By implementing these strategies, you can effectively overcome boredom drinking and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Boredom and binge drinking often go hand-in-hand, as drinking alcohol to pass the time and relieve boredom is a common occurrence. And right now, a lot of the things that they do are online classes or solo activities or connections that don’t involve coffee shops and fancy French restaurants for brunch. And maybe you can’t go to the French restaurant for brunch. But you can get takeout and have a picnic in a beautiful park alone or with a group or with your family.
I hope you trust the process and release some of your fears about what life will be like without alcohol. So for a woman who loves to multitask and likes to check things off the list. I was like, I’m sitting around not drinking but I worked out four times this week, five times this week. That gave me checks on my checklist that I was doing something other than building up days with this time and money.
The Takeaway: How To Deal With Being Sober and Bored
With self-awareness, you’ll be better equipped to understand and address your habits. By participating in addiction treatment programs, you can effectively address your boredom drinking and take the necessary steps towards a healthier and more fulfilling life. By participating in therapy and counseling services, you can develop the skills and support necessary to overcome boredom drinking and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Exploring creative outlets and learning new skills can be a great way to find fulfillment and combat boredom without relying on alcohol. By implementing these strategies, you can effectively manage boredom and negative emotions without turning to alcohol, improving your overall mental health and well-being. In the process, you will also learn to balance positive and negative emotions, leading to a more stable emotional state.
With understanding and a few targeted strategies, you can retrain your brain to seek healthier, more fulfilling ways to escape boredom. 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 it perceives as normalcy.
Kathleen was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, but spent half of her life in California. She holds a master’s in clinical psychology with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy. Additionally, she has a master’s in holistic wellness and is trained in EMDR therapy for both in-person and virtual settings. Kathleen has more than 15 years of experience treating people who have a substance use disorder. Karlie is originally from Dayton, Ohio, and began her education in psychology at the University of Cincinnati. She participated in research studying ADHD in children, mindfulness and anxiety, and embodied cognition.
They bought themselves watercolor paints, or beautiful crayons. They sit on their front porch, and they paint pictures and they learn. I, personally, in early sobriety, took an online style class called “style and style mobility”.
First, a Quick Explainer on Dopamine
I kept a notebook and pen beside my bed in case I woke up in the middle of the night with a brilliant song lyric or poem. Not on its own, but maybe it starts a conversation and a friend comes over just to sit with you and make sure you’re good. When I quit drinking, I was lucky to have a spouse that supported my decision. And yet, he still had no idea how to support me. When you remove alcohol from your life, you free up all the time you spent drinking and recovering from drinking. If you ever sit down to do that math, you will shock yourself with how much time went towards drinking.
- People talked about taking a chocolate making class and getting a kit and doing that.
- A therapist can help treat the underlying symptoms through therapeutic modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or trauma-processing techniques.
- Then we’ll show you how to better manage boredom and avoid unhealthy drinking patterns.
- You sleep a lot and you feel a little down your body and your mind and your emotions are adjusting to life without alcohol.
- It also exposes you to acetaldehyde, a toxic byproduct produced when your body metabolizes alcohol, that can damage your cells and tissues.
If you’re drinking out of boredom, read on to learn more about what this means. Swapping our routines and habits that are damaging you for ones that can strengthen your body and soul will give you a really clear reason why you want to stop drinking out of boredom. Mental health needs as much attention as physical health, so if you are suffering, go and talk to your doctor. Talk to them about your drinking out of boredom too.
Find an alcohol-free drink you actually like
When I was in early sobriety, I was very shaky. And I went on a weekend trip, where I would always drink in the past. And I walked past a store window, when we were about to jump on the ferry. And it said, if you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with drinking out of boredom a new Hello.
Sometimes being sober is boring because your life revolves around alcohol.
It’s why we might suddenly find ourselves reaching for that remote, a candy bar, or for some, a bottle of alcohol. If you have someone you trust, let them know if you are feeling down or lonely – so they know you won’t mind if they check in with you more often. See if there are organisations around you where you could help out, that would love to use your skills and talents. Whether it’s your partner, friends or colleagues, ask those who know you for ideas of things you can experiment with to fill your time differently. Don’t assume people are too busy to see you, all they need is to know that you would like to meet up. Let people know you want to see more of them.