Are there any health risks related to quitting drinking all at once?

Yes. once you get to a certain point it is very dangerous to your health to stop drinking as your body begins to depend on the alcohol to survive, therefore it is recommended that you should slowly cut down, this is the best and easiest way to quit.

Here is the problem with tapering off of alcohol...

When you have developed the habit of drinking to intoxication having one drink is likely set you down the path to getting drunk. Alcohol as you know has the effect of lowering your decision making ability. One drink leads to two, two leads to four etc...

At some point you will have to break the cycle and stop drinking all together if that is your goal. It may as well be on day one. Unless your drinking is to the point that you can't go a day with out alcohol with out getting sick the worst of the withdrawal symptoms will be psychological.

If you want to have your best chances of getting off the bottle you should seek professional help or get to a support group.

Technically, it'll just be the side effects that mess you up. It would be difficult on your body to quit cold turkey. I think you should slowly come off. It may take a while, but it's better than freaking out on people like a woman on her period.

no, but it will be hard