Why do non-alcoholics find “dry January” difficult?

[Anonymous]

I think its stupid posturing. Dh and I enjoy a glass or two of wine a week. Sometimes we may go out and have a drink or two and some weeks we may not drink at all. Our friends are pretty similar.

[Anonymous]

I didn't find it difficult. I used an app called Try Dry (UK government affiliated I think). And it was so interesting. While doing it, my resting heart rate dropped from a respectable 55 to 51. So I decided to keep using the app. This year I went from an average of 10 units a week to 7. No reason stop, but it's no longer my default at dinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't find it difficult. I used an app called Try Dry (UK government affiliated I think). And it was so interesting. While doing it, my resting heart rate dropped from a respectable 55 to 51. So I decided to keep using the app. This year I went from an average of 10 units a week to 7. No reason stop, but it's no longer my default at dinner.

No reason to stop, and you think 7 units of alcohol a week is fine? And you need an app?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to be a once-per-month social drinker but had to stop entirely due to a medical issue. I don't miss the alcohol itself, but I miss the ritual and social aspects of it - a drink at a restaurant bar waiting for the table or happy hour with friends. Maybe this is part of the problem with those having difficulty with dry January. While I know that I can partake in non-alcoholic drinks in these settings, its not quite the same.

I don’t get how it is “not the same” when the vast majority of restaurants, hotel bars and bars have mocktail menus. What is different about sipping a virgin cocktail with muddled mint vs. a mojito?

DP. Do you really not understand how a little alcohol acts as a social lubricant? Makes everyone relax just a bit, loosen up? Not talking about getting drunk, but just a little bubblier. Alcohol makes things more fun before it starts to make things worse.

You need a “social lubricant” to sit at a restaurant bar waiting for a table with FRIENDS? You can’t sit and chat with your friends without alcohol? When I talk with friends as we wait for a table, I am not sniffing their glasses to see whether they are drinking a vodka soda or a club soda.

No, I don’t need it but I want it because it’s fun. I like to have fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was listening to some people over the holidays talking about dry January. Apparently it is becoming a thing among their circles. All of them claim to be non-alcoholics though I’m sure some are functional alcoholics. It was sad to hear how difficult some consider the challenge.

Do you participate in dry January? If so, how much of it is a challenge for you and why (social pressure, stress, …)? Has it made you think about how much alcohol you drink and/or how much you spend on booze?

Whispers: they're all alcoholics.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think its stupid posturing. Dh and I enjoy a glass or two of wine a week. Sometimes we may go out and have a drink or two and some weeks we may not drink at all. Our friends are pretty similar.

How do you enjoy a glass or two a week? There are five glasses in a bottle. Do you just dump it the rest?

[Anonymous]

People build their lives around habits and when alcohol is a regular habit, of course it is missed to some degree. The bigger the degree, the more you are likely dependent. Alcohol is used by most people to self-medicate anxiety, so yeah it is difficult to suddenly have much more anxiety and maybe no tools to cope. Many who make a habit of coming home and cracking a bottle of something are not well practiced with meditating or walks in nature or other more healthful means that others who live dry use to cope with anxiety/stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to be a once-per-month social drinker but had to stop entirely due to a medical issue. I don't miss the alcohol itself, but I miss the ritual and social aspects of it - a drink at a restaurant bar waiting for the table or happy hour with friends. Maybe this is part of the problem with those having difficulty with dry January. While I know that I can partake in non-alcoholic drinks in these settings, its not quite the same.

I don’t get how it is “not the same” when the vast majority of restaurants, hotel bars and bars have mocktail menus. What is different about sipping a virgin cocktail with muddled mint vs. a mojito?

DP. Do you really not understand how a little alcohol acts as a social lubricant? Makes everyone relax just a bit, loosen up? Not talking about getting drunk, but just a little bubblier. Alcohol makes things more fun before it starts to make things worse.

You need a “social lubricant” to sit at a restaurant bar waiting for a table with FRIENDS? You can’t sit and chat with your friends without alcohol? When I talk with friends as we wait for a table, I am not sniffing their glasses to see whether they are drinking a vodka soda or a club soda.

No, I don’t need it but I want it because it’s fun. I like to have fun.

I don’t understand how it’s not fun to have the same conversation with the same friends with a virgin mojito instead of a regular mojito.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think its stupid posturing. Dh and I enjoy a glass or two of wine a week. Sometimes we may go out and have a drink or two and some weeks we may not drink at all. Our friends are pretty similar.

How do you enjoy a glass or two a week? There are five glasses in a bottle. Do you just dump it the rest?

NP. Do you ever cook? It’s called deglazing a pan. Plus wine doesn’t go bad instantly. You can have the remaining glass next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think its stupid posturing. Dh and I enjoy a glass or two of wine a week. Sometimes we may go out and have a drink or two and some weeks we may not drink at all. Our friends are pretty similar.

How do you enjoy a glass or two a week? There are five glasses in a bottle. Do you just dump it the rest?

NP. Do you ever cook? It’s called deglazing a pan. Plus wine doesn’t go bad instantly. You can have the remaining glass next week.

