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It cannot be part of our decision making process any more. When we get bored, drinking is not one of the options we have to relieve that boredom. 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. The pandemic has been here and, at the time of this writing, is continuing to keep our world in a state of flux.
Again, the key here is to not give yourself time to be bored. As the title of this site implies, working out is a fantastic way to spend time. But if you lift heavy like I do, you’ll have nothing left after an hour of intense training. You need to drinking out of boredom imbue all of your actions with the same purpose and positivity that you bring to the gym. Life is as exciting as you make it, so be ballsy and have fun. When the average guy gets bored and wants to drink, he has 2 or 3 beers and gets on with life.
Ways to Kill Boredom in Recovery
But no matter what, you can still have friends who are sober and be bored. As time goes on, friends get into relationships, move away, and you are left feeling bored and alone. If you are attending support groups, meeting people, and getting involved in whatever sober community you’ve connected with for support. https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/5-stages-of-alcoholism/ There can be meetings, events, opportunities for service, and much more to keep engaged and busy. However, as days become weeks, and weeks become months, boredom may set in–this is very common. Boredom is one of many hazards in early recovery, but it’s not fundamentally different from other challenging emotions.
Why is it boring when you stop drinking?
You Need Stimulation
One of the reasons you might find you are bored without alcohol is because you need more stimulation. For the longest time, you numbed your brain rather than engaging it. Now it is suddenly fired up and engaged, yet you're not doing anything with it.
I feel good about my buying decision and the product has added value to my life. Because I’ve experienced riding a motorcycle and I know it’s true. I know the product does what the marketing says it will do. In the meantime, the Soberish community is here to support you and help you get there. I certainly would have if I’d read this article five years ago. This is the part where you figure out how to enjoy life without a little something extra to help loosen you up.
The Mental Health Crisis in Rural America
Boredom during addiction recovery is both common and dangerous. There are several reasons boredom is more common when you’re starting recovery. First, you may discover that you suddenly have a lot of extra time on your hands and you’re not sure what to do with it.
How do you deal with boredom when sober?
- Why Boredom Threatens Sobriety.
- Reach Out to the Recovery Community.
- Be Present in the Moment.
- Find Hobbies You Enjoy.
- Consider Volunteering.
- Practice Self-Care.
When drinking becomes habitual, it eventually becomes the default choice, maybe the only choice. Getting pissed is the default choice when we’re feeling happy, sad, tired, bored, grumpy, angry, or bored. When we’re bored, the first thing that pops into our minds to alleviate the boredom is alcohol.
Appreciate Your Boredom
However, when you vacuum the living room or put away your laundry, you don’t expect it to be fun; you just want the result. If you’re bored and nothing seems to engage your attention, pick something on your to-do list and do it. You may still find it boring but you’re bored anyway and this way, you’ll at least get something done. What’s more, you may find that doing something–anything–gets you out of your rut. These days, most of us immediately reach for our phones when we feel the slightest bit bored but this is really only a superficial solution. It turns down your boredom from a distressing eight to a tolerable six.
- It’s hard to be bored when you’re stoned out of your head or drunk as a skunk but take those away and you’re left with a racing mind looking for any excitement.
- When serotonin and dopamine levels are low, we become less motivated and less interested in our surroundings.
- Valuing and prioritizing yourself in recovery can be a powerful way to remove the hold alcohol has on you.
- I stood there watching for a minute, then layed on the ground and started rolling and laughing with them.
- Other options might include a quick language lesson or vocabulary review, a few rounds of a memory game like Dual N-Back, or knitting.
I would stand at the end of the driveway with a baby in my arms and a toddler at my feet with tears streaming down my face. I would hand them to him with no words to say and I would pour myself a wine. Eventually we conceived with the help of medical assistance and finally I welcomed my beautiful baby boy.
