If you are committed to changing your drinking, “social pressure” to drink from friends or others can make it hard to cut back or quit.
This offers a recognise-avoid-cope approach commonly used in cognitive-behavioural therapy, which helps people to change unhelpful thinking patterns and reactions.

Recognise two types of pressure
The first step is to become aware of the two different types of social pressure to drink alcohol – direct and indirect.
Direct social pressure is when someone offers you a drink or an opportunity to drink.

Indirect social pressure is when you feel tempted to drink just by being around others who are drinking – even if no one offers you a drink.

Take a moment to think about situations where you feel direct or indirect pressure to drink or to drink too much. Then, for each situation, choose or come up with some resistance strategies.

Avoid pressure when possible
For some situations, your best strategy may be avoiding them altogether. If you feel guilty about avoiding an event or turning down an invitation, remind yourself that you are not necessarily talking about “forever.”

When you have confidence in your resistance skills, you may decide to ease gradually into situations you now choose to avoid. In the meantime, you can stay connected with friends by suggesting alternate activities that don’t involve drinking.

The AA Estcourt branch hosts meetings every Tuesday at Forderville Primary School from 7pm to 8pm. Contact Desigan on 082 849 3014.