WHAT TO DO WHEN BORED RED BUTTON FREE

WHAT TO DO WHEN BORED RED BUTTON FREE

When you remove alcohol from your life, you free up all the time you spent drinking and recovering from drinking. It all felt normal, even the terrible parts like awful hangovers and hangxiety. During the day, there were all-inclusive brunches. On the weekend, we went to bars and clubs.

My friends and I got together for happy hours after work.

Did I have a stressful day at work? I drank alcohol. If I was hanging out with friends, we were getting drunk. If I was sad, I drank alcohol to feel better. When I was a heavy drinker, everything involved alcohol. If you’ve created an entire social life around drinking, it is natural to be afraid of life without it. Let’s address another reason life without alcohol feels boring. It takes time for your brain to adjust to sobriety Being sober is so boring because your life revolves around alcohol. Now that you know the chemical reason for your boredom, let’s explore ways you can proactively work against it. It’s not always going to feel like this.” Those feelings don’t come back immediately when you quit.īut it is helpful to be able to say, “I know life feels boring now, but it’s because my brain is taking time to heal. 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.Īlcohol robs you of the ability to feel naturally motivated and inspired. The good news is that your brain can adjust and restore balance to your internal world. It’s why nothing seems fun or interesting, and you struggle to rally the motivation to have a good time. This can lead to feelings of boredom and apathy. When serotonin and dopamine levels are low, we become less motivated and less interested in our surroundings. So it’s not that sobriety is inherently boring it’s that your serotonin and dopamine levels are now very low. Natural rewards now pale in comparison to the artificial rewards that alcohol gives you.Your brain is going to produce less dopamine to balance out the artificial boost you give it every time you drink, and.So now, you’ve got two big problems on your hand: Alcohol can produce 2 to 10 times more dopamine in the brain than natural rewards. That is why long-term, heavy alcohol has such a negative impact on the brain. You create an imbalance when you use alcohol (or any substance) to artificially boost serotonin and dopamine levels in your brain. Serotonin and Dopamine Depletion in Early Sobriety Dopamine depletion can cause feelings of apathy, boredom, and lack of motivation. It is also responsible for regulating movement and emotional response. Serotonin depletion can cause feelings of sadness, anxiety, and irritability.ĭopamine is another neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and happiness. It is also responsible for moderating moods and emotions. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of happiness, well-being, and pleasure. This is important to remember when thinking about boredom. Reasons you feel bored in sobriety Alcohol artificially boosts serotonin and dopamine in your brain. The FOMO can be maddening.īut what if there is a physiological reason contributing to your feelings? In fact, when you first quit, it feels like everyone in the world is out getting drunk but you. It’s pretty normal to reduce the entire experience of boredom in sobriety to missing alcohol and believing that getting drunk is the primary way you (and everyone else) have fun. Have no fear! I’ve been where you are, as have thousands of other sober people who had to learn to have a life again after sobriety. The more you think about it, the more it annoys you, which is unfortunate because you’re already feeling rather annoyed these days. The hours you used to devote to drinking and recovering from drinking have to be filled now with… well who knows what? You should be able to go about living your life without drinking alcohol, but you feel utterly useless and have no idea what to do with yourself. Getting sober is like learning to walk again after a terrible accident.

Are you reading this right now because you got sober recently and feel so bored you might spontaneously combust… or worse…drink?

What to do when bored red button