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However, a greater percentage of people report they are curious about living a sober lifestyle that removes alcohol completely. The ‘sober-curious’ have grown from 12% in 2020 to 19% today. Finding meaning and value in sobriety and staying in tune with yourself and your progress can help you be present in your emotions and thoroughly process and release the pain you may feel. Healing with such awareness can help empower your recovery.
So, it’s extra helpful to have a support network available to you when you need it. Some of the immediate changes you will need to make will be obvious—like not hanging around the people that you used with or obtained drugs from. After all, you can’t hang around your drug dealer or old drinking buddies and expect to remain sober for very long.
Stay Up to Date
As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but. This is the original study guide to the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Ever sworn off alcohol for January and found yourself drinking by the 7th?
- When you abuse substances to the point that it rewires your brain and consumes you, you struggle sleeping through the night.
- If you’re struggling with addiction, know that you’re not alone.
- People in long term recovery know how fragile this can be and therefore learn to value these things more than they did before.
- One of the most important aspects of long term sobriety is a dedication to helping others.
The story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism. This book describes how the founders, Bill Smith and Dr. Bob, recovered from alcoholism through spiritual principles. Great insights into the 12-step process, with depth and humor. “If you want sober house to maintain the friendship, see a movie or do an activity with them that does not involve alcohol,” says Hafeez. New hobbies may be most effective when you haven’t tried them before but have been interested in trying them and think they will feel enjoyable or meaningful.
Sandy Beach Drop the Rock Alcoholics Anonymous Talk
When you’re sober, you have more time and mental energy to spend on the people who matter most to you. Without the distraction of wondering when you can go get drunk or high, you’ll be able to stay physically and emotionally present with others. You’ll probably find that the important relationships in your life mean more to you than drugs or alcohol ever did. In essence, it’s the condition of not having any measurable levels or effects from alcohol or drugs.
For those of us who abuse alcohol, sobriety is the only vehicle by which we can achieve any of these things. If I could get sober, I would effectively eliminate 90% of the problems in my life and shut down the internal war that had been waging in my brain. When you first quit drinking, it feels like the hardest thing you’ll ever do in life, like attempting to run a marathon without training first. Your partner can bring you down or take you all the way up.
You have more free time.
In order to have the best browsing experience on our site please use Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Firefox. Chris Howard is the Founder and Director of Ethos Recovery. In Psychology from UCLA and has served as a community advocate/mentor for men and women in recovery since 2010. If you are seeking advice on how to better your sobriety, we can help. At Ethos, we understand that there are many ways to achieve and maintain sobriety. When you think of sobriety, your mind is likely to go straight to the word abstinence.
- You can also find healthy alternatives to drinking for stress relief, such as going for a run or enjoying a warm cup of tea.
- All in all, these sober-curious individuals are much more likely to value living a healthy lifestyle, and nearly one-third of the ‘very curious’ are passionate about it.
- It’s just a minor mis-step that requires recognizing it for what it is and getting back on track by finding ways to stay sober.
- Some definitions of sobriety call for complete lifelong abstinence while others focus on developing coping mechanisms that can reduce harm with the understanding that setbacks are common.
- This could be related to campus life for some and the novelty of being old enough to legally drink.
My biggest fears in life include being in large groups of strange people, standing at parties by myself, and really just people in general. Drunk me didn’t have to worry if I was alone at a party because drunk me didn’t abide such things. Drunk me didn’t worry if she belonged, or said the right thing, or had to have small talk because drunk me just handled that. This might seem like a terrible thing; this is not a terrible thing. This is a JOYOUS and wonderful thing because it easily sorts out the ones that have a weird relationship with alcohol, or the ones that just aren’t for you. It will hurt (pretty bad at first), but in time you will come to see it as the gift it is—and you won’t waste time getting to know the wrong person.
Addiction and the Brain
That suggests that being ‘sober-curious’ for many Millennials means reducing or limiting alcohol, rather than removing it completely. Spouses can play into patterns of codependence, and families in general just simply don’t understand addiction and recovery well enough. They don’t know what causes it and what it takes to recover, especially if they have never been through it personally. People who struggle with addiction will generally find each other. By definition, we have a shared interest in alcohol and drugs.
Your goals become clearer, and you start finding ways to be happy again. I wish I could say that because I no longer drink, I don’t do the monkey mind, worst-case-scenario thing anymore, but I do. It reminded me that I was aimless, which made me want to drink more. I wanted to be happy, social, have more meaningful relationships, but I was unwilling to branch out or try anything new.