Health and Wellness Trend – Are You Sober Curious?

Sun peeks out from behind the clouds in woman’s head.

What is Being Sober Curious?

Sober curious is a movement that involves becoming more aware of your drinking and developing a healthier relationship with alcohol. The sober curious approach is ideal for people who tend to drink socially and do not have an addiction or dependence on alcohol.

Dry January began as a public health initiative in 2012. The challenge? To start the new year with a healthy little detox and possibly some self-reflection, too. The idea of a booze-free month, following a period of indulgence over the holidays, caught on and has expanded over the years.

Is Sobriety a New Trend?

The new programs are part of a broader trend toward sobriety, led by authors of drinking recovery memoirs, social-media influencers, and leaders of online sober communities. Many frame abstinence as a healthy lifestyle choice and push back at what they describe as society’s embrace of alcohol.

Sober living is definitely on the rise. There’s a growing group of people that are becoming sober or significantly cutting back on drinking to improve their health and well-being and is today being referred to as a “trend”.

So, if you decide to live sober, one can say the you are ‘Trending’. This idea comes from the ever popular “wellness-mindset,” but applied to your drinking habits, so you can make it to your spin class on a Tuesday morning or be ultra-focused at work on a Thursday. As more and more people adapt this wellness mindset, we’re seeing a big trend in the rise of non-alcoholic drinks.

Sobriety is ultimately a personal choice. You need to decide you want it and have the will to go for it. It is a difficult journey, but it is achievable as long as you keep your focus and priorities straight. Sobriety is something you need to want to achieve on your own. With a global pandemic crisis in mental health, slowing down any intake of toxic drugs or drinks seems to only make sense.

Below are some great questions to expand your mind:

1. How Much do Alcoholics Drink a Day?

Alcoholics generally drink excessively, often much more than four drinks per day and in a manner they can’t control. Excessive drinking is a serious health problem for millions of people.

2. How Much is Drinking Actually Costing You?

If you have three drinks a day, five days a week, at an average of $10 a pop, you’re spending $150 a week, $650 a month or $7,800 a year just on alcohol ― not including any additional costs, like server tips or taking a taxi instead of driving. According to the survey, millennials tend to spend on average $300 a month on alcohol.

Gen-X’ers only spend half as much; 88% of student athletes use alcohol. The average college student spends $500 per year on booze. A more recent study shows that the average student now spends almost $900 per year on booze and only $450 on books.

3. Why do I get Hangxiety?

“Hangxiety” can also be made worse by factors that typically contribute to hangovers, including dehydration and poor sleep. Lack of sleep in particular often makes anxiety symptoms worse, with or without alcohol, Healthline reported.

4. What is Grey Drinking?

Grey area drinking is when someone experiences a drinking problem, but does not have severe alcohol use disorder. People in the gray area may find themselves using alcohol in excess, or in emotional ways. The relatively new term “grey-area drinking” describes people who consume more than a moderate amount of alcohol but don’t meet the criteria for dependence.

5. Why Would I Love Being Sober?

When you’re sober, your life doesn’t end. In fact, many people feel that it’s just beginning. Life after substance abuse or addiction of any kind allows you to feel more in control of your activities and your relationships. With your brain, organs and nervous system working at normal, everything in your life can feel more manageable without the effects of alcohol and drugs.

6. Is Alcohol is a Depressant?

Alcohol is a depressant. That means any amount you drink can make you more likely to get the blues. Drinking a lot can harm your brain and lead to depression. Alcohol can depress the central nervous system so much that it results in impairment such as slurred speech, unsteady movement, disturbed perceptions, and an inability to react quickly. Alcohol reduces an individual’s ability to think rationally, lessens inhibitions, and distorts judgment.

7. What are the Psychological Effects of Alcohol?

Regular, heavy drinking interferes with chemicals in the brain that are vital for good mental health. So while we might feel relaxed after a drink, in the long run alcohol has an impact on mental health and can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety, and make stress harder to deal with.

8. How Soon do You Lose Weight after Quitting Alcohol?

Someone who goes from daily alcohol drinking to stopping altogether can expect to see physical body composition changes as well as weight loss in the days to weeks after they quit drinking alcohol. That is why we often say, “Food is medicine.” The research on timelines for eating disorder recovery show that remission of eating disorder behaviors such as binge eating and purging takes an average of eight or nine months, and weight recovery takes on average 12 months.

9. Why do You Gain Weight When You Get Sober?

As your gut heals, you may gain weight from increased appetite and increased food absorption. Often, this is a good sign, especially if you were underweight before. Since excessive drinking can also go along with eating disorders, weight gain might be a sign of a healthier relationship with food.

10. What do You Mean by Heavy Drinking?

For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week. For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. Therefore, the habit of 2 to 3 glasses of wine each night after work does add up, and medical proof states heavy drinking eventually affects your body and brain health, one way or another as time goes on.

11. How can I be Free from Alcohol?

Get rid of your alcohol. Keep nonalcoholic beverages on hand for yourself and others. You don’t have to offer alcohol to be a good host. Let guests bring their own alcohol — and take it with them when they leave.

12. Does Being Sober Make You More Attractive?

Being sick is never particularly attractive, and those abusing substances often suffer from a slew of health-related issues due to the damage they are causing their bodies. But once you are sober, you will naturally become healthier and more attractive.

Sobriety could also make you stronger and thinking clearer; fit and intelligent – both which are always attractive!

GOODREAD: Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Deep Connection, and Limitless Presence Awaiting Us All On The Other Side of Alcohol, Ruby Warrington