Originally Posted by
doggonecarl 
Nothing made me stop. Nothing external, that is. I stopped when I saw my drinking for exactly what it was, with no denial, a moment of clarity, you could say, about where my drinking was and where it was going to take me.
I stay stopped because I accepted never drinking again. Ever. I accepted that not drinking wasn't a punishment. I stay stopped because I learned how to live and love the sober life. In other words, I found recovery.
You don't have to wait until you hit bottom, get arrested, are admitted to the hospital. You can make the decision to quit for good right this very second.
But then you have to do everything in you power to support that decision. If you haven't been doing that, it explains the relapses.
I'm with Carl on this. Quitting was a choice i had to make, no one could do it for me. You will quit for good when you want to do it bad enough. Certainly there are things you can do to help you in following through on your decision to quit - like recovery groups/programs/plans, or rehabs/detox. But none of them in themselves will "make" you quit.
I certainly waffled between short periods of quitting for years, decades really. But looking back I framed those as basically taking some time off and never fully intended to quit for good. Taking a break, cutting back, basically the old moderation pipe dream. Over and over.
So this time was different, and mainly because of the choices I made. I accepted that drinking even one sip of alcohol will never be an option for me if I don't want to face the consequences - which were becoming more and more severe. And one I made that choice, I had to form a plan to help me follow through on it. You can do the same - you have everything you need to do it in your possession right now.