How can I be happy sober? (2023)

Does being sober make you happier?

Happier Life

Being sober means nothing is slowing down your brain function and the appropriate amount of dopamine is communicating with nerve cells in your brain. The end result is a happier lifestyle in general.

Showing up, getting to be present for every moment, and having fun are all realities of living without alcohol. There are no limitations to what you can do. Give yourself a chance to relish in all that life has to offer. Fun is easy to find, in so many ways, possibly even more so in sobriety.

Put on a nice movie, binge-watch a show (or two), enjoy a nice dinner, take a long bath, have a picnic, plant some flowers, read, journal, meditate, or just sleep. Enjoy the little things. There are simple ways to fill the time and have fun that are beneficial to your recovery.

Reach Out to Sober Support

Because of this, individuals who are experiencing depression in sobriety should always reach out to their sober supports. Depression in sobriety is very common, therefore, it should be fairly easy to find vital advice and learn healthy coping mechanisms from your friends in recovery.

The sober mindset is one where sobriety is not a chore or a challenge, but a fact of life – one you embrace and feel grateful for.

Mental Focus and Clarity

Better mental health, in general, is one of the most obvious benefits of being sober. The less you fill your body with chemicals and toxins that aren't supposed to be there–especially in excess, as it would be with addiction–the more you'll notice your mental focus and mental clarity.

What hobbies can replace alcohol?

And that's when I realised something: the hardest part about getting sober is not stopping drinking. It's everything else. How do you cope without your coping mechanism, the crutch you've been using all your life? You have to learn emotional sobriety.

One reason why life doesn't seem as fun without alcohol is because alcohol reduces our inhibitions. It makes us feel funnier and more confident, it helps take the edge off anxiety and steel the nerves. This is fine if you can take it or leave it, but for many of us, moderation is not an option on our menu.

Sober socializing can include trips to coffee shops, theaters and other entertainment venues that do not serve alcohol. While it may not be possible to avoid all incidents of exposure to alcohol or drugs, minimizing this contact is a great way to maintain sobriety for most recovering addicts.

Your brain needs time to recover.

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. Alcohol robs you of the ability to feel naturally motivated and inspired. Those feelings don't come back immediately when you quit. It takes time.

One of the most sure-fire ways to meet sober friends is to join a support group because everyone in attendance is pursuing similar goals of sobriety. The traditional Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have helped countless people because they offer great resources and help build a community of support.

Mild Short-Term Symptoms. Withdrawal happens because your brain gets used to the depressive effects of alcohol. These chemical changes affect how your nerve cells talk to each other. Over time, the nervous system can get worked up when there's no alcohol in your system.

What does emotional sobriety look like?

Instead of being completely overwhelmed with emotion, emotional sobriety includes being able to step back, realize emotions, and accept them as they come. Get Community Support: Going to peer group meetings like AA and NA can help to stimulate feelings of fellowship and establish support.

When you stop drinking, your anxiety will usually lessen over time. If you have an anxiety disorder, however, you will go back to being as anxious as you were before you started drinking. Because of this, alcohol use disorder and anxiety disorders need to both be treated to ensure your anxiety improves in sobriety.

Some studies say it can take around 21 days to break a habit.

Auto brewery syndrome is also known as gut fermentation syndrome and endogenous ethanol fermentation. It's sometimes called “drunkenness disease.” This rare condition makes you intoxicated — drunk — without drinking alcohol. This happens when your body turns sugary and starchy foods (carbohydrates) into alcohol.

A 2019 literature review found that “CBD reduces the overall level of alcohol drinking in animal models of AUD by reducing ethanol intake, motivation for ethanol, relapse, anxiety, and impulsivity.” Additionally, CBD reduced damage to the liver and the brain.

Numerous other central nervous system depressant substances have similar effects to alcohol. These include: Benzodiazepines, such as Valium (diazepam) Barbiturates, such as Seconal (secobarbital)

For the cue-induced craving, it has to do with memory. Alcohol and other drugs flood our brain with reward chemicals like dopamine. Long after our last drink, our brains and memories still associate drinking with this flood of reward.

The first year of sobriety will be the hardest but also the most rewarding, and it will help you feel like a new person in a new world of possibility.

What is the hardest time in sobriety?

The first week of sobriety is often the most difficult. You may experience withdrawal symptoms that last for a few days or weeks. These symptoms are uncomfortable, and the risk of relapse can be high.

You feel stronger physically, and feel good overall. Mental wellness. Drugs and alcohol do significant damage to mental health and cognitive functioning. Once sober for a year, you will be experiencing clear thinking, better memory function, and an improved ability to focus and make decisions.

For people recovering from addiction, milestones such as 3, 6, and 12 months of sobriety are when symptoms like anhedonia noticeably improve. Like most symptoms of PAWs, anhedonia comes in waves. For some people episodes of anhedonia fade after a few hours or days. For others, they can last weeks.

14 percent of AA members stay sober between 10 and 20 years. 22 percent of AA members stay sober 20 or more years. The average length of AA member sobriety is nearly 10 years.

It takes at least two weeks for the brain to return to normal after drinking. Therefore, this is when the alcohol recovery timeline begins. It is less able to suppress a desire to drink until the brain has recovered. The reason for this is that alcohol has harmed the brain's cognitive function.

A separate study published by the CDC and the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2020 found 3 out of 4 people who experience addiction eventually recover. "So that's huge, you know, 75%," Kelly said.