Those feelings don’t come back immediately when you quit. That latter experience feeling like everything is gray and dull and lacks meaning? I’ve been where you are, as have thousands of other sober people who had to learn to have a life again after sobriety. As part of your daily “boredom prevention plan,” schedule a reward for not drinking when you otherwise would. Not to mention alcohol also suppresses hormones related to appetite.
Physical Exercise and Outdoor Activities
By implementing these strategies, you can effectively overcome boredom drinking and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Engaging in new hobbies and interests is an excellent way to fill your time and create a sense of fulfillment without alcohol. These activities can help you stay busy, improve your mental health, and provide a healthier alternative to boredom drinking. Replacing boredom drinking with enjoyable and fulfilling activities can help you maintain a healthier lifestyle and improve your mental health. Some alternative activities to consider include physical exercise and outdoor activities, creative pursuits and learning new skills, and volunteering and community involvement.
Cognitive Function
You have to have faith in your ability to problem-solve or find someone with the answers. People like to feel as though they are making progress toward something. That can be a problem if you are an overthinker, prone to anxiety, or are just afraid of what might come in the future. It doesn’t fill your cup nearly as well as doing the things that truly ignite that spark inside you. And once you’ve filled your cup, it makes doing everything else a lot easier. One helpful way to stay on top of this is to practice the “Five Minute Rule.” If something takes less than five minutes to do, do it now and get it over with.
Strategies to manage boredom eating
Even after the initial stages of recovery, you must continue to grow and change to maintain your sobriety. Boredom can signify that it’s time to shake things up and try something new. When you push yourself to explore new opportunities, you can continue to grow and stay engaged in your recovery. But if you’re drinking because of boredom having difficulty keeping up, it can be a good idea to seek professional help. The practice of mindfulness involves being present in the moment and paying attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment. It can help you stay focused on the present and appreciate the small moments in life.
- Staying busy is a great way to stave off boredom and create space for healing the parts of your brain that took a walloping from drinking.
- It can help you stay focused on the present and appreciate the small moments in life.
- On that note, the following pointers for ending a boredom-induced alcohol habit are for those who want to take their health, diet, and fitness to the next level.
- With lower rewards, normal behaviors are less appealing, and people find themselves feeling bored.
The good news is that your brain can adjust and restore balance to your internal world. The longer you stay away from alcohol and give your brain some much-needed TLC, the less you’ll feel like life is dull and uninteresting. To https://ecosoberhouse.com/ unpack some of the underlying reasons you feel bored right now, it helps to understand what alcohol does to your brain. Bored drinking can sneakily become an unhealthy habit, and it’s not always easy to curb it on your own.
People may turn to alcohol as a way to cope with these negative emotions, but in doing so, they may be putting their mental health at risk. Many scientific studies have proved a positive relationship between boredom/loneliness and excessive alcohol use. However, boredom drinking can result in a damaging cycle that is difficult to break and can negatively impact ongoing mental health.
- Boredom has long been studied by psychologists, who have identified several explanations or causes of boredom.
- Valuing and prioritizing yourself in recovery can be a powerful way to remove the hold alcohol has on you.
- These varied experiences of being bored, and the diverse impacts it has, demonstrate that boredom is a complicated phenomenon.
Dealing With Boredom in Recovery: Tips From a Coach
Losing relationships to the substance can be challenging but anchoring to others in recovery can be the very thing you need to feel worthy of recovery. There is a strong relationship between boredom, stress, and drug or alcohol use. It’s therefore no surprise that during the pandemic, the rate of alcohol consumption increased among people that reported COVID-19 related stress.
- Meditation has been recommended for addiction recovery because of the way it contributes to creating new neural pathways in the brain.
- When you surround yourself with like-minded individuals who share your goals, you can feel less alone and more motivated to stay sober.
- In this article, we’ll unpack bored drinking and help you figure out whether boredom is a drinking trigger.
- Facing your unhappy thoughts can be overwhelming, and it’s natural to need a break or a distraction from time to time.
Why Can’t I Stop Drinking Once I Start? 4 Major Reasons
