Thinking About Changing Your Drinking

WEIGHING DECISIONS

When people who change are asked what brought about the change, they often say they just “thought about it,” meaning that they evaluated the consequences of their current behavior before making a final decision.

This process is called decisional balancing. People do this all the time. For example, people weigh the pros and cons of making changes in their jobs and their relationships. Making decisions about whether to change your drinking is the same as making decisions about other areas in your life.

Weighing decisions involves personal choices. What may be a benefit to you may be a cost to someone else. When weighing decisions, having mixed feelings is normal.

This exercise, which is in the next screen (Decisional Balance Exercise), will help you look at the good things and less good things about changing your drinking.