We’ve been taught that feeling boredom means something’s wrong with us. The truth is, boredom is an incredibly uncomfortable state for many of us, and the lengths people would go to avoid feeling it may surprise you. If you’ve reached a point where you can’t experience joy in anything and use alcohol as a way to escape, don’t brush it off as a rough phase. The sooner you get help and start working on it, the sooner you can break free of it. You need to reset your reward pathways and that’s not going to be possible as long as you are drinking alcohol.

  • There are many possible reasons why a person might choose to pick up a drink, use drugs, or engage in other compulsive behaviors, but one of the most popular reasons is boredom.
  • You may eat simply as a way to escape the regular routines of the day (38, 39).
  • A subreddit for people who are dependent or addicted to caffeine and are trying to quit or cut down.
  • If you’re ready to break free from this habit and reclaim control of your life, the Stop Drinking Expert is here to help.
  • Don’t assume people are too busy to see you, all they need is to know that you would like to meet up.

Stay Active and Exercise Regularly

drinking out of boredom

There are many reasons for this, from previous patterns of alcohol use to brain chemistry. There is a sense in which dopamine and serotonin—two essential brain chemicals that influence our sense of pleasure—are on hiatus from their normal function when one is drinking excessively. It can take time for both our personal habits and our physical bodies to adapt to not using alcohol.

drinking out of boredom

Boredom Drinking: A Major Roadblock to an Alcohol-Free Life

Nate Denning is the Lead Admission Representative at AspenRidge Recovery. Before moving to AspenRidge, Nate served as operations director at a local drinking out of boredom organization that has sober living homes throughout the Denver area. When he’s not working, Nate enjoys horticulture and is very active in Denver’s recovery community.

What causes Addiction?

When the alcohol wears off, your problems will still be there, and you’ll likely reach out for more alcohol to escape them again. For other people, drinking alcohol out of boredom is a much more active choice – they drink to cope with negative feelings like anxiety or loneliness. Many people say that they drink alcohol to manage anxiety – to numb it or take the edge off difficult feelings.

Second, another limitation concerns the sole focus on boredom proneness. In the future, results should be controlled for other traits known to be important in the adolescent population, such as impulsivity, sensation seeking, anxiety sensitivity, and hopelessness. First, frequencies and means were computed on each variable. Second, we examined ANOVA differences for sex (Hypothesis 1) and binge drinking (Hypothesis 2) among study variables. Third, the mediation model (Hypothesis 3) was tested using multiple-step regression analysis using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2013). In particular, we used so-called “Model 4” (simple mediation model) methodology.

drinking out of boredom

Support

  • Alcohol is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States.
  • Studies have shown that drinking as a coping mechanism is strongly linked to depression, anxiety, and emotional instability.
  • But also, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and get involved in activities around your community.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says that alcohol and other substances can worsen anxiety symptoms. About 20% of Americans with an anxiety or mood disorder such as depression have an alcohol or other substance use disorder. Self-medicating can marijuana addiction drastically impact overall health and well-being. It’s also a common reason many become dependent on substances. Not only this, self-medicating can lead to and exacerbate mental health conditions leading to a dual diagnosis condition.

The four Pillars of a Fulfilling Alcohol-Free life

Surrounding yourself with people that support you can help alleviate possible remnants of guilt and shame from past behaviors. We focus on rewiring the belief, building the skills, shifting the mindset to change how you respond to life’s boring, stressful, or emotionally itchy moments—without needing to numb them away. And before long, our brain would even stop searching for an exit or try to make the situation more engaging.