Drinking May Be Decreased With The Help Of Mindfulness Fix

Those who are heavy drinkers and want to cut back their drinking habit may try to do so with the help of mindfulness training exercises. These exercises will help them focus on things happening around them. Such things are suggested by an experiment held in UK.

All about the experiment

When the researchers started this experiment they recruited 68 heavy drinkers but they were not alcoholics. These drinkers were either assigned relaxation training sessions or they were given 11 minutes training session for mindfulness. These techniques helped them recognize those cravings for drinks, but they didn’t act on those cravings.

The next week it was observed that those people who had been under the mindfulness training were drinking significantly less compared to the amount they were drinking before this study had started. However, people who were in the relaxation group didn’t drink significantly less.

The researchers made it a point that their study was just a study and it was not an attempt to treat the people who were heavy drinkers. However, their study had revealed the fact that anyone who is a heavy drinker and wants to control the drinking can try to do so by undergoing mindfulness training.

During the training session the people were being told to pay attention to their cravings and not try to suppress those cravings. They were made understand that when they notice the bodily sensations they can also learn to tolerate them without acting on them.

On the other hand, relaxation training told people about working on their mind, unwinding it and calming it down. It taught them to soften the muscles and release the tension in their body. This way, the intensity for cravings will get reduced.

Once it was over the participants were requested that they can practice the techniques that they had learned overtime.

Both the groups reported that they had seen a decline in their craving, however there was a significant difference in the behavior of two groups.

The results

The study may not be conclusive evidence but they can have huge impact in the future. Heavy drinkers do not know where the actual margin is and gradually they become alcoholic. While many want to overcome this situation many may not be even aware of what is happening to them. Anything that must be done should be done, keeping in mind that you need to fix your problem and although the results may be for the time being now, but mindfulness training will help you overcome it.