Members who had taken a break from drinking purely for health and weight reasons are often shocked to find themselves calmer, more tolerant and, amazingly, happier, after stepping away from their daily habit of one or two glasses of wine.
When you quit alcohol, your body a chance to increase serotonin without depletion, so you may actually feel happier over time. Still, improved mental health doesn't always happen immediately or seamlessly once we remove alcohol (and that's okay). Sobriety can be the starting point for confronting mental health issues.
Stopping alcohol use helps to normalize dopamine and serotonin levels, so patients may feel depressed while in recovery, but this should lift as the brain readjusts to running without alcohol.
Your mood should get better within 3 to 6 weeks. Tell your doctor if it doesn't. You may need treatment for long-term symptoms or an undiagnosed mental health condition.
Without alcohol in your life, you'll get better sleep, and wake up without a hangover. This can lead to more energy and productivity. You'll also experience long-term improvements in your health and reduced risk of alcohol-related conditions, like heart and liver complications.
Staying sober for 6 months will have an extremely positive impact on the brain. However, there's also something important to point out: 6 months of sobriety doesn't always mean feeling better on the inside. Your drug abuse can affect your neurotransmitters in your brain.
The liver is very resilient and capable of regenerating itself. Each time your liver filters alcohol, some of the liver cells die. The liver can develop new cells, but prolonged alcohol misuse (drinking too much) over many years can reduce its ability to regenerate.
After drinking stops, during withdrawal, the amygdala circuits become hyperactive, leading to hyperkatifeia, or heightened negative emotional states, such as irritability, anxiety, dysphoria, and emotional pain.
Although positive changes may appear earlier, 3 months of not drinking can not only improve your mood, energy, sleep, weight, skin health, immune health, and heart health. It can even reduce your risk of cancer.
Improved energy levels and better sleep
If you stop drinking completely, one of the first things you notice should be improved energy levels, better sleep and finding it easier to wake up in the morning. Regular drinking can affect the quality of your sleep making you feel tired and sluggish during the day.
By breaking free from alcohol I was able to develop a relationship with myself that I never had before. The sober journey was one of self-discovery. Getting through the challenges of becoming sober has given me the confidence to handle anything that comes my way. This is probably the biggest benefit to sobriety.
That aspect seems to stem from the fact that alcohol increases activity in the dopamine neurons in the mesolimbic reward pathway, as well as opioid cells that release endorphins. Both produce feelings of joy, pleasure, euphoria, depending on the type of activation. That's why drinking can be so pleasurable.
Going sober for 7 months (235 days) comes with a lot of great benefits for myself including: Less anxiety, more energy, less brain fog, lower blood pressure, more productivity, more money and better social skills.
Reduced anxiety, better sleep and increased energy and productivity top the list of benefits that participants typically experience, not to mention significant improvement in weight and body composition, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and liver enzymes.
I have time for self-care. I'm able to give myself what I truly need with more consistency. Without the intoxicating fog of a few drinks (and it was almost always a few), my body's signals come in much clearer. I can now generally distinguish whether I'm hungry, thirsty, tired, stressed, or stir-crazy.
What do you mean by heavy drinking? For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week.
6 Months - Improved Focus
At this stage, you've continued to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. This is the point where some more intangible benefits start to appear. Some people find that their self-esteem improves and ability to be self-compassionate also increases (Collison et al., 2016).
The first week of sobriety is often the most difficult. You may experience withdrawal symptoms that last for a few days or weeks. These symptoms are uncomfortable, and the risk of relapse can be high.
Wondering if you have to stay sober forever is a common debate after leaving rehab. Thinking about forever can be overwhelming. But, in reality, you can stay sober for the rest of your life, but some people might find it easier to focus on it one day at a time. After all, recovery is all about taking the first step.
Hitting 100 days of sobriety is a huge milestone to be celebrated. In your first 30 days sober you might struggle with poor sleep and cravings to drink. It's common to feel incredibly tired in your first month sober, irritated and rageful.
1 One study showed that after 6 weeks of abstinence from alcohol, brain volume increases by an average of 2%. 3. After Six Months: After half a year without drinking, you will really start to reap the rewards. Your risk of developing cancer will decrease, and your liver function will have greatly improved.