In recent years, there has been a growing movement of people who are choosing to reset their relationship with alcohol. This includes people who have never had a problem with drinking, as well as those who are in recovery from alcoholism. This movement is based on the belief that we can all benefit from being more mindful about our alcohol consumption.
The Sober Curious Movement: Why More People Are Ditching Alcohol
The benefits of sober curiosity: resetting your relationship with alcohol, improving your health, and more.
There are many benefits to be gained from resetting your relationship with alcohol. These include improved mental and physical health, increased productivity, improved sleep, and more meaningful social interactions. In this blog post, we will explore some of the ways in which sober curiosity can improve your life.
How Sober Curiosity Can Improve Your Health
There are many ways in which resetting your relationship with alcohol can improve your health. For instance, heavy drinking can lead to liver damage, high blood pressure, and an increased risk of cancer. If you drink excessively, you may also be putting yourself at risk for accidents and injuries. By reducing your alcohol consumption, you can drastically improve your overall health.
In addition to the physical dangers of excessive drinking, there is also the potential for mental health problems. Alcohol abuse has been linked to anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. According to this scholarly article, “Alcoholism… is linked to brain defects and associated cognitive, emotional, and behavioural impairments.” If you struggle with mental health issues, reducing your alcohol consumption can help you to manage them better.
The six ways that being sober curious can benefit you are that you could see…
- An Increase In Productivity
- An Increase in the Quality of Your Sleep
- Enhancing your Social Engagements and Interactions
- Weight Loss
- Reduce Anxiety
- Mood Disorders
How Sober Curiosity Can Increase Your Productivity
When you reset your relationship with alcohol, you may find that you have more time and energy to devote to your work or other pursuits. This is because excessive drinking can lead to absenteeism from work or school, as well as decreased productivity when you are present. This can also have a knock-on effect of increasing your anxiety and depression throughout the parts of the day when you’re not drinking. If you want to be the best version of yourself, it is worth being curious about sobriety, even if it means that it’s just for a short time.
(Also, if you are struggling with anxiety or depression, reach out. We are here to help.)
How Sober Curiosity Can Improve Your Sleep Quality
If you drink heavily, you may find that your sleep is disturbed by nightmares or waking up frequently during the night. You may also suffer from daytime fatigue due to poor sleep quality. Resetting your relationship with alcohol can help you to get a better night’s sleep and feel more rested during the day.
Normal behaviour is to use alcohol to aid in sleep. A research paper from 2001 (found here) showed that… “studies found that in nonalcoholics who occasionally use alcohol, both high and low doses of alcohol initially improve sleep, although high alcohol doses can result in sleep disturbances during the second half of the nocturnal sleep period. Furthermore, people can rapidly develop tolerance to the sedative effects of alcohol.” So, although it may have helped you sleep at one point in your life, these “benefits” soon wear off.
So by taking a break and exercising your curiosity around sobriety, you may be able to reset your ability to sleep throughout the night.
How Sober Curiosity Can Enhance Your Social Engagements & Social Interactions
Social interactions often revolve around drinking culture—think happy hour after work or meeting up for drinks on the weekends. When you reset your relationship with alcohol, you may find that your social interactions become more meaningful. This is because you will no longer be using alcohol as a crutch to help you interact with others; instead, you will be present in the moment and truly engaging with those around you.
How Sober Curious Can Help With Weight Loss
One of the benefits of being sober-curious is that it can help with weight loss. This is because alcohol consumption can lead to weight gain due to its high-calorie content. In addition, drinking can lead to poor food choices due to the fact that many people drink when they are hungry. When you reset your relationship with alcohol, you may find that you have more energy and motivation to make healthy choices when it comes to food.
How Sober Curious can Help with Anxiety
Sober curious can help reduce anxiety in several ways. First, it can help to break the cycle of using alcohol to self-medicate when feeling anxious. Second, it can help to improve sleep quality, which can in turn reduce anxiety levels. Finally, sober curious can help to enhance social interactions, providing a sober support network for those struggling with anxiety.
How Sober Curious Can Help With Mood Disorders
Sober curious can improve mood disorders such as depression and withdrawal by helping to break the cycle of self-medication with alcohol. In addition, sober curious can help to improve sleep quality, which can in turn reduce symptoms of depression and withdrawal. Finally, trying sober curious can help to enhance social interactions, providing a sober support network for those struggling with mood disorders.
Conclusion:
There are many benefits to be gained from resetting your relationship with alcohol. These include improved mental and physical health, increased productivity, improved sleep, and more meaningful social interactions. If you are curious about sober curiosity or considering resetting your own relationship with alcohol, we encourage you to explore these benefits further. If you want to connect confidentially with someone on our team to discuss this, click here and reach out today!
3 Signs You Might Need Depression Therapy
Everyone feels low from time to time, so it’s not always easy to know when it is part-and-parcel of daily life, and when it’s time to seek help. In most cases, it is short-term and self-correcting, but for a significant minority this is not the case. For those individuals, it is important to seek treatment just as you would any other health condition. Here we discuss six warning signs which, together, might indicate that it’s time to seek professional help.
What are the signs?
- You’ve been feeling low or irritable for most of the day, every day for two weeks or more. You might have found yourself worrying about past or future events for long periods of time, or simply feeling sad, cross or tearful. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize a gradual change – have others noticed that you don’t seem your usual self?
- You’ve lost interest in activities that you used to enjoy. Perhaps you have been seeing less of your friends or family recently, have stopped going to the gym, or cooking balanced meals. This is really about recognizing changes in what’s normal for you – no one is saying you have to exercise five times a week or eat your greens, but changes in your routine can offer concrete indications that your mood is changing.
- You are struggling to concentrate. You might notice that you struggle to focus when reading or watching television, for example, or to follow the thread of a spoken conversation. This could be affecting your performance at work, or limiting your ability to perform routine tasks such as food shopping. Again, we are looking for a change in what’s normal for you, so if concentration has always been something you find tricky there is little cause for concern.
Bear in mind that no one of these signs is in itself indicative of depression, and there are other, perfectly good reasons for each of these symptoms occurring. It’s also important to know that there are several types of depression and each can present in different ways – read more about types of depression. A GP is always a good first port of call, as they can signpost you towards more specialist services if necessary. Otherwise, if you are sure you’d like to see a mental health professional, consider making an appointment to see a psychiatrist who will be able to give you a diagnosis and advise you on which treatment might work best for you
A GP is always a good first port of call, as they can signpost you towards more specialist services if necessary. Otherwise, if you are sure you’d like to see a mental health professional, consider making an appointment to see a psychiatrist.
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.
– Robert Frost
Can depression be cured?
Depression, like many mental health conditions, follows ‘the rule of thirds’: One third of sufferers will make a full recovery, one third will partially respond to treatment, and one third will not benefit from treatment at all. Your age, the duration of your symptoms, having a family history of depression, and co-occurring mental or physical health difficulties might all affect your prognosis. Some researchers believe that there is evidence for a ‘scarring’ effect, where the likelihood of suffering from a relapse in depression increases with the number of episodes you have already had. There is also an increased risk of suicide associated with severe depression.