If you drink every day and your hands shake and your heart races when you stop, don't try to quit cold turkey on your own

Moderate value
Evidence B
Buys life
Costs a little
Takes some hours
Some willpower

In plain words

If someone who drinks heavily every day suddenly stops, withdrawal sets in. Mild signs are shaking hands, sweating, a racing heart and trouble sleeping. Severe ones are seizures or delirium tremens, which is an emergency that can kill. Norway followed more than 30,000 (3万) people, and among those who had had delirium tremens, 8% died each year afterward. If you want to quit, go to the hospital first and tell them how much you drink each day.

Cost: Registration at a psychiatry or addiction medicine department costs a few to a few dozen CNY. Severe cases need a few days in the hospital.
What you get: A 2026 clinical review states that after people who have drunk heavily for a long time suddenly stop or sharply cut back, a withdrawal syndrome appears, with signs including tremor, autonomic overactivity, anxiety, insomnia, abnormal perceptions, seizures and delirium tremens, and that it is “common and potentially life-threatening” in ordinary medical care. A Norwegian national registry cohort included 36287 people diagnosed from 2009 to 2015 with alcohol dependence, alcohol withdrawal state or delirium tremens: the annual mortality was 8.0% in the delirium tremens group, 5.0% in the withdrawal state group and 3.6% in the alcohol dependence group. The standardized mortality ratio in the delirium tremens group was 9.8 (95% CI 8.9–10.7, the plausible range), meaning the risk of death was about 9.8 times that of the general population of the same age.
Notes: How to judge for yourself: if you drink almost every day, your hands shake, you sweat, your heart races and you can't sleep on a day without drinking, or you need a drink in the morning to feel okay, then if any one of these applies, don't stop on your own. The usual hospital approach is to get you through these few days with benzodiazepine drugs, along with thiamine (vitamin B1). It is graded B because the Norwegian cohort describes what happens to people who have had delirium tremens, not what happens if you quit cold turkey on your own, and the link between the two is an inference. You should still quit drinking, but do it at a hospital. For how much a week counts as a lot, see §2.19 (drink less or none); for how to cut down, see §2.21 (count your drinks, then talk to a doctor).
Evidence grade: B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
Sources: Caputo F, Lungaro L, Costanzini A, De Giorgio R, Addolorato G (2026). Alcohol withdrawal syndrome in hospitalized patients: a practical review. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 107103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2026.107103
Bramness JG, Heiberg IH, Høye A, Rossow I (2023). Mortality and alcohol-related morbidity in patients with delirium tremens, alcohol withdrawal state or alcohol dependence in Norway: A register-based prospective cohort study. Addiction, 118(12), 2352–2359. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16297

Mentioned in

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 2, tip 20. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer