Every New Year’s Eve, people brainstorm new resolutions and goals they would like to achieve in the next year.
While losing weight or saving money may top the list for most, there is another important resolution worth trying. This year, try Dry January.
What Is Dry January?
Dry January is a newer health trend that promotes abstinence from drinking during the month of January. It is a particularly popular idea in the United Kingdom but has expanded to other countries around the world, including the United States.
The Benefits of Doing Dry January
Instead of starting the new year with old habits, try this and reap the many Dry January benefits that come with not drinking for a month.
Improve your mental health
Too often, people will use alcohol to cope with their poor mental health. While alcohol can be a temporary solution and provide a short-lived feeling of relief, in the long-run alcohol could make you feel worse. Instead of reinforcing this bad habit to the point where an addiction occurs and a PHP or other treatment program is needed, Dry January will force you to cope with these mental health problems in another manner.
Improve your physical health
Frequent and heavy drinking can leave you feeling sluggish or contribute to negative side effects on your health, such as problems with the liver or even different cancers over time. An alcohol detox can not only help decrease these risks but may also leave you feeling more energized and alert with greater mental clarity.
Help you lose weight
For many people, losing weight is one of their top New Year’s resolutions. Because alcoholic beverages are often high in calories with little to no nutritional benefits, giving up alcohol is an easy way to remove these empty calories from your diet and help you lose weight. In this way, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Develop better habits
When you do not drink for a month or longer, you may come to find that you do not need alcohol as much as you originally thought. Heavy drinkers may start to follow more moderate drinking habits if or when they start to drink again, which likely results in improved mental and physical health overall.
Evaluate your alcohol use
One of the best Dry January benefits is that it allows you to evaluate your relationship with alcohol. Many people do not realize how much they drink until they try to stop. If you find Dry January too challenging or you are experiencing any alcohol withdrawal symptoms without it, it may be a sign that your body has become dependent on this substance. If this is the case, it can be a good indicator that you should seek formal alcohol abuse treatment this year.
A sober January has numerous benefits, but whether alcohol is your poison, or you struggle with drug abuse, the New Year is a good time to start over. This year, take that first step and get help for your substance abuse problem.
To learn more about our programs at Banyan Massachusetts, call us today at 888-280-4763.
Alyssa
Alyssa who is the National Director of Digital Marketing, joined the Banyan team in 2016, bringing her five-plus years of experience. She has produced a multitude of integrated campaigns and events in the behavioral health and addictions field. Through strategic marketing campaign concepts, Alyssa has established Banyan as an industry leader and a national household name.
