How to Stop Drinking Out of Boredom: Tips and Advice for a Sober Life in 2024 Lantana Recovery: Addiction Treatment Rehab Center
Boredom and isolation are known relapse triggers for people with substance use disorders. An important way to safeguard your sobriety is to be aware of this and take steps to mitigate it. When feeling bored, many people turn to drinking alcohol as a way to enhance their experience and provide an enjoyable sensation. However, this can often lead to overindulgence, resulting in numerous health risks.
- Then you’ll be able to enjoy yourself doing whatever it is that comes after the work.
- If you’re a reader you should be surrounded by books that you haven’t read so you can go and read those.
- It’s normally while your mind is glad let free or wonderingto wonder on its own, it’s only when you that you’ll get bored.
- And one has to be willing to feel uncomfortable to make those changes happen for oneself.
- Drinking out of boredom can reinforce negative feelings and self-medicate.
But if you can spend time with those thoughts, you will be better prepared to make changes that can positively affect them. One of the best ways to deal with bored drinking is to anticipate it — why is not always easy. Say your main drinking occasion is when you socialize with friends. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ A drink or two while bored might make you too tired or too wary of driving to meet your friends. There are plenty of situations where having a drink is a great way to celebrate an accomplishment. Unfortunately, problems can surface if you use “I deserve it” to justify bored drinking.
Reset with a relaxing activity.
Change can be hard, as habits are ingrained in our psyche. And one has to be willing to feel uncomfortable to make those changes happen for oneself. I would drinking out of boredom like to invite anyone reading this to be patient with themselves, and to find ways to adjust to their boredom and discomfort with doing something different.
- Many people struggle with drinking out of boredom, and even if they don’t particularly like alcohol or its effects.
- Say you have downtime on a Saturday afternoon after a challenging week at work.
- I encourage anyone in recovery to be open, honest, and willing to do the work.
Alcohol use disorder impacts millions across the nation, many of which are considered high-functioning. Self-medicating can drastically impact overall health and well-being. It’s also a common reason many become dependent on substances. Not only this, self-medicating can lead to and exacerbate mental health conditions leading to a dual diagnosis condition. If you’re drinking out of boredom, read on to learn more about what this means. According to the NIH, “heavy drinking” generally means more than four drinks per day for men and more than three for women.
Why do we resort to drinking out of boredom?
For members who report drinking out of boredom, I often remind them that there are probably a lot of other things to do within their busy lives, if they take a moment to reflect. I’ve spent the last seven years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. Additionally, I examine the way mental and physical health as well as our relationships with others impact the reasons people drink and their role in maintaining sobriety long-term. Reflect on your drinking patterns and keep track of them to identify your boredom drinking triggers. 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.
You have to understand what you’re feeling and WHY you’re feeling this way in order to change it. Getting outside and communing with nature is scientifically proven to reduce stress and improve mental health and cognitive function in both kids and adults. But if you can’t or aren’t able to do a group class, at the very least, take a tech-free 30-minute walk every day. I promise it will do wonders for your mental health, which, in turn, will help you feel motivated to do more things. What did you enjoy doing before drinking came around and took over your social life? If you must dig WAY back into childhood for this answer, then do that.
How to Stop Drinking When Bored
Talking to someone can really help you to handle whatever life throws at you. It’s a great way to get your thoughts and your worries out of your head so you can work through them. You can easily drain yourself dry on activities, responsibilities, and keeping up with a busy schedule if you don’t allow yourself adequate time for rest. Pick a random podcast, website, or ebook and start learning.
Stopping at the moment to look around at what’s happening, what emotions
you are experiencing, sensations, and thoughts that are present, bringing
awareness, and then making a choice. Start consciously thinking about your
drinking routines and ask yourself what’s triggering that particular
routine or pattern. Workaround managing and coping with those triggers by
finding a different strategy that works best for you.
