Dry January may be over, but the chance remains to reflect on your relationship with drink

By Joe Cooper

Tuesday may have just been another day for most, but for many it represented the first major milestone of 2022: the end of Dry January. 

Following the excesses of the Christmas and New Year period, Dry January provides an opportunity to undertake a month-long reset. Not quite the full ‘New Year, New Me’ mentality, but a vital chance to reflect on your relationship with alcohol all the same.  

If giving up the drink for a month sounds like a challenge – good, it’s meant to be! As a society, drinking is everywhere. It’s on the telly, in the workplace, on the side of buses and in the tube on the way to work, and more than anything it’s deeply ingrained into British culture.  

As a serial Dry January observer, this was my fifth consecutive year of going sober for the month. While this initially started following a difficult period in my life post-university, I’ve kept observing Dry January out of tradition if nothing else.  

That there are tangible benefits is undeniable. My Saturday and Sunday mornings were once again freed up from the usual hangovers and I was liberated from the usual dread (or ‘the fear’) from the night before. It was also a boost for my wallet too – drinking is expensive at the best of times and without even knowing, I was able to claw back some of the excess spending from the Christmas and New Year period.  

Yet despite these upsides, avoiding the drink can be a real struggle. While we’ve come a long way as a society in the last few years alone, there are still people out there who will actively push back when you tell them that you’re not drinking. People worth your time will respect your decision not to drink, and this period can also be a good time to reflect on your own personal relationships too.  

Having gone through this process on several occasions, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips for anyone who considering forsaking alcohol for a time :  

Don’t put pressure on yourself: Always remember why it is you’re reflecting your relationship with drink and act accordingly. Whether it’s to save money, improve your health, or to simply test your willpower, never lose of sight of why it is you’re going through a period of sobriety.  

Don’t put pressure on others: Equally, if friends and family are giving up the drink, support them through it – offer to buy them a delicious non-alcoholic drink of their choice, and don’t pressure them into answering for their sobriety. Also, you only properly realise how expensive drinks are when you stop, so please don’t expect your sober friend or family member to chip in for your round.  

Set clear boundaries when surrounded by alcohol: Being sober on a night out when everyone around you is drinking can be difficult. If you’re worried about slipping up, remember to set clear boundaries and deadlines for the night such as when you arrive and when you’ll leave.  

Avoid non-alcoholic beers-  they’re all overpriced: Something I’ve only fully appreciated in the last couple of years is how expensive non and low-alcoholic equivalents are. We’ve come a long way from Becks Blue being the only go-to alcohol free beer, and to their credit most drinks companies now offer an alcohol-free alternative. What remains the same across all of them is their price, and a night on the Heineken Zeros will only leave you marginally less out of pocket than the real deal. Avoid and try something else.  

While Dry January is now over and many will be returning to their old drinking habits, if you think you need a break don’t wait till January 2023 or Sober October to reflect on whether a change would be good for you.