Healthline: Sober October: What a Month of No Drinking Can Do For Your Health

“Sober October presents a unique opportunity to assess our relationships with whatever substances we gravitate toward. Giving up alcohol or marijuana for 30 days can have a dramatic effect on our day-to-day lives. Staying sober for a month can break an addictive cycle and can also force us to sit with whatever emotions come up in the process, rather than masking them with substances.

“Many people decide that abstinence is working for them and want to continue on and see what other benefits might come as a result of their experiment,” said Loeb Blassingame. “This leads some people to full-on sobriety and others to longer periods of sober exploration.” The important part, she notes, is that there has to be a long enough break in the cycle for the brain to create new neural pathways.

“The value is in breaking the cycle and creating an extended experience of abstinence that demonstrates to the brain that the idea is viable. Additionally, it gives people enough time to reexamine their relationship with alcohol and attempt to have better boundaries around it when they choose to return,” she said. “What we do know is that people who are unable to commit and sustain a period of 30 days abstinence are likely working on a more significant problem with substance use.”

“In terms of alcohol, it’s important for individuals to honestly assess the role that alcohol consumption plays in their lives. Remain aware of when alcohol is consumed and why. Is a drink needed after work, or does consumption increase over the weekend? Being mindful of these things can help identify a pattern in behavior that can shed light on a potentially problematic relationship that may require treatment,” said Weinstein."`

Some Insights From This Article

• Sober October is the description of what people describe as taking one month free of alcohol/marijuana and any other substances that they would normally use on any other day of the year.

• Such a month can offer opportunities to reevaluate your relationship with substances and identify certain red flags that may have been present but not come into awareness before.

• Some people take this month as a call to abstinence as they find themselves to be more happy and fulfilled without any substance use, however more importantly it’s bringing awareness to your relationship with substances and identifying who is controlling who.

What is your relationship with substance usage?

Full article is here!

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