If you’ve found yourself noticing, “It seems that I drink because I’m bored and lonely,” the answer lies in our brain’s reward system. Understanding this relationship between boredom and alcohol is crucial for breaking an unhealthy cycle of drinking out of boredom and finding more fulfilling ways to spend our time. Fried and overly sugary foods will also artificially spike your dopamine levels and cause your brain to overcorrect, leaving you feeling irritable, depressed, and cranky. These are all things you’re trying to overcome from drinking.
Why do you keep turning to food?
Unstructured time leads to unpredictable behaviors, which are problematic in recovery. In such scenarios, our brain searches for something exciting or rewarding, leading us towards behaviors that can stimulate and intrigue us. It’s why we might suddenly find ourselves reaching for that remote, a candy bar, or for some, a bottle of alcohol. In the meantime, the Soberish community is here to support you and help you get there. So now comes the arduous task of learning how to manage the tough stuff without a chemical crutch like alcohol. Feeling bored, sad, lonely, or anxious about something are all very drinking out of boredom human things to feel.
- You’re aware of the adverse effects, but no longer have control over your alcohol consumption.
- Volunteering is a great way to reconnect with your community.
- In such scenarios, our brain searches for something exciting or rewarding, leading us towards behaviors that can stimulate and intrigue us.
- Once we have a clearer picture of our reasons for using alcohol, we get to decide when, where, and how much we use, with added insight.
- And while these things might sound serious and scary, it’s important to note that it’s one piece of a larger puzzle.
- Tracing this back to eating out of boredom, Carnell added that it’s very likely that when we are bored or unhappy, our dopamine neurons are inactive.
The physical impact
If alcohol is necessary for us to have a good time, to relax, or to be honest, then something is wrong. We need to be able to do such things without the “help” of alcohol. I’m currently at work, and super tempted to pick up some drinks right now. It’d be far from the first time I drank on the job, even though I know it’s not a good idea obviously.
Six Things I’ve Learned From Two Years of Sobriety
In addition, there have been reports from the USA of increases in alcohol use amongst people to tend to drink to cope, raising concerns of similar problems in the UK. This could lead to a rise in the number of people developing alcohol use disorders in the coming months, or in any future lockdowns. 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.
Talk with your doctor before quitting alcohol
Some people also worry that they’ll feel uncomfortable around new people without a drink or two to help them relax. But there are ways you can meet new people and form friendships without any alcohol involved. People who consumed a lot of alcohol in settings such as bars and parties can also feel lonely after quitting drinking. What sort of person are we becoming, given the ways we use alcohol?
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. So it’s not that sobriety is inherently boring; it’s that your serotonin and dopamine levels are now very low. That latter experience feeling like everything is gray and dull and lacks meaning? Serotonin is a neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of happiness, well-being, and pleasure. Serotonin depletion can cause major mood swings and feelings of sadness, anxiety, and irritability.
The Dopamine Connection
You should be able to go about living your life without drinking alcohol, but you feel utterly useless and have no idea what to do with yourself. Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at /us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers. Sae Schatz, director of the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative, a virtual company that develops educational tools for the US Department of Defense, points to one experiment with a computer system that tutored students in physics. When the system was programmed to insult those who got questions wrong and snidely praise those who got them right, says Schatz, some students, especially adult learners, saw improved outcomes and were willing to spend longer on the machines.
- It also opens up space to approach your internal world differently.
- This study demonstrates that over a third of participants reported that their alcohol consumption had increased due to increased availability of alcohol during COVID-19.
- If drinking becomes alcohol use disorder, it can lead to shame, denial, and other negative emotions that can make someone reluctant to spend time with others.
- Moderate drinking is the only safe way to consume alcohol, but drinking in general isn’t safe for everyone.
Part of it is definitely that I’ve had a rough month and struggle with depression, but another part is simply that it’s a slow day. Just imagining the next few hours slowly creeping by – with nothing but my thoughts to occupy me – really makes me crave that drink. Consuming alcohol stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in our brain’s reward system.