcohol-related challenges.

I've long enjoyed Leon's because his channel perfectly aligns with my philosophies. I urge you to pay close attention as Leon outlines four signs indicating it's time to change.

Leon: Various images come to mind when we think of rock bottom. Perhaps it's someone who has just been arrested or received a DUI or someone checking themselves into rehab. There are many interpretations of rock bottom.

I have experienced countless rock bottoms. I've reached points where I vomited blood on a computer, ran out of money, and even borrowed money from my family. Alcohol has caused...

Unfortunately, Joe's story is common among college students and young adults. Many individuals in this age group engage in excessive drinking and partying, often without fully realizing the potential consequences of their actions. Joe's experience demonstrates the struggle of losing control over substance use and the difficulties of seeking help.

At first, Joe resisted assistance and denied the severity of his addiction. This is a typical response, as individuals caught in the grip of addiction often have difficulty acknowledging the problem. It may take time for them to fully understand the negative impact of their substance abuse on their lives and those around them.

Fortunately, Joe eventually recognized the seriousness of his addiction. This realization likely came about through the persistence and support of his parents, who were concerned about his well-being. 

I want to emphasize the importance of seeking professional help for addiction. Addiction is a complex issue...

Now, when you saw the title, you were probably thinking about all the medical or physical aspects of alcoholism, like cirrhosis of the liver. But, still, there are many ways that alcoholism destroys our bodies. Yes, it attacks our liver, but it also attacks our heart, mind, pancreas, immune system, and brain, dramatically increasing your chances of having numerous types of cancer.

Now, I often hear people say things like yeah, this partying and this drinking and all this stuff; it will probably make my life shorter, but I will have a lot of fun in the meantime. And if that were true, I'd be OK with it. But in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

When people say that, it's almost like you're imagining one big giant party and significant time and excitement, and then one day, you drop dead of alcoholism. But, unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way most of the time. It's a much more drawn-out, slow, and painful death than you imagine.

And while all those physical...

The reason alcohol is so addictive is because of social reinforcement.
It is the only drug you will feel embarrassed about not doing.

Now, marketing companies make it seem cool, sexy, and exciting, and start creating peer pressure from a very early age. So we're getting messages that adults do this to have fun. This will make you an exciting person others want to be around. So we start believing that long before we ever even try it.

There's a placebo effect connected with alcohol; remember when you first started drinking alcohol, and you didn't like it, and it tasted nasty, but everyone around you was telling you you're going to like it and it's going to be great. And everyone looked like they were having fun. So then you start acting like you're having fun with it.

It's reinforced in almost every single direction.

My clients who decide to stop drinking alcohol are worried about not having the alcohol and cravings and withdrawal and stuff like that, but you know what they...

Interlock device or Soberlink device, which one is right for your situation?

I'm still going to give you my objective opinion about both of these devices because each has its pros and cons, and each one fits a slightly different situation, and I want you to make an informed decision about what's right for you. So the most natural place to start is to tell you precisely what Interlock and Soberlink devices are.

An interlock device is an alcohol breathalyzing device that gets installed into your car, and the car doesn't start until you've taken a blood alcohol test, like you blow into the thing and pass it.

Once you do that, then you can start your car. Now, it's not just for when you start the car; you must continue to take breathalyzing tests as you drive down the road. A lot of my clients call this the blow-and-go. Most of the time, people get an interlock device after some legal issue, like a DUI.

A Soberlink is also a breathalyzing device, but it's not attached to your car....

If you've got an addicted loved one who says one of these statements, I'm about to tell you; it is likely lying more often than not. Of course, you shouldn't believe this. But, before I tell you these statements or lying examples, I want you to know that just because you're not going to believe these lies anymore doesn't necessarily mean that you should call them out, especially not in the moment.

You don't always have to call it out, but you don't have to believe it.

#1. Some version of, "I only hide it because ____."

For example, "I only hide my drinking because it upsets you. I don't want to get you upset." Any reason for hiding the dependence is addictive behavior. And yeah, there may be a little truth in some of the reasons that they're giving you for hiding, but the big reason they're hiding it is that they know that the addictive behavior is out of bounds in some way,

So when you hear this statement, it's essential to understand that they may be lying to you, but it's highly...

The majority of clients that we see in our office stop drinking on their own without having to go to long-term treatment, like 30, 60, or 90-day treatment. And honestly, it's not that complicated.

Detox 

When quitting alcohol, you have to consider whether or not you need a medical detox from the alcohol. Believe it or not, stopping alcohol from cold turkey is one of the more dangerous things to quit. So before you implement any of the other techniques that I'm about to tell you, it is crucial to have a thorough medical assessment.

Once you have that figured out, here are the critical pieces to doing this on your own, without going to long-term treatment.

1st Key to getting sober without rehab

The first thing that I want you to do is to make drinking a non-option.

What do I mean by non-option?

Make it easier on yourself. For example, one obvious thing is to take the alcohol out of your house and remove the temptation.

2nd Key to getting sober without rehab

The next thing you...

How do you rebuild trust and put your relationship back together when alcoholism is in the equation? Let's look at four practical, helpful, and successfully proven strategies. If you do these four things, you'll be well on your way to putting your relationship back on track.

Anytime there's an addiction issue inside a relationship, you will develop trust issues on both sides. The person with the addiction also does not trust the family member because both people have probably been a little dishonest.

Soberlink- A device used to restore trust

One practical and helpful tool that we use in our office is Soberlink.

Soberlink is an alcohol monitoring system that has proven highly effective in restoring the relationship. Family and trust and helping people along their journey in recovery. What Soberlink does is provide accountability for the person in early recovery, and it gives the family peace of mind.

Long before Soberlink sponsored my channel, I've been a huge fan. We've used...

Does my drinking or substance use affect my kids?
Of course, it does, but HOW does it affect your kids? Some
of these things might be difficult to hear, but necessary.

We're going to be looking at it from the child's point of view, focusing specifically on how a parent's alcohol or other substance use or abuse affects you as a kid and even as an adult now.

If you want to know if you have an addiction or a loved one has an addiction problem and how severe that problem is, you can click HERE to download the criteria for substance use disorder.

Affect #1: When you're using substances, you are modeling that behavior for your kid. If you use substances in your home, you're modeling that's the way adults in the family have fun or party. It may come across to your kid as really glorified, "Ooh, that's how adults are happy! That's how adults connect. When I get older, I'm going to do that!"

If you're using substances to help you cope with stress or problems, then you're also modeling...

Recently, I released a video titled "Is AA(Alcoholics Anonymous) a religion?" You can watch it HERE.

Now, I pose the question, Is alcoholics anonymous a cult? What about narcotics anonymous or any of the unknown' for that matter? (read to the end to get my opinion).

You've probably heard that AA is a cult, but we're going to take an objective look and find out what qualities of AA are like a cult, and if AA isn't a cult, what the heck is it? 

I think the best way to tackle this question is to look at the qualities of a cult and see if AA has any of those qualities.
Spoiler alert! -- It has some of those qualities.

The first quality of a cult is having a questionable commitment to a leader. If you're familiar with alcoholics anonymous, you know that it was created by someone named Bill Wilson. Eventually, he brought along a friend named Dr. Bob, if you had to say someone was the leader of alcoholics anonymous, it would be Bill and Bob, for sure, but neither...