These days, unless I’m feeling generous, I simply say, “I don’t drink,” and leave it at that. Acknowledging and celebrating the hard work of recovery is helpful for keeping you motivated and reminding you why you took this brave step toward sobriety in the first place. Just be sure that your rewards don’t involve drugs or alcohol. Instead, focus on things, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ experiences, and activities that will support your new, healthy lifestyle. That way, you can suggest fun activities that don’t involve alcohol or ensure that where you’re going has an alcohol-free drink selection. You’ll help out your friends by relieving them of planning duties, and you can ensure the destination is somewhere you feel comfortable.
How to stop drinking
The only reason you find it difficult to have fun without drinking is that you haven’t built yourself up into the kind of person that can say no. As is the case with all things, you can’t defeat it until you understand it, and this is the first step in doing it. Attend a book launch, and there are almost certainly going to be drinks. Sure, it’s a bad idea to get blackout drunk at live music, but they still allow you to buy alcohol there. The usual advice given for socializing without alcohol is to spend less time in bars.
To Drink or Not to Drink Around Sober People
You might notice that alcohol negatively affects your sleep and leads to fatigue the next day, which impacts your performance at work. Before you completely cut out alcohol, try taking a moment or two to think about how your relationship with alcohol has changed over the years and where it stands today. When you remove alcohol from your life for a designated period of time, you can being sober around drinkers better understand the role it plays in your life and how significant it is for you. The new reality of Zoom hangouts might not be the most fun option, but they do reduce the need to explain your choice not to drink if you aren’t comfortable telling others about your plans. Going sober curious allows you the opportunity to see how sobriety or moderation might fit into your life.
- “Anxiety is the most common thing people notice upon stopping,” says Dr. Sharone Abramowitz, MD, a psychiatrist and president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine.
- Practice assertiveness skills, such as politely declining offers of alcohol or suggesting alternative activities.
- On top of that, you’re likely feeling less anxiety and are better able to regulate your emotions when life’s hiccups arise.
- In reality, though, people recovering from alcohol use disorder can go on to drink occasionally.
- You can lie, obviously, but that seems a little counterproductive to what we’re trying to achieve here.
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I have always hated the feeling that I’m putting people out or being difficult. You may also experience what is commonly called sobriety fatigue, which refers to the overall exhaustion that may occur as a result of the emotional and physical stress of staying sober. So, it’s extra helpful to have a support network available to you when you need it.
More From the Los Angeles Times
- Friends who work in the City of London have told me how their workplace culture focuses heavily on drinking, from alcohol-fuelled client meetings to late-night socialising.
- It’s part of the sobriety package, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
- To unpack some of the underlying reasons you feel bored right now, it helps to understand what alcohol does to your brain.
- If anyone noticed the lack of gulping (my acting skills are trash) or the never-empty glass, they made no mention of it.
- Remember that one of the things we’re attempting to do is not only get out there and experience fun activities that don’t involve alcohol but also heal the underlying damage in our brain from drinking.
- Shaboozey has built a formidable career to becoming one of the hottest artists of 2024.
How Long Does it Take to Feel the Effects of Not Drinking?
Surround Yourself With Supportive People
