Health experts have issued a warning to anyone taking part in Dry January.
The campaign, started by charity Alcohol Change UK in 2013, challenges members of the public to go alcohol-free for the entire first month of the year. Around 130,000 people took part in Dry January last year, and even more are expected to take up the challenge this year.
But experts have warned those with alcohol dependency issues should be careful when it comes to cutting out the booze. Health professionals have warned of the dangers of going "cold turkey" with alcohol as many people across the country take part in Dry January.
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Dr Gillian Shorter, a psychologist specialising in alcohol and drug research at Queen’s University, Belfast, told the Belfast Telegraph: "If you are alcohol dependent, maybe Dry January isn’t for you.
"So for people who are drinking several drinks a day for a month or more, or if you stop drinking for a couple hours and you find yourself sweating, shaking, sometimes hallucinating and maybe having more severe effects like seizures, then it's really not a good idea for you to stop suddenly."
She continued: "What you should do is really try and sort of reduce the risk of harm slowly. And if you're able to do it in collaboration, with either detox - which can be hard enough to get - or speaking to your GP, to get a bit of support, because there are medications and things that you can get, that will really help with just kind of withdrawal and so on and so forth. But you shouldn't stop cold turkey. It's really, really dangerous, and can result in death for people who do have a physical dependence to alcohol."
A survey by YouGov in January suggested a third of people who had attempted to stay off the liquor had already given up in the first week.
When you shouldn't stop your alcohol consumption
If you experience any of these symptoms, you should seek medical advice and should not suddenly stop your alcohol consumption:
- seizures (fits)
- hand tremors ('the shakes')
- sweating
- visual hallucinations (seeing things that aren't real)
- depression
- anxiety
- difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
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