Yeah, I cook. I guess I don’t deglaze much with wine since my kids don’t like the taste in food. And week old wine, blech. But thanks for the response. A lot of times, I pour a glass simply because there’s a bottle already open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I swear sometimes I think the cannabis industry is using forums like this. I mean, there are thousands of threads like this already. I drink maybe once or twice a month, so I have zero issues with alcohol. Many people enjoy a cocktail daily. Nothing wrong with that either. But for many of these people, it’s likely a very enjoyable habit that is hard to break and is missed when not happening anymore. It’s just not that hard to understand. I know many people who replaced their daily cocktail with sugary mocktails or sweets after dinner, and they find trying to quite those very difficult. What does that make them OP? Sugarholics? Why must you judge and label?

Are you asserting this from a moral perspective?

Because otherwise the science and medical research is now undeniable - there absolutely IS something wrong with daily drinking, one drink or otherwise. It's very damaging to human health across the spectrum, with nearly zero health benefits - definitely nothing that outweighs the high negative associations to cancers, heart disease, organ failure, brain damage, systemic inflammation, and perhaps even more important the SA and other violence, fatal car crashes, and other antisocial behaviors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to be a once-per-month social drinker but had to stop entirely due to a medical issue. I don't miss the alcohol itself, but I miss the ritual and social aspects of it - a drink at a restaurant bar waiting for the table or happy hour with friends. Maybe this is part of the problem with those having difficulty with dry January. While I know that I can partake in non-alcoholic drinks in these settings, its not quite the same.

I don’t get how it is “not the same” when the vast majority of restaurants, hotel bars and bars have mocktail menus. What is different about sipping a virgin cocktail with muddled mint vs. a mojito?

DP. Do you really not understand how a little alcohol acts as a social lubricant? Makes everyone relax just a bit, loosen up? Not talking about getting drunk, but just a little bubblier. Alcohol makes things more fun before it starts to make things worse.

You need a “social lubricant” to sit at a restaurant bar waiting for a table with FRIENDS? You can’t sit and chat with your friends without alcohol? When I talk with friends as we wait for a table, I am not sniffing their glasses to see whether they are drinking a vodka soda or a club soda.

No, I don’t need it but I want it because it’s fun. I like to have fun.

I don’t understand how it’s not fun to have the same conversation with the same friends with a virgin mojito instead of a regular mojito.

If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. And therefore dry January should be of no interest to you. What’s odd is that all these people who judge drinkers are also judging them for making an effort not to drink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was listening to some people over the holidays talking about dry January. Apparently it is becoming a thing among their circles. All of them claim to be non-alcoholics though I’m sure some are functional alcoholics. It was sad to hear how difficult some consider the challenge.

Do you participate in dry January? If so, how much of it is a challenge for you and why (social pressure, stress, …)? Has it made you think about how much alcohol you drink and/or how much you spend on booze?

Whispers: they're all alcoholics.

Oh look, the Carrie Nation brigade has arrived! A single drop of Mother’s Ruin sends you on the road to perdition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of people on here who seem to think that drinking is inherently problematic. I'm not totally unsympathetic to that position; my great grandfather was an alcoholic and my grandfather abstained totally for that reason.

I'm currently pregnant so I'm not drinking, but when I'm not, I have a single small drink with dinner 4-5x per week. I like the taste and the ritual of it. It makes dinner feel more special...I sit down with my son and husband and we enjoy a nice meal together after a busy day. I imagine for some people, dry january is hard because it interrupts a similar part of their day.

You might want to reconsider this ritual.

"The overall estimated association is an approximate 30-50% increase in breast cancer risk from 15-30 grams/day of alcohol consumption (about 1-2 drinks/day) [6-8•]."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3832299/#:~:text=The%20overall%20estimated%20association%20is,%5B6%2D8%E2%80%A2%5D.

A nice cup of hot or iced green tea could also be a lovely dinner ritual, and it would bring nothing but health benefits that will extend your life rather than being something that might take you from your husband and kids much sooner than you would like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear sometimes I think the cannabis industry is using forums like this. I mean, there are thousands of threads like this already. I drink maybe once or twice a month, so I have zero issues with alcohol. Many people enjoy a cocktail daily. Nothing wrong with that either. But for many of these people, it’s likely a very enjoyable habit that is hard to break and is missed when not happening anymore. It’s just not that hard to understand. I know many people who replaced their daily cocktail with sugary mocktails or sweets after dinner, and they find trying to quite those very difficult. What does that make them OP? Sugarholics? Why must you judge and label?

Are you asserting this from a moral perspective?

Because otherwise the science and medical research is now undeniable - there absolutely IS something wrong with daily drinking, one drink or otherwise. It's very damaging to human health across the spectrum, with nearly zero health benefits - definitely nothing that outweighs the high negative associations to cancers, heart disease, organ failure, brain damage, systemic inflammation, and perhaps even more important the SA and other violence, fatal car crashes, and other antisocial behaviors.

DP. I’ll take my chances. I enjoy a little wine, not sorry.