Feeling Bored In Sobriety? Here’s How To Have Fun Without Alcohol

It’s important to have the right mindset about sobriety. Acute anxiety and depression from the withdrawal process can ease within a few days to a week. But for many people, lingering feelings of anxiety, depression, and general malaise can last weeks, months, or even longer. Dopamine is another neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and happiness. It is also responsible for regulating movement and emotional response. Dopamine depletion can cause apathy, boredom, and lack of motivation.

Boredom: A Possible Road to Addiction

In this article, we’ll unpack bored drinking and help you figure out whether boredom is a drinking trigger. Then we’ll show you how to better manage boredom and avoid unhealthy drinking patterns. Early sobriety is a critical period when community and support networks are critical. This can be hard if your social life previously revolved around drinking.

FOR YOUR FIRST MONTH ALCOHOL-FREE

Sunnyside is the leading alcohol health platform focused on moderation and mindfulness, not sobriety. On average, members see a 30% reduction in alcohol consumption in 3 months, leading to improved sleep, diet, and overall wellbeing. Bored drinking can sneakily become an unhealthy habit, and it’s not always easy to curb it on your own. Alcohol is probably not the only indulgence in your life. Once your downtime ends, and you’ve made progress on your hobby or taken a walk, enjoy a piece of chocolate before your next activity. And to stay motivated, take a moment to jot down in a journal how you feel after making progress in your hobby.

Eliminate alcohol from your living space

Other people are another great way to fight boredom. Fortunately, groups of people are frequently available to aid those in addiction recovery. Overcoming boredom in addiction recovery is not an easy task. It is a skill that takes effort over a long period of time to act and react to the challenges of recovery. Reducing alcohol intake may produce withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, shivering, high blood pressure, vomiting, fatigue, etc. Psychological symptoms like anxiety, restlessness, & anger outbursts, or irritability can be seen as an after-effect.

At the beginning of those days, plan to work on a hobby or some other activity when nothing else is scheduled. You’ll find it easier to settle into the activity should boredom strike. If “for no reason” pops up frequently in your list, it might help to seek a CBT professional to understand your why in those situations. The American Psychological Association recommends CBT to root out “faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking” that may be driving unhealthy behaviors. Say your main drinking occasion is when you socialize with friends.

For those who didn’t work from home, only 12% were prone to excessive drinking. Boredom no doubt played a role in this scenario. In the meantime, the Soberish community is here to support you and help you get there. I certainly would have if I’d read this article five years ago. Feeling bored, sad, lonely, or anxious about something are all very human things to feel. If you have the time, sign on to a longer-term project like helping with this year’s charity bake sale or the big 5K race your city holds yearly.

We need to be able to do such things without the “help” of alcohol. Our brain also becomes accustomed to the presence of alcohol and starts to see it as the “new normal.” So when there’s no alcohol, things seem a bit off. The brain starts to signal the craving for alcohol, not just to seek pleasure but also to restore what https://ecosoberhouse.com/ it perceives as normalcy. So, when we’re bored and our brain is looking for that dopamine hit, it can often recall that alcohol was a past source of reward. That’s why we might find ourselves reaching for a drink when we’re simply sitting and not doing much. Boredom, a state we’ve all experienced, can be a tricky beast.

• Call us today for a free, confidential consultation.
• It typically occurs when we find ourselves disengaged from what’s going on around us or when there’s a lack of interest or enjoyment in our activities.
• By implementing these strategies, you can effectively overcome boredom drinking and maintain a healthier lifestyle.
• Surrounding yourself with people that support you can help alleviate possible remnants of guilt and shame from past behaviors.

Use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to identify triggers.

Seen, and buckets and buckets of local flowers that are lush and gorgeous and beautiful and a total treat. But she can afford it because she’s not drinking. And she arranges drinking out of boredom the flowers, and she puts them in front of her house for neighbors to pick up as a little dope dose of joy for other people or leave them on their front stoops.