When boredom leads to drinking, people often reach for a drink without realizing the long-term consequences. What starts as an occasional glass of wine or beer to “take the edge off” can quickly become a habitual coping mechanism, making it harder to break free over time. Before long, individuals may drink more often and in larger quantities without even enjoying it anymore.
Risks of Alcohol & Boredom Drinking
Many people claim that they drink for the totally opposite reason – they find themselves drinking out of boredom. As a drinking trigger, boredom affects more people than you might think. In a 2022 survey of Sunnyside members, 5% said boredom triggered them to drink.
Say your main drinking occasion is when you socialize with friends. A drinking because of boredom drink or two while bored might make you too tired or too wary of driving to meet your friends. You might plan to start learning a new language during downtime, but put it off in favor of having a drink. Or you lose interest in an existing hobby because it’s easier to drink. 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.
- Various factors lead individuals to abuse alcohol, including genetic traits, environmental reasons, and societal factors.
- Be ready for these moments when they arrive, and they will, give yourself a wry smile, then make the choice that fits with your goals.
- When the mind is left unstimulated, it craves something to engage with.
- The cycle of drinking to fill time leads to mental, emotional, and physical challenges that can be hard to reverse.
Clarity in this chaotic news cycle
Regardless, drinking alone can signify deeper psychological or emotional issues. If you’re unsure where to start, check out this guide on how to cope with loneliness through new activities and interests. The key is to stay curious and open to new experiences, which can create positive outlets for your energy. Even when I have a no good, really bad, terrible day… or a really GREAT day, that in the past I would have celebrated by drinking. Boredom and stress are two emotions that can feel as if they are never going to leave. Valuing and prioritizing yourself in recovery can be a powerful way to remove the hold alcohol has on you.
Why Are Social Proofs of Performance-Enhancing Drugs Essential? 5 Valid Reasons to Review Them
And if you’re curious about your drinking habits, the following quiz may be helpful to you. There are so many online communities that can support you while you step away from drinking, even if it’s temporarily. After a while, you’ll notice that your interests start to narrow, as does your social circle. You decide to crack open a bottle of wine and scroll on your phone, maybe message some people you haven’t spoken to in a while, just passing the time.
A lot of people don’t feel good when they first get sober, so it’s totally understandable if your feelings are all over the place. Let’s address another reason life without alcohol feels boring. If you’ve created an entire social life around drinking, it is natural to be afraid of life without it. Getting sober is like learning to walk again after a terrible accident. You should be able to go about living your life without drinking alcohol, but you feel utterly useless and have no idea what to do with yourself.
Why Is Alcoholism Considered a Chronic Disease?
Whether it’s picking up a musical instrument, learning to cook, or taking up a new sport, finding something engaging can distract from the temptation to drink. Hobbies also provide a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, which can help reduce feelings of boredom. In drug rehab centers in South Carolina, a wide range of substance addictions are addressed. These facilities are equipped to treat addictions to various drugs, including but not limited to, alcohol, opioids, stimulants, etc. Connecting with a support group can also help you build meaningful relationships with people who understand and can support you in your recovery journey.
- Alcohol is one of the world’s most commonly accepted drugs, so it’s also regularly left off the list of addictive drugs that negatively impact people’s lives.
- You slowly transform into someone who can’t have fun or feel happy without alcohol.
- Boredom and stress are two emotions that can feel as if they are never going to leave.
- If your social circle often revolves around alcohol, it can be challenging to break that pattern.
- After graduating, Karlie gained experience working in a residential program for eating disorders and a private practice before joining the AspenRidge team.
Understand What Boredom Is and How It Can Trigger Drinking
You need to reset your reward pathways and that’s not going to be possible as long as you are drinking alcohol. What if you’ve tried to do the “normal” stuff people do for fun and don’t like any of it? You feel like an automaton simulating a life, but not finding any real purpose, joy, or meaning. It’s at this point where a lot of people realize they’ve veered into risky gray area drinking or even alcohol use disorder.
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.
Despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, boredom doesn’t lead to inspired breakthroughs and increased creativity. For circumstances where you’re unable to up and leave, such as school or work, Westgate suggests trying to make the experience more profound. “Focus on why am I here and what’s the deeper purpose it’s serving so that the experience feels more meaningful,” she says. Your perception of boredom can also impact how often you experience it. Those who see being bored as an impediment and frustration tend to be bored more often, says Wijnand Van Tilburg, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Essex. On the contrary, those who see boredom as an inevitability of life get less bored and, when they do, cope with it more effectively.
Between post-graduate work and additional training courses, she honed her skills in treating first responders and military personnel from a trauma-informed perspective. In 2023, Jordan joined the clinical team at AspenRidge Recovery. Karlie is originally from Dayton, Ohio, and began her education in psychology at the University of Cincinnati. She participated in research studying ADHD in children, mindfulness and anxiety, and embodied cognition. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she continued her education at the University of Denver and earned a master’s in clinical mental health counseling with a side specialization in addiction.
What we do—the behaviors we choose to engage in—heavily affect how we feel about ourselves. What this means is that we have personal control and responsibility for reducing boredom in our lives. That’s worrying because self-medicating feelings of boredom with alcohol can invite health problems.
Hailing from Boulder County, Courtney embarked on her academic journey by earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She furthered her education by completing a master’s of science in clinical mental health counseling from Capella University. Additionally, Courtney obtained certificates in Alcohol and Drug Studies and is certified in Branspotting, a clinical treatment technique aiding individuals in processing trauma. Chanel describes herself as a humanistic therapist focused on building rapport and trust. She knows that when both of those are realized, they can accomplish each client’s unique goals together. She specializes in mood and personality disorders as they relate to addiction and is passionate about healing trauma by way of brainspotting and other trauma therapy methods.
She tailors interventions to individual needs, drawing from modalities like mindfulness, DBT, CBT, and EMDR. She typically works with people interested in taking a holistic approach to treating their addictions. This will include healthy eating, movement, meditation, mindfulness and spirituality. Outside of work, she’s a devotee of Krishna, and her friends call her Karunya Shakti, which means compassionate energy. She enjoys singing and dancing in kirtan and reading ancient Vedic literature like the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. If she weren’t so damn good at her job, she says she would probably be an electrical engineer.