If you want to access my free video training on how to make stopping drinking effortless and enjoyable, click here. The mindset you use to stop drinking is extremely important. There is nothing wrong with being bored after stopping drinking. In physics, the law of inertia states that a body at rest stays in rest unless acted on by an outside force. It explains why it’s easy to lie on the couch watching a movie and not move. One of the best ways to overcome boredom is to have a written schedule.
Why a Full Continuum of Care Works Best for Addiction Recovery
Or you lose interest in an existing hobby because it’s easier to drink. A sure sign of problematic bored drinking is failing to achieve hobby-related goals. Sure, having a single drink while alone might not seem like a problem if you eat well and exercise. But if you add it to the drinks you have with friends and that everyday glass of wine with dinner, your total number of weekly drinks can increase rapidly. If your dose of stimulation is mostly a walk to the fridge, you might be a bored drinker. And while bored drinking isn’t necessarily problematic, it can sneakily become a serious health risk.
Why am I So Bored After Giving Up Alcohol?
- Apologies for the crude example, but I don’t ever see advertisements that show the real side of drinking.
- With dedication and determination, a happy and successful sobriety is within reach.
- It’s made of small moments—including the mundane, repetitive ones.
- She is a Brainspotting practitioner and is currently completing requirements toward the LPC.
But drinking alcohol doesn’t solve any of these problems. When the alcohol wears off, your problems will still be there, and you’ll likely reach out for more alcohol to escape them again. Understanding when to seek treatment for alcohol abuse is crucial. Warning signs may include an inability to stop drinking, neglecting responsibilities, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms when not drinking.
Therapy: It’s Not About Complaining, But Changing
That time still exists—and now it’s waiting to be filled. There have been days where I am pacing in my room so bored wondering what I should do, what can I do. And through this boredom I have done more things in the last two years, than the previous 8 combined. I started to read, I started to write and journal, I said yes to every opportunity because I was bored. I’ve met so many new and amazing people, started new hobbies. Sometimes I would just drive or walk to new places, try new foods, new smells, new workouts, new places.

Planning and staying connected with your support network can help ensure a safe and enjoyable trip. Exercise is widely recognized as a natural mood booster and can help combat boredom or depression. Outdoor sports activities such as hiking, biking, and swimming can also provide an opportunity to connect with nature and experience new challenges. Talk to other family members and tell them of your boredom so that they can support and work with you in determining other paths to fulfillment. This might help to deter you from turning to alcohol or substance use in order for you to alleviate your own boredom in a self-destructive, detrimental way.

Some people take medication to treat alcoholism and other treatment methods simultaneously to stay sober. The liver can only drinking out of boredom process one serving of alcohol per hour. If you start drinking beyond this limit, your body will need more time to process it.
The Kindling Effect: Why Quitting Alcohol Gets Harder Every Time
On the other hand, Acamprosate can help to repair brain damage from alcohol dependence. While inpatient care may be ideal for someone experiencing severe alcohol addiction, outpatient care may be enough for someone who needs professional help without constant supervision. 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 https://ecosoberhouse.com/ negative thoughts and feelings as problems to be solved rather than the embodiment of who you actually are, you liberate yourself. It also opens up space to approach your internal world differently.
Alcohol and Boredom: A Loop You Can Break
There’s a modern myth that life is supposed to be fun and exciting all the time. But the truth is, most of life is ordinary, with brief moments of joy and surprise in between.In fact, it’s the ordinary that makes drug addiction treatment those moments of excitement feel so exhilarating. That leaves us with the other 60–70% of boredom—the kind that sticks around even after we’ve quit drinking, and can lead to relapse if we don’t know how to handle it.

