Learning to recognise anxiety must be a top priority if you are drinking to excess and want to stop. Do you ever wonder why you are constantly turning to alcohol? Do you just accept it as normal or, as a "bit of enjoyment", or "a way to fit in socially"?

Which came first, the alcohol or the anxiety? Many sufferers "treat" themselves with alcohol as a temporary solution to their unacknowledged feelings of unease.

Although alcohol can depress some of your uncomfortable sensations, the problem is that, too much of it can actually increase anxiety symptoms by causing an irregular heartbeat and lowering blood sugar.

Wanting a quick solution to things is part of the human condition, however, all it does is put a band-aid over the real issue and jeopardises your health in the process. None of us want to feel emotional pain but, it is part of life.

Know that only you can decide how long you want to sit in the pain, before resolving it. You could decide to stop running and eliminate it today, protecting yourself from a lifetime of even more pain and worse issues to deal with.

Many of us who drink casually or for social reasons, may feel that we do not have a problem, and that we have everything under control. But, the underlying anxiety is masked by our drinking and will often go unnnoticed until our habit has become an addiction. And then, it may be too late!

Learning to recognise your own anxiety and then taking action to heal it, is the way to prevent yourself going down the slippery slope to liver disease, failed relationships and a life of regret. And, the best thing is that healing does not need to take forever.

Now issues that used to take years of therapy can be cleared in a matter of hours or days.

If you want to be the captain of your life rather than a slave to alcohol, then choose to take a step today by, stopping when you have the urge to drink, breathing to a count of 10 and then asking what you need to do instead.

Recognising anxiety is all about self-awareness and it can begin today. Instead of abandoning ourselves when we feel discomfort, we can learn to listen, understand and take action to help ourselves feel better. Would we abandon a little child who felt upset or afraid? Then, why do we do this to ourselves?