Some fun and exciting examples of physical exercise and outdoor activities include kayaking or fishing, camping, spin class, yoga, Pilates, CrossFit, Zumba, Bootcamp, and Class Pass. By incorporating mindfulness practices and stress management techniques into your daily routine, you can effectively manage boredom and negative emotions without relying on alcohol. Surrounding yourself with supportive friends and family who encourage sobriety and engage in alcohol-free activities can be incredibly beneficial in combating boredom drinking. By building a strong support network, you can access the encouragement and guidance you need to stay sober and successfully overcome boredom drinking. At the moment, bored drinking might not have a negative impact on your work or family life. If you start noticing these side effects, it’s time to re-evaluate how you deal with boredom.
Even when COVID lockdowns ended, we found in the same survey that 17% of respondents who worked from home were more likely to be excessive drinkers. For those who didn’t work from home, only 12% were prone to excessive drinking.
Sobriety itself isn’t boring
Then we’ll show you how to better manage boredom and avoid unhealthy drinking patterns. Particularly between 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people reported increased feelings of boredom and altered eating habits, as well as side effects like weight gain (1, 27). Eventually, feeling bored all the time leads to increased alcohol consumption. With time, you’ll start to develop that aforementioned tolerance, which means you have to increase the amount you drink to get the desired effect. If you drink to alleviate boredom, your brain starts associating alcohol with relief from that negative feeling.
But I’m going to explore solutions for people who sit at various points along the “sobriety is so boring” spectrum. It’s not as simple as “getting out there” and “trying something new.” It’s hard to do that when you suffer from extreme depression and anhedonia. The very things you should be doing to feel better require a level of motivation you might not be able to fathom. My social circle changed when I got sober because I realized that many of my relationships were based on getting drunk together, and that was it. I have gone to bars with people I genuinely like as a sober person, and I don’t stay for longer than an hour or two if nothing is happening.
Drink Less Alcohol : Learn how to moderate with no pressure to quit
Regular drinking alters the brain’s normal balance of neurotransmitters, chemicals that transmit signals in the brain. Eventually, those activities pale in comparison to the boost that drinking gives you. Dopamine also plays a role in controlling memory, mood, sleep, learning, concentration, and even our ability to have coordinated body movements.
- When he’s not working, Nate enjoys horticulture and is very active in Denver’s recovery community.
- Ingesting too much of one or both substances can be toxic to the liver.
- And while bored drinking isn’t necessarily problematic, it can sneakily become a serious health risk.
How to Stop Drinking Out of Boredom: Tips and Advice for a Sober Life in 2024
If your dose of stimulation is mostly a walk to the fridge, you might be a bored drinker. And while bored drinking isn’t necessarily problematic, it can sneakily become a serious health risk. Many people turn to screen-based activities like watching TV or scrolling on their phone when they’re feeling bored.
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The alternative is either a stale, lackluster lifestyle or one where the only entertainment is destructive addictive behavior. Take responsibility and choose the more creative and productive path. As difficult a challenge as boredom can present to overcome for anyone of any age, the answer lies in confronting and moving through and beyond the causes of boredom. Anyone experiencing significant levels of boredom needs to ask themselves what challenging (and likely unpleasant) experience they are attempting to avoid. As the saying goes, „An idle mind is the devil’s playground.“ Anyone with too much time on their hands may find themselves in hot water.
However, this can often lead to overindulgence, resulting in numerous health risks. By becoming more involved in your community, you can effectively replace boredom drinking with meaningful connections and activities that improve your overall mental health and well-being. Exploring creative outlets and tommy lee alcohol learning new skills can be a great way to find fulfillment and combat boredom without relying on alcohol. Mindfulness practices and stress management techniques can empower you to cope with boredom and negative emotions without turning to alcohol.
Not to mention alcohol also suppresses hormones related to appetite. If you do manage to meet your friends, the added drinks from socializing might affect your ability to get home, placing a burden on your friends. The solution is some form of stimulation, which can be healthy or potentially unhealthy. Generally speaking, the more congeners an alcohol has, the worse the hangover is likely to be.
Outside AspenRidge, Jordan enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding, and playing volleyball and soccer. She believes she was probably a rodeo queen in another life and recharges by spending time with friends and family. Jill is a Colorado native who received a master’s in clinical psychology with an emphasis on women’s studies from the University of Houston. Jill has worked in several inpatient and outpatient centers, treating clients in all levels of care in both individual and group settings.