Drinking Out of Boredom Hobbies to Replace Drinking

drinking out of boredom

Talking with a trained therapist, especially one who understands substance abuse, is important. They can give you tools and resources for navigating everything you’re feeling (or not feeling) right now. The contrast between the heightened emotional state while drinking and the flatness of mood when sober can make everyday life without alcohol seem uninteresting – sometimes unbearably so. This can lead to increased anxiety, depression, and stress when not drinking, which might make sober times feel particularly empty or boring.

Tips to stop drinking out of boredom

Sometimes boredom in sobriety looks like not wanting to be around anyone. Acute anxiety and depression from the withdrawal process can ease within a few days to a week. But for many people, lingering feelings of anxiety, depression, and general malaise can last weeks, months, or even longer. When serotonin and dopamine levels are low, we become less motivated and less interested in our surroundings.

Understanding excessive drinking

drinking out of boredom

The more you try not to think about it the more it comes into your mind. That’s why it’s important to try and change your environment in the early days as much as possible. First of all, boredom has a lot to do with your energy levels, so if you’ve got a lot of energy and you have no way of expending it, if you’re sitting around you’ll going to feel bored. If you’re nice and relaxed you’re not really too bothered about what’s going on in the outside environment then you’re not likely to be bored. 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.

drinking out of boredom

Tip 1: Get conscious about what’s driving your drinking out of boredom

Remember that one of the things we’re attempting to do is not only get out there and experience fun activities that don’t involve alcohol but also heal the underlying damage in our brain from drinking. One of the best things you can do for yourself when you’re feeling bored in sobriety is to find a way to serve others. On the one hand, you have no idea what you’re supposed to do with yourself. A lot of people don’t feel good when they first get sober, so it’s totally understandable if your feelings are all over the place. Getting sober is like learning to walk again after a terrible accident. You should be able to go about living your life without drinking alcohol, but you feel utterly useless and have no idea what to do with yourself.

Problems Caused by Drinking Out of Boredom

drinking out of boredom

Boredom is a key reason people give for drinking too much and drinking out of boredom like https://ecosoberhouse.com/ this can become almost a subconscious activity, something that you do whilst doing something else. Drinking because of boredom happens because home is where we feel safe, unjudged – it’s where we can relax. But at home, it’s easy to get a bit too comfortable… you can get a long way down a bottle when you are sitting in front of the TV half-watching some series to pass the time. If you want to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink, it makes sense to avoid busy bars and thirsty friends.

  • Moderate alcohol consumption has the potential to enliven social situations.
  • However, for some people, research shows this approach might be counterproductive.
  • In the modern world, it’s very very difficult to just do nothing.

This can be hard if your social life previously revolved around drinking. It’s even harder if drinking out of boredom your loved ones don’t support your sobriety. If you quit drinking and experience any new or worsening mental health symptoms, please consider therapy. Let’s address another reason life without alcohol feels boring.

The Dangers of Attempting Alcohol Detox at Home

drinking out of boredom

Another aspect of boredom is focus, so if you’re in your own home, then you should have plenty to do. If you’re a reader you should be surrounded by books that you haven’t read so you can go and read those. If you’re an artist you can always go and paint; if you’re a gamer there’s always going to be a game that you can play. These are the things where there’s not an infinite amount of leeway in them, I mean, if you sit and do these things all the time you’re going to be bored with them. I’m currently at work, and super tempted to pick up some drinks right now. It’d be far from the first time I drank on the job, even though I know it’s not a good idea obviously.

  • 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.
  • Boredom eating in unique situations like this may be nothing to worry about.
  • With self-awareness, you’ll be better equipped to understand and address your habits.
  • So drinking because you’re bored isn’t doing much for you in the long run.

So many people quit drinking and end up walking around in a dopamine deficit state, struggling to find joy in anything. Our brains don’t like imbalance and will work very hard to correct it. That overcorrection is what you’re probably feeling right now. When you use alcohol (or any substance) to artificially boost serotonin and dopamine levels in your brain, you create an imbalance in the brain.