If you are filling voids in your life with alcohol, then you need to decide what else can fill you up instead. Chanel describes herself as a humanistic therapist focused on building rapport and trust. She knows that when both of those are realized, they can accomplish each client’s unique goals together. She specializes in mood and personality disorders as they relate to addiction and is passionate about healing trauma by way of brainspotting and other trauma therapy methods.
Take a Break From Alcohol and Seek Help
And when I tried to hang out with people without alcohol, I struggled mightily. Our brains like efficiency, so it takes note of the experience. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in your brain, essentially acting like a “feel-good” signal. Unstructured time leads to unpredictable behaviors, which are problematic in recovery. Every month, we launch fun challenges, like Dry/Damp January, Mental Health May, and Outdoorsy June. You won’t want to miss out on the chance to participate alongside fellow Reframers (or solo if that’s more your thing!).
She’s passionate about working what was eminem addicted to with clients to work through trauma and improve mental stability. In her personal life, Karlie likes reading sci-fi and fantasy and going to Marvel movies. She enjoys playing board games and having home karaoke nights with her friends. Karlie says the best advice ever received is to not fall in love with potential.
- There are healthy ways to deal with boredom and then there are the other options – the things we do to escape it entirely.
- By participating in therapy and counseling services, you can develop the skills and support necessary to overcome boredom drinking and maintain a healthier lifestyle.
- It’s important to understand that achieving sobriety is possible.
- So, when we’re bored and our brain is looking for that dopamine hit, it can often recall that alcohol was a past source of reward.
A therapist can help treat the underlying symptoms through therapeutic modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or trauma-processing techniques. But I’m going to explore solutions for people who sit at various points along the “sobriety is so boring” spectrum. Getting drunk did not magically change the dynamics of that situation. We were all just sitting around and getting drunk, perfectly content to not really do anything together. Sometimes we would watch a show, but even that become untenable for me after a couple of drinks because I did not have the attention span for it.
It’s therefore no surprise that during the how long does a salvia trip last 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. This puts those who have formed an attachment to alcohol in a very vulnerable position. Boredom can indeed lead to cravings for alcohol, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
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In fact, boredom is a genuine emotion, akin to happiness or sadness. When this emotion surfaces, it reveals our disconnection or lack of interest in our surroundings or activities. It searches for a spark, something to stimulate and captivate us. This might explain why, in such moments, we impulsively reach for distractions, like the remote or a social media scroll. When you get sober, you realize there is an entire daytime pulse in your city or town that you never really felt before. Things that people do during that day that don’t involve recovering or boozy brunch.
Volunteering and participating in community events can help you stay engaged, build meaningful connections, and reduce boredom drinking. By volunteering at organizations that help people struggling with addiction, you can provide a meaningful sense of purpose and fulfillment, which can replace the fleeting pleasure of boredom drinking. Understanding your drinking patterns empowers you to take proactive steps to prevent boredom drinking and stay on track with your goals. You can use this knowledge to create a personalized plan for overcoming boredom drinking and maintaining a sober lifestyle. Anything to change up that routine of drinking out of boredom and make it harder for drinkers to find a place to get comfortable. But self-medicating like this is not just bad for your body, but it is also likely to make your mental health worse.
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Karlie is originally from Dayton, Ohio, and began her education in psychology at the University of Cincinnati. She participated in research studying ADHD in children, mindfulness and anxiety, and embodied cognition. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she continued her education at the University of Denver and earned a master’s in clinical mental health counseling with a side specialization in addiction. During grad school, she treated clients involved in the legal system as well as at a detox facility. After graduating, Karlie gained experience working in a flakka wikipedia residential program for eating disorders and a private practice before joining the AspenRidge team.
The longer you rely on alcohol to deal with boredom, the less capable you are of getting fulfillment out of healthier coping mechanisms like hobbies or exercise. But when dopamine levels artificially spike (like what happens when we drink alcohol), that’s when trouble starts. Surround yourself with people that support you and help you in whatever you’re going through in the present moment.
