Research shows that the majority of people who eventually achieve long-term sobriety have at least 1 relapse. I admitted that I was an alcoholic, that I was scared, and that I needed to make a change. If I couldn’t first accept this, then there was no chance I would ever fix it. I used to be a heavy drinker, but eventually, I got tired of the hangovers and dealing with the embarrassment of my drunken behavior.

Find Your Bezzy Community

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. That’s why we might find ourselves reaching for a drink when we’re simply sitting and not doing much. We’ve all felt it — that nagging sensation of boredom. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just drinking out of boredom a result of having nothing to do. In fact, boredom is a genuine emotion, akin to happiness or sadness.

Additional resources to fight boredom in sobriety:

You learned something, made progress, and put yourself in a better position for success. Once this was no longer an option, I started to write instead. I use writing as my personal therapy when something is troubling me and I need to think. You might question if you’re really ready to quit. I know that I had several starts, stops, and bouts of questioning if this was the right decision for me. I personally used to worry that I wouldn’t be strong enough to stay sober.

What About the Message That a Glass of Wine a Day Is Healthy?

We were all just sitting around and getting drunk, perfectly content to not really do anything together. It’s hard to fill that time, especially when dealing with alcohol cravings and triggers. In fact, when you first quit, it feels like everyone in the world is out getting drunk but you. I was doing almost nothing with my free time, but it never bothered me much. I wasn’t a total shut-in; I still occasionally visited friends or explored the city.

Researchers hope to turn such hints into a deep understanding of what boredom is, how it manifests in the brain and how it relates to factors such as self-control. But “it’s a ways out before we’re answering those questions”, says Shane Bench, a psychologist who studies boredom in the lab of Heather Lench at Texas A&M University in College Station. In particular, investigators need better ways to measure boredom and more reliable techniques for making research subjects feel bored in the lab. There is no universally accepted definition of boredom.

• Often an external trigger, such as the sight or smell of food, makes us reach for a snack.
• You don’t have to give up everything; you just want to break the random, mindless, emotional eating habit you’ve developed in response to boredom.

I am always reading and I love discussing books with my patients, my professional colleagues, and now with you. One can form a habit out of being bored because it can present a degree of comfort and safety. Eventually, since no one expects anything from you, and you don’t expect anything from yourself, drugs or alcohol can seem like an acceptable choice and the easiest and quickest fix.

• It’s not enough to be afraid of what can go wrong.
• A hangover can decrease your motivation to engage in social activities.
• You feel compelled to keep drinking to maintain that high.

I didn’t go that traditional route of walking into a room, of getting hugs from 100 people. I’ve seen that and I know the power of that, and I didn’t have that. I couldn’t access that because the rooms I was walking into made me feel completely messed up and scared and worked against my recovery. No one’s using it ceremonially in the United States.

• But there are ways you can meet new people and form friendships without any alcohol involved.
• But to measure boredom, researchers must first make sure that study participants are bored.
• It compared six different boredom inductions, representing three broad classes—repetitive physical tasks, simple cognitive tasks, and video or audio media—as well as a control video.
• People who tend to be bored may also be weary or restless because of a lack of personal interests.

When I was finished, it was like someone had hit the refresh button on my brain. I could go back and re-read what I wrote and approach it from the perspective of an outside observer. Journaling allowed me to step outside of my emotions.

Setting Healthy Boundaries in Relationships

Yet, no matter how much pain it causes to the individual or family, alcohol is one of the most difficult substances to remove. 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.