What determines whether alcohol abusers will be successful or not in changing their drinking habits? Researchers at the University of Wales studied more than 150 excessive drinkers over a six-month period to explore how three factors: unconscious preoccupation with alcohol, motivation for reaching life goals, and commitment to change affected drinking over time. "Our study shows that, on the whole, being willing and even committed to changing one's drinking habits is not enough to reduce alcohol intake over the long term among those who drink excessively," states researcher Professor Miles Cox. The project reveals that other factors, such as how much a person unconsciously thinks about drinking and how well equipped they are to pursue goals other than drinking are vital to altering drinking behaviour. Such findings, Professor Cox believes, can play a crucial role in improving the delivery of alcohol services.
A preoccupation with drinking alcohol (known as alcohol-related attentional bias) is increasingly understood to play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining a person's addiction to alcohol. This bias towards alcohol means that certain cues, such as passing the wine section in a supermarket, cause the person to recall some positive effects of drinking - for example, feeling relaxed. Evidence suggests that this unconscious preoccupation strongly influences drinking behaviour in implicit, covert ways. "We find that people who are preoccupied with their drinking are able to reduce it initially, but eventually revert to their old pattern of drinking," he points out. "In short, unless they can overcome their attentional bias towards alcohol, they are less likely to succeed in cutting down," he says.
"The research team is currently working on a training programme that targets a person's unconscious preoccupation with drinking," Professor Cox explains. "As a result, a person would, for example, be able to walk through a supermarket and pay no attention to the alcohol section."
But excessive drinkers also need to address the ways in which they attempt to achieve goals, including the goal of alcohol reduction. Heavy drinkers frequently find difficulty achieving goals in other areas of their lives because of problems such as unrealistic expectations, undue pessimism about their ability to succeed and low tolerance of frustration. "If things are going well in other areas of a person's life, then they are more likely to succeed in cutting down drinking," states Professor Cox. "So it is important to find ways of making other areas of their lives more satisfactory." Researchers believe that introducing systematic motivational counselling into existing alcohol services would prove beneficial. By learning a range of new skills, excessive drinkers can begin to develop motivational patterns that enable them to lead satisfying lives without excessive use of alcohol.