Sobriety for the Curious

When Alcohol Feels Off

It’s January 1st. You’re waking up feeling run down from all the holiday festivities that have been going on for two months straight. You feel foggy and slightly anxious and reasonably conclude you’ve got some “hangxiety” going on. That crawling sense of anxiety about nothing and everything has become what feels like a new normal for you over the last month. You know it’s related to one too many nights with one too many drinks.

Sound familiar? For some it will sound all too familiar. It’s the sort of story with many of the elements that make up more than a few people’s New Year’s Resolutions.  

As you begin to ponder how to transform your present misery into some sort of change, you start to wonder if you need to give up alcohol altogether. In that moment, it feels like you’ve got every reason to stop drinking forever. As soon as that thought crosses your mind, you have doubts begin to creep in. You think about all the times you’ve never had an issue with your drinking. You wouldn’t call your drinking “out of control” so the term alcoholic doesn’t really fit you.

You probably fall into an area some are calling a “grey area drinker”. If so, you may not be someone that needs to be totally sober forever. There are plenty of people like this that will explore periods of sobriety with the goal being to gain more mastery over their relationship with alcohol.  

Grey Area Drinker 

The term “grey area drinker” is not an official diagnosis. However, it does not need to be an official diagnosis to actually capture a dynamic. So, what is a grey area drinker?

 In short, it is someone that is drinking in a way that occasionally causes some issues (see hangxiety above), but not so bad that anyone would call the drinking out of control.  

People have a wide and varied relationship with alcohol. Some people have never shown a reliable ability to moderate their alcohol consumption. They aren’t the type to have “just one drink”. One drink leads to cravings and another drink…and another one…and another one…until they wake up in a smoldering pit that was their life. This becomes a reliable enough pattern for this type of drinker that abstaining from alcohol is the best move.

Most drinkers don’t really fall into that type of pattern. Most find that they are able to moderate their drinking and rarely over-indulge to the point of having serious consequences.  

Then there are the grey area drinkers. Their alcohol use isn’t entirely harmless. It creates occasional consequences for them. One too many hangovers, one too many arguments at home, and now they’re re-examining their relationship to alcohol. They know they aren’t convinced they need to stop forever, but they are wanting to look at some other ways to approach alcohol. What options are there for grey area drinkers?

The Sober Curious Movement 

The sober curious movement has gained traction in recent years. Many trace the term back to Ruby Warrington’s book, Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol.

Since then, there has been a growing trend of people opting for things like Dry January or Sobriety Sampling. This aligns with the overall decline in alcohol consumption among Millennials and Gen Z over the past five years. 

If you need more proof that people are drinking less, nonalcoholic beer is projected to become the second-largest category in beer sales in 2025.  

There are many conclusions people can draw from these numbers and trends, but it appears clear that more and more people are opting to consume less alcohol or abstaining all together. Given that alcohol consumption is trending downward for both millennials and Gen Z, this does not appear to be a trend that will be shifting soon.  

So, why are we seeing people drinking less and trying out periods of sustained sobriety? 

Why Are People Trying Sobriety? 

In January 2025, the United States Surgeon General issued an advisory warning showing the link between alcohol consumption and cancer. Hearing that alcohol has negative health effects is not groundbreaking news for anyone. The downward trend in alcohol use amongst Millennials and Gen Z clearly predates this sort of advisory warning.  

As people become more health-conscious, movements like Dry January and Sober October are encouraging periods of sobriety-and the growing market for nonalcoholic beverages reflects that shift. And when there’s a market for something, companies are quick to make sure we know exactly what to buy. All of this has started to normalize not drinking.  

This increase in awareness also coincides with an overall decrease in the amount of time we spend face-to-face socializing.  

Why People are Drinking Less: 

• Health concerns: Increased awareness of alcohol’s health risks. 
• Sober movements: Campaigns like Dry January make sobriety more common. 
• More options: Nonalcoholic drinks are widely available and accepted. 
• Heavy marketing: Companies are promoting alcohol-free products. 
• Less socializing: Fewer in-person gatherings mean fewer drinking occasions. 

What are the Benefits of Sobriety? 

The long-term effects of moderate-to-heavy alcohol use (8 or more drinks a week for women and 15 or more drinks a week for men) are established. We know that there is an increase in risk of heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and more.  

