During her academic years, she dedicated herself to assisting refugees fleeing war and violence in their home countries. Nate Denning is the Lead Admission Representative at AspenRidge Recovery. Before moving to AspenRidge, Nate served as operations director at a local organization that has sober living homes throughout the Denver area. When he’s not working, Nate enjoys horticulture and is very active in Denver’s recovery community.

#3 Make a Schedule to Structure Your Days

If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol use, we can help. Footprints to Recovery offers alcohol addiction treatment that’s evidence-based and personalized to your clinical needs, preferences, and life situation. We don’t just treat the symptoms of addiction; we address underlying issues like co-occurring mental health conditions and trauma that perpetuate substance use. We’ll also teach you healthy coping skills that support long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Various addiction treatment programs are available for those struggling with alcohol use disorder and boredom drinking. These programs should address substance use and any underlying co-occurring mental health disorders to ensure the most successful outcome.

• It also makes you accountable to others and them to you, if you’ve extended your hand for help.
• Bars are more frequently providing alcohol-free beverages to help encourage safe drinking habits and reduce risks of accidents caused by driving while intoxicated.

Why Drinking To Cope With Boredom Is Never A Good Plan

Pile on some sobriety struggle, and it’s a recipe for madness. I found myself planning little outings when I got sober because I needed to figure out what it meant to have fun again. Choosing a new hobby to occupy your time is not always easy. It may require a bit of soul-searching, especially when your motivation is at historically low levels.

Are You an ‘Almost Alcoholic’?

While boredom is to be expected and is nothing unusual, some individuals equate boredom with lack of productivity and negative connotations. In response, some people seek outlets that are detrimental to their well-being. Drinking out of boredom is common, especially among those suffering from other mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Many people struggle with drinking out of boredom, and even if they don’t particularly like alcohol or drinking out of boredom its effects.

Build a strong support network.

Apparently that argument led to my parents only saying “clockwise” or “counterclockwise” to each other for about two weeks. Apparently my mom and dad used to play my aunt and uncle in different are games a lot and my parents had to stop playing Pictionary and a couple of other games because they got too heated. My father was on his death bed and I ran to the train station and hopped on a 5 hour train to see him in the hospital. When I walked in the room, there was two women (older than me by 20 years) holding him and calling him dad. Went through my head and realized he had another family my entire life.

Say you have downtime on a Saturday afternoon after a challenging week at work. “Getting through the week” might be your rationale for pouring a glass of wine. My grandfather was left on a family door step as a baby and that family took him in.

It’s that it caused multiple arguments where my parents ended up not speaking to each other for weeks at a time. The first argument that was a big thing was that my mom did not know that Zimbabwe was a country. The second was about whether goose pimples and goose bumps were the same thing. And the third one was about whether a pig’s tail curls clockwise or counterclockwise.

• You have to plan like an athlete and expect the unexpected.
• Kathleen has more than 15 years of experience treating people who have a substance use disorder.
• The most effective treatment provides access to ongoing therapy, skills training, group or peer support, relapse avoidance techniques, and prescribed medications, if necessary.
• While it doesn’t automatically indicate alcohol use disorder drinking out of boredom can expose users to the extensive list of short- and long-term health effects due to ongoing alcohol use.
• This might help to deter you from turning to alcohol or substance use in order for you to alleviate your own boredom in a self-destructive, detrimental way.

Sober and Bored? Here’s What To Do About It

You may believe you must hide your drinking from others, so you drink solo. You might not want to hear people express concerns about your alcohol consumption or see their disapproving looks. If you drink alone, monitor how often you do this and consider why. If it becomes frequent, try to taper off or contact an alcohol addiction treatment center. Ignoring the harmful effects of alcohol consumption and regularly indulging can have short-term and long-term effects on your health. If you find yourself reaching for a drink whenever you’re bored or looking to kill time, you should stop and take measures to correct these tendencies early before they become problematic.

Anticipating Drinking

Despite its negative impacts, more Americans than ever consume alcohol regularly, especially women and minorities. Also know what you are going to drink and select from alcohol alternatives. Bars are more frequently providing alcohol-free beverages to help encourage safe drinking habits and reduce risks of accidents caused by driving while intoxicated. Always have a backup soft drink just in case you reach the bar and they are out of stock. Various factors lead individuals to abuse alcohol, including genetic traits, environmental reasons, and societal factors. Still, alcohol is a highly addictive substance that can lead to dependency, especially when consuming frequently and in large quantities.

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. Your friends are out getting drunk, the same as they always do. Meanwhile, you’re at home wondering how many days it would take someone to find your body after you’ve choked on those peanut M&M’s you’ve been knocking back during your latest Netflix binge. Remember, it’s not that sobriety is terrible, but that your brain is trying to grapple with the sudden loss of dopamine.