For those who didn’t work from home, only 12% were prone to excessive drinking. Boredom no doubt played a role in this scenario. Do you walk around the block and phone a friend? Our admissions team is available 24/7 to listen to your story and help you get started with the next steps. Predictable plans lead to predictable behavior. Unstructured time leads to unpredictable behaviors, which are problematic in recovery.
Finding Healthier Ways to Cope with Boredom
The longer you stay away from alcohol and give your brain some much-needed TLC, the less you’ll feel like life is dull and uninteresting. When you use alcohol (or any substance) to artificially boost serotonin and dopamine levels in your brain, you create an imbalance in the brain. I’ve been where you are, as have thousands of other sober people who had to learn to have a life again after sobriety. Outside of work, Christy finds solace in nature, enjoying activities like gardening and mountain biking, alongside cherished moments with her family and dogs. If she weren’t excelling in her current role, Christy would likely champion environmental activism, advocating for nature’s preservation.
Boredom in Recovery: Finding Fulfillment Without Alcohol
And she has to figure out what to do with them, or fruits that she had never discovered. Now, I personally love Pinterest, and I don’t know if you guys do, too. But Pinterest for me is a great tool to learn and to dream. I like gardening and had a big 2020 plot of land that was just weeds and nothing else. And I turned it into a raised garden bed with beautiful salt and pepper stones in between them.
It Impairs Physical Health
When I drank alcohol, I could (and did) sit and do nothing for hours. My friends and I got together for happy hours after work. During the day, there were all-inclusive brunches. It all felt normal, even the terrible parts like awful hangovers and hangxiety. In fact, when you first quit, it feels like everyone in the world is out getting drunk but you. Originally from Center Point, Iowa, Darcie pursued her Sober House Rules: What You Should Know Before Moving In academic journey at Walden University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
Why do we resort to drinking out of boredom?
Not to mention alcohol also suppresses hormones related to appetite. So when you reach for a snack, you add even more pounds. The solution is some form of stimulation, which can be healthy or potentially unhealthy. I just wanted to go home and crack open a bottle of hard cider. So I’d move the dinner along more quickly, thank them for hanging out, and dart back home.
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. As humans, we’re meant to experience the full spectrum of positive and negative emotions https://yourhealthmagazine.net/article/addiction/sober-houses-rules-that-you-should-follow/ – that’s how we’re designed. There can be a bit of stigma around boredom, but it can also fuel so much creativity.
Whether your sobriety has you wallowing in boredom or self-pity, please know that it will get better. Even if you have no idea HOW things can change, trust the process and keep working on it. When you begin to view your negative thoughts and feelings as problems to be solved rather than the embodiment of who you actually are, you liberate yourself. When I was finished, it was like someone had hit the refresh button on my brain. I could go back and re-read what I wrote and approach it from the perspective of an outside observer.
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- And again, it was something that I’d never done.
- Start with going for walks for minutes every day.
- I was like, I’m sitting around not drinking but I worked out four times this week, five times this week.
- You need to figure out the cheese and crackers sitting in your favorite chair and reading a book.
- When I was in very early sobriety, maybe 30 days in, 60 days, and I joined sort of a photo of the day contest.
Talking with a trained therapist, especially one who understands substance abuse, is important. They can give you tools and resources for navigating everything you’re feeling (or not feeling) right now. 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. When you’re drinking out of boredom, that easy ‘high’ can feel like an effective solution to the dullness or lack of stimulation that’s bothering you.
As part of your daily “boredom prevention plan,” schedule a reward for not drinking when you otherwise would. One of the best ways to deal with bored drinking is to anticipate it — why is not always easy. If “for no reason” pops up frequently in your list, it might help to seek a CBT professional to understand your why in those situations.
- I also got to listen to great music when I was jogging music that I hadn’t heard in years, I listened to songs from college and from high school.
- Luxury rehab centers offer a unique and personalized approach to treatment, addressing the underlying emotional and psychological factors contributing to addiction.
- That is the activity I’ve buried my energy into since quitting.
- However, as the saying goes, this too shall pass.
In this podcast, my goal is to teach you the tried and true secrets of creating and living a life you don’t want to escape from. It’s big and exciting and beautiful and you will have the time and energy to go after your dreams. For example, I volunteer at the Salvation Army, which not only keeps me busy but reminds me of how much I have to be grateful for. I also work with other alcoholics and addicts, which not only keeps me grounded in my recovery but gives me a sense of purpose. One thing that has helped me immensely is helping others. When you focus on someone else’s struggles, your own problems seem smaller.
So it hit everything I needed to do to keep me amused. What’s something you’ve always wanted to build or create? Maybe it’s starting a business, designing art, or even making a difference in your community. Sobriety gives you the opportunity to focus on these things and turn them into reality.
Alcohol is probably not the only indulgence in your life. Once your downtime ends, and you’ve made progress on your hobby or taken a walk, enjoy a piece of chocolate before your next activity. For example, CBT might help you realize you look at boredom in a negative light. You might believe you should always be doing something useful or constructive, so you reach for a drink to calm the negative emotions boredom creates. You might plan to start learning a new language during downtime, but put it off in favor of having a drink.
Our brain also becomes accustomed to the presence of alcohol and starts to see it as the “new normal.” So when there’s no alcohol, things seem a bit off. The brain starts to signal the craving for alcohol, not just to seek pleasure but also to restore what it perceives as normalcy. We’ve all felt it — that nagging sensation of boredom. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just a result of having nothing to do. In fact, boredom is a genuine emotion, akin to happiness or sadness.
Even “relaxing” on the couch felt incomplete without an IPA or a glass of wine. Boredom is one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in recovery. For years, drinking filled my time, my brain space, and gave me something to look forward to.