Drinking When Bored? What It Could Mean Addiction Treatment

Look at the best brunch places and the best coffee shops. It’s important to think about what you’re consuming on social media. Be deliberative, who you’re looking at, and what you’re watching.

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But if you end up drinking anyway, mindfulness also means forgiving yourself and learning from the experience. And to stay motivated, take a moment to jot down in a journal how you feel after making progress in your hobby. When boredom strikes and you find it more difficult to muster the motivation to work on your hobby, read these journal entries. That reminder of how good you’ll feel should keep you from heading to the fridge.

Additionally, she is trained in Brainspotting, offering a unique approach to trauma-informed care. Chanel describes herself as a humanistic therapist focused on building rapport and trust. She knows that when both of those are realized, they can accomplish each client’s unique goals together.

In this episode I’m going to talk about all the tips, tricks, suggestions and advice I have to make life without alcohol fun, comforting, interesting and gratifying. This subreddit is a place to motivate each other to control or stop drinking. We welcome anyone who wishes to join in by asking for support, sharing our experiences and stories, or just encouraging someone who is trying to quit. Please post only when sober; you’re welcome to read in the meanwhile. If you’re having trouble making this change alone, Sunlight Recovery offers programs like individual therapy, group therapy and medical detox to help you with drug and alcohol treatment.

Just restart your plan and recognize & reflect on what challenges need to be overcome and how. Often, being bored without alcohol seems intimidating because when there’s no task to put your mind to, you’re forced to notice the things that are making you unhappy. These stories remind us that boredom isn’t merely a state of inactivity or idleness — it can also be a time for reflection, creativity, and unexpected discovery. 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.

According to one study, about 25% of people who drink to intoxication don’t have hangovers at all. The only surefire way to prevent a hangover is to abstain from drinking, he says. And once you have a hangover, the only thing that will get you over it is time. And then separately, researchers have evaluated liver function among people who drink kind of regularly and then stop for a while.

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When we feel bored, we notice our own thoughts. If those thoughts are very negative, then hanging out in your own brain isn’t going to be a great experience. This is where the real work of sobriety is – facing up to your own mind. Most people drink in order to fill a void of some sort, e.g. an unhappy relationship, an unfulfilling job, loneliness or feeling bored with your daily routine.

These programs should address substance use and any underlying co-occurring mental health disorders to ensure the most successful outcome. The best approach to treatment includes access to follow-up therapy, management of skills, group or peer support, strategies to prevent relapse and prescribed medications if needed. Such a comprehensive treatment is most effective in achieving recovery. I found that other people who exercise, especially exercising early in the morning, are not the people getting drunk every night. These are the kind of people who are hiding in plain sight, who you’ve never noticed before.

1. I hope you trust the process and release some of your fears about what life will be like without alcohol.
2. Hobbies give you goals, and if you especially enjoy them, you’ll be motivated to reach these goals.
3. But if you can spend time with those thoughts, you will be better prepared to make changes that can positively affect them.
4. And the sickness and tiredness you feel after the initial high of alcohol consumption wears off is neither fun nor interesting.
5. There are plenty of situations where having a drink is a great way to celebrate an accomplishment.

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“We used to regularly neck whole bottles of wine in first year,” he says. But after noticing that he was feeling regularly low and fatigued, he decided it was time to cut down. I hope you trust the process and release some of your fears about what life will be like without alcohol.

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Now that I’ve quit drinking, I am just living, just living, I am just going through life, not recovering. Just waking up and seeing the sunshine or the rain, I’m taking care of my kids, I’m getting coffee, I’m reading books on doing yard work, I’m doing good productive work. Some days are not very exciting, and some days are joy filled. Some days, I’m moving forward on projects that get me really, really excited. The reasons people start drinking alcohol is very different than the reasons they continue to drink alcohol.

Instead, you should find ways to cope with your boredom that keep you productively occupied and are more fulfilling. The average adult experiences around 131 days of boredom per year, so how you react to this boredom is critical to your mental health. If you justify to yourself, “I drink when I’m bored,” it can quickly lead to overindulgence and health concerns. If you’re a casual drinker, you should understand the ramifications of regular drinking. Originally from Nashville, TN, Jordan moved to Colorado with her Alcohols Effects on Lung Health and Immunity PMC family at age five. She has worked in behavioral health since graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 2019.