Excessive alcohol use can harm people who drink and those around them. You and your community can take steps to improve everyone’s health and quality of life. Regular workouts improve mood, reduce stress, and make you less likely to turn to alcohol. Joining a sports league, running club, or yoga class can also expand your social circle with people who prioritize wellness. Developing strategies to handle friendships with those who drink can improve the odds of continuing to live successfully with your sobriety. Learn about opportunities to help change the conversation around mental health.
- Surround yourself with supportive people who respect your choice.
- Some friendships are based primarily on drinking and won’t continue to work during sobriety.
- But if you’re not seeing your pals because they’d rather get shit-faced than hang with you, that’s on them.
- Instead of going to bars or pubs, plan to meet your friends in different settings.
- If you’re not drinking, avoid sulking in a corner because that will only make people notice.
- Even if you’re not drinking, it’s better to have a non-alcoholic drink in your hand.
How to Maintain Sobriety
If this is not possible, come extra early and order your non-alcoholic drink beforehand and follow the first tip of sticking to that drink the entire night. Contact Gateway Foundation today to learn more about the programs and services that best meet your needs. If a 12-step program doesn’t sound appealing, you can look for other support groups.
Just make something up to get people off your back
Learning how to turn down a drink can take some practice, but there are a number of strategies you can use to make sober socializing a bit easier. If you must attend alone, or in a situation such as a family gathering where you’re the only one who doesn’t drink, line up a friend or two you can call if you need some support. That will often be enough to get through any anxiety or temptation the situation creates. Some people are fine with telling others that they never drink.
Heart and Circulatory System
Do you need a secret signal to indicate that it’s time to leave? With this kind of teamwork, staying sober and getting used to this new lifestyle is much easier. Socializing without alcohol can be just as fun and exciting as drinking with friends, if not more so.
Tips For Handling Friends Who Still Drink When You’re Sober
Exploring new and diverse activities can provide alternative avenues for socializing, creating memories, and connecting with others. Before attending a social event, remember why you chose not to drink alcohol. Establish clear intentions and goals for the gathering, what is alcoholism such as connecting with others, having meaningful conversations, or simply enjoying the company. Setting goals can help you get the most out of the gathering and navigate tricky situations. Have an exit strategy if needed, such as checking the nearest bus stop, pre-booking transport, or calling upon a sober friend. Think about which friendships will be supportive of your sober life going forward.
When we examine the addiction issue in the United States today, we begin to see very quickly that this is a growing, expanding problem. Jeremiah Fears was absolutely livid and had being sober around drinkers to be walked off the court after he and Lu Dort got into it on Tuesday night. These THC vape pens are potent, easy to use, and made for convenience.
- This may require opening new lines of communication that brings you out of your comfort zone.
- It felt like a slap in the face when people were drinking around me, and I was trying to stay sober.
In these cases, even just a few minutes of discussing something else is likely to be enough to make the person forget about your sobriety. Try coffee shops, parks, and restaurants with great food for a relaxed atmosphere without the pressure to drink. In case you didn’t know, alcohol can indeed make some people shit their brains out. And chances are, no one wants you to be the party pooper (literally), which is why this type of uncomfortably candid confession remains one of Dr. Hamdami’s personal favorites. https://masa.red/2-day-hangovers-can-a-hangover-last-2-days-and-why/ “I cannot imagine a single counter-argument to this one,” she says. Maybe you’re participating in Dry January to improve your health in the New Year.
Tips for Socializing Without Drinking
I live on a campus where it is very normalized to party, but my normal is to stay away from those spaces and stay home. Pancreatitis can occur as a sudden attack, called acute pancreatitis. Acute pancreatitis can turn into chronic pancreatitis, which is a condition of constant inflammation of the pancreas. Chronic pancreatitis is a risk factor for the development of pancreatic cancer and diabetes.
- In some cases, this can mean changing your social group and spending time with different people.
- Similarly, try to identify the times when you would usually drink and fill the gap with something else.
- When you don’t drink it can feel like everyone else in the world cares about nothing else than getting hammered and passing out on bathroom floors.
It’s a simple, nonconfrontational way to stand your ground and avoid unnecessary back-and-forth. “Naturally, some people might call you out simply because they notice you don’t have a drink in your hand,” Lucero says. An easy fix, then, is to hold something—Coke, sparkling water with lime, or a fruity mocktail that looks like a real one.
