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Third, people can try out Dry January—whether that involves cutting back or quitting entirely. “The all-or-nothing approach is never a good idea,” Seija says, because while some people can go cold turkey, it’s unrealistic to demand that everyone who drinks should quit forever. “That’s where this idea of sober-ish comes to play.” This can involve having alcohol-free days, ordering fewer drinks or turning to nonalcoholic beverages as a way to preserve the social benefits of drinking. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and other public health agencies, there are at least four times as many problem drinkers as alcoholics in this country.
A key aspect of mindfulness is to slow down so we can increase awareness. It’s a powerful question because, as women, our beauty matters. It’s a question that has the potential to lead my clients exactly where they want to go. One night (at around 22-years-old), while drinking in a local bar at Florida State University, I saw the most beautiful girl walk in. I remember thinking, “If only I could be that beautiful. If only I could be that girl.”
The idea here is just to document your observations as well as your willingness and ability to make observations. Controlling alcohol use in social settings can be tricky. Since drinking is frequently a social activity, over time, social situations themselves can start to prompt a strong desire to drink. Additionally, if most everyone in a situation is freely drinking, that can encourage you to do the same. There may be ‘special occasions’, such as weddings, celebrations or other events that last a long time, when drinking is a part of the occasion.
Awareness is a gift of grace that we get to course-correct. Try challenging yourself not to drink for the first minutes to experience social environments without alcohol. This can be easily done by saying, “I don’t know what I want to drink yet.” That moment led me to question who I really was without using alcohol to mask my drug addiction insecurities. I used to think alcohol made me more of who I was – more open, more social, more fun…more whatever.
Despite their best efforts to drink less and in healthy ways, they continue to overdrink and alcohol continues to negatively affect their lives. In fact, for many people, abstinence is the best way to avoid alcohol-related problems. If people ask why you are not drinking or notice that you are drinking much less, feel free to say anything that feels comfortable for you.
Find out the answers to these questions and more with Psychology Today. Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today. Try to complete the log below for each day, making one entry per day. If you forget or decline to make a same-day entry but still want to note the information later, put “No” in the “Same Day entry” column to indicate you are making a retroactive log.
Even if you stop trying to moderate and just drink as much as you want. But that does not mean that you how to drink moderately can’t be happily in control. It is possible to eliminate that cognitive dissonance and to create a relationship with alcohol that isn’t stressful or depressing. Not to be a buzzkill, but alcohol can negatively influence our health in a few different ways in both the short and long term. During the times when you’re alcohol-free, does it change how you feel and where you place value in your life? Do you find you’re able to think more clearly, focus better, and maintain your energy?
