The reason drinking among adults hit a record low
Fewer Americans are drinking alcohol, and more now see even moderate drinking as a health risk, according to a new Gallup poll.
unbranded – Lifestyle
Move over, Dry January. Sober October is taking over.
The 31-day challenge to abstain from alcohol began in 2014 by Macmillan Cancer Support in the United Kingdom to raise money for people with cancer. But Sober October quickly took the U.S. by storm as a sober-curious movement swept the country.
A 2024 survey by Boca Recovery Center, a drug and alcohol rehab in Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Indiana, found 1 in 4 Americans planned to participate in Sober October that year.
Research shows taking a month-long break from alcohol, even if it’s just temporary, has been associated with a wealth of physical and mental health benefits, said Sarah Peregrine, director of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Services at Gateway Healthcare in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
“Alcohol as a substance affects the whole body,” she said. “Even a short break has an impact on multiple body systems.”
A 2018 study published in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ Open found that healthy participants who were moderate to heavy drinkers experienced improvements in insulin resistance, weight, blood pressure and cancer-related growth factors when they abstained from alcohol for one month.
One of the key physical benefits from abstaining from alcohol is improved sleep, Peregrine said. While there’s a misperception that alcohol makes people sleepy, the reality is that it creates a sedative effect that disrupts the natural sleep cycle.
Studies have shown that disrupting sleep for even a few hours per night has been associated with physical health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, and diminished immune function, according to Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine.
“People are able to go through the full sleep cycle in the absence of alcohol,” Peregrine said. “With all the things that sleep does for our body… many people will also notice an impact on their overall energy levels.”
Abstaining from alcohol can help improve mental health, specifically symptoms of depression and anxiety, she said.
While alcohol may initially relieve feelings of anxiety because it suppresses the central nervous system, Peregrine said there’s a “rebound effect” as a person sobers up and reflects on the events that happened while they were under the influence.
“Some of that anxiety can come back around,” she said.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation in Australia said this “hangover anxiety,” or “hangxiety,” is also partly due to the chemical changes in the brain that occur when a person drinks and the alcohol wears off.
Peregrine said taking a break from drinking is also a good way to reevaluate your relationship with alcohol and other substances.
“One of the biggest benefits from taking a break from alcohol, whether it’s Sober October or Dry January, is the opportunity to learn more about yourself,” Peregrine said. “There doesn’t need to be a problem to be curious about what it might be like if you took a month off.”
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.