Sober Curious and the Benefits of Taking a Break from Alcohol

being sober sucks

Some 45 percent of 21+ Gen Z consumers have never consumed alcohol, Nielsen IQ found, compared with 36 percent of millennials and 32 percent of Gen X. For some people, taking a break from alcohol is not a big deal. For others, trying to take a break from alcohol may lead them to recognize that drinking has a stronger hold on their day-to-day life than they realized.

About Mental Illness

Regardless of the situation, being a victim never kept someone in recovery. It means continually checking in with yourself, continually reaching out to new people who may have ideas you haven’t tried before, and continually asking questions that will help you improve your life. Just because it “seems” like things will never change, that is not actually the case. How you feel today — no matter how boring, stifling, angering, or depressing it may be — will be different tomorrow. Your feelings will look different in a day, a week, a month, and a year, so look to the future with optimism. You have to motivate yourself, schedule it being sober sucks in, and consistently do the things that will help you improve your life in recovery.

being sober sucks

The right provider is in our network

  • Hunter Keegan is a musician and author with a day job.
  • I so get it, and most sober women I’ve talked to do, too.
  • Techniques such as meditation, yoga, and deep-breathing exercises can help you manage stress and the anxiety that may come with sobriety.
  • You have to motivate yourself, schedule it in, and consistently do the things that will help you improve your life in recovery.
  • There is a lot of stuff to process as you build your life in recovery every day, and that isn’t always going to be easy.
  • “When we opened, people didn’t know what the hell we were,” owner Abby Ehmann told Newsweek.
  • Plus, if you’re flopping into bed trashed most nights, chances are you’re not washing your face.

This will probably get deleted but life is hard, boring and just awful sometimes. Like any other significant life change that affects your daily routine, it does take some solid stakes in order to make it stick. There has to be an un-fun reason to not do the fun thing. In that way, yeah, you have to hit a point where the pros no longer outweigh the cons. There’s no mystery about whether or not drinking is good for your skin. It dilates your blood vessels, making you look like a red-faced cartoon drunk.

How bad is bad?

Celebrating these achievements can boost your morale and reinforce the value of your efforts toward sobriety. Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, SMART Recovery, or other local sobriety support groups offer a community of people who are going through similar challenges. These groups provide a platform to share experiences, gain insights, and receive unconditional support. The fear of being sober usually has a mixture of root causes, including the discomfort of facing underlying emotional or psychological issues without the numbing effect of substances.

being sober sucks

tips to help you overcome the fear of being sober

If you’re not the bath salts homeless dude eating someone’s face (or at least the other homeless dude getting his face eaten off), you’re not there yet. Having been the person who was leery of sober people while still drinking, I totally get it. Nobody wants to party with the Ghost of Christmas Future. I met a woman after a show who looked to be about my age (a hard 28). She mentioned that she was still dealing https://ecosoberhouse.com/ with weird dating apps at 42.

How do I deal with setbacks or relapses in fear of sobriety?

This subreddit is a place to motivate each other to control or stop drinking. We welcome anyone who wishes to join in by asking for support, sharing our experiences and stories, or just encouraging someone who is trying to quit. Please post only when sober; you’re welcome to read in the meanwhile. John Cheese the Great and Powerful wrote a pretty legendary column a few years back about his experiences with sobriety. I read it while hungover a few months ago and thought, “Hey, maybe I should stop drinking for Drug rehabilitation 30 days and see what all the fuss is about.” By 7 p.m. On the day I started, I was gripping the walls, looking around with giant pupils, and clutching my chest, wondering how the hell I was going to get through one night.

being sober sucks

Published in Exploring Sobriety

being sober sucks

Nifaliophobia, or the fear of being sober, manifests as a significant and persistent fear related to the absence of alcohol or drugs from your life. Signs that you might be experiencing nifaliophobia include intense anxiety when thinking about not using substances, avoiding situations where substances are not present, or feeling unable to cope with daily stresses without the use of substances. If your fear of sobriety significantly impacts your ability to function or make decisions about your health and lifestyle, it may be helpful to consult a professional who can provide a proper assessment and support. And depressingly, sexual assault and murky consent is a big factor at play for women who abstain from alcohol.

  • It was haunting, all the bad, all the missed opportunity to get out of the life I was keeping myself in, and it chipped away at the boost I had been getting from being sober.
  • “I couldn’t find any bartenders to work in a sober bar. Now sober bartenders seek me out.”
  • Eliott Edge, manager of the Hekate sober bar in New York City, agreed.

Fewer “cringe” moments

being sober sucks

It’s just hard to explain to people that you’re going to be useless for a few weeks because you have actual love for gin. When you stop problem-drinking, you suddenly get a third-ish of your day back. Instead of floating through your weekends and evenings in a dreamy fog, you’re there for all of it. Good or bad, you’re present and participating and not hitting the eject button. There’s nothing altering your state of mind and experience of the situation. There’s the real you in there, buried deep, but it’s suffocating under the weight of addiction, problems, and (in my case) untreated mental health problems like depression or anxiety.

Parts of Life We’re Stuck With Because the King Ordered It

  • By calling the helpline you agree to the terms of use.
  • Participants in Dry January or other temporary sober periods noticed an increase in their quality of sleep.
  • Finding a buddy, or even a sober social group, can help you feel like you’re engaging in your social circle without feeling pressured to drink.

If in-person meetings aren’t possible or if you’re seeking additional support, online forums and sobriety communities allow you to connect with others from the comfort of your home, at any time, providing support and advice. 💙 Start this simple 30-day program on Mindfulness for Beginners to build this supportive habit into your daily life. Many people like to drink occasionally as a way to relax or socialize, but for others, the habit is rooted in anxiety and fear. If this is the case for you, you may want to dig deeper. Instead, buck up and remember what’s in your control.

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