The short-term effects of drinking are well-established. It can disrupt sleep, raise blood pressure, heighten anxiety, contribute to weight gain (alcohol is heavy on calories), and take a toll on your skin. And that’s not even counting the hangovers, the regrettable texts, or the mysterious pile of Amazon boxes from your forgotten late-night shopping spree.
 

When you take a short break from alcohol to reflect on your relationship with it, pay attention to the health benefits. Let those improvements help guide your decisions about future alcohol use. 

Benefits from Short-Term Sobriety: 

• Improved Sleep: Alcohol hurts the quality of sleep. Taking a break from alcohol can help you improve your sleep quality. 
• Reduced Anxiety: Many people turn to alcohol as a way of relieving stress. While alcohol can do that temporarily, there is often an increased amount of anxiety as the alcohol wears off. Taking a break can get you out of that alcohol-to-anxiety cycle.  
• Weight Loss: Alcohol is calorie-dense and can contribute to weight gain. Especially if that alcohol is paired with late night Door-Dashing.  

There are real benefits to cutting back on drinking or choosing to be sober. But every choice we make, especially about our health, comes with trade-offs. When we focus on one thing, we usually have to let go of something else. That’s completely normal. Still, it’s helpful to think about what we might be giving up so we can plan for it and find healthy ways to fill that space. 

Understanding Why You Drink 

As mentioned earlier, not everyone wants or needs to be sober forever. But for some people, alcohol has been a long-term struggle. They may deal with cravings, a loss of control, negative consequences, and more. For those individuals, committing to full sobriety might be the healthiest choice. 

Even if alcohol is not a serious problem for you, taking a break from drinking can still be a good idea, especially if you fall into the “grey area,” where your drinking isn’t extreme but still something to think about. Taking time off can help you better understand your habits and how alcohol shows up in your life. So, take a moment to ask yourself: why do you drink? 

Understanding why you drink can help you find healthier ways to meet those same needs without alcohol. It is a personal question, and everyone’s reasons are different, but there are some common patterns many people share. 

A lot of people start drinking when they are younger. At first, it might be about fitting in, feeling more confident, socializing, or celebrating. Over time, those reasons often change. 

For example, most people do not start drinking because they love the taste or want to pair wine with a meal. As we repeat a behavior, the reasons behind it can shift. What begins as a social habit in our younger years might later become something we do out of routine or expectation. A person might enjoy the relaxing feeling of drinking at a party, and later start using alcohol to relax after work. Understanding the “needs” alcohol is meeting can help you find replacement behavior to meet those needs.  

How to Try Sobriety 

Once you understand the “need” alcohol is fulfilling, you can start looking at ways of replacing alcohol and still meeting that need. If alcohol for you is about connecting with others or socializing, you can look at things like mocktail bars where you spend time with others drinking non-alcoholic beverages. You can still get some of the bar scene without the alcohol.

Or, even better, you can use the sober time as a reason to join a social club or pursue a new group activity. Join a workout group, get involved in a running club, volunteer, or just anything that allows you to fill that need for social connection. That is assuming that social connection was a role alcohol was playing for you.

The point is you need to find a way to replace what alcohol is giving you. Sometimes, a good therapist can help with figuring that out, so some people can go that way.

Other times, a psychiatrist can help by prescribing medications that can help with mild cravings. An addiction medicine specialist can look at medications like Naltrexone to help with cravings so that it makes it easier to abstain from alcohol as you test out new behaviors.

If you are curious about trying sobriety, acknowledging that it may just be a temporary reset can help take the pressure off. You don’t have to figure out how to do it forever. Take the time to have the experience, learn from it, and go from there.
 

Ways to Try Sobriety: 

• Identify the role alcohol plays: Think about what need alcohol is meeting-connection, stress relief, routine, etc. 

• Try alcohol-free social settings: Visit mocktail bars or other social venues that offer the same vibe without the alcohol. 

• Join a new group or activity: Get involved in a workout group, running club, volunteer organization, or hobby-based meetup to meet social needs. 

• Work with a therapist: A therapist can help you explore what alcohol is doing for you and identify healthier alternatives. 

• Consider medication for cravings:Talk to a psychiatrist or addiction medicine specialist about medications like Naltrexone that can help reduce cravings. 

• Don’t worry about doing it forever: Think of sobriety as a temporary reset, not a lifelong commitment. Focus on learning from the experience.  

Start with a short-term reset: Participating in something like Dry January or Sober October can be a low-pressure way to take a break, be a part of a group of people, and see what changes.