Give up alcohol in the Covid-19 era

Several studies conducted last fall determined that excessive alcohol consumption increased during the pandemic. A study of more than 1,500 adults published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September found that the frequency of alcohol consumption increased 14% over the previous year for all adults. For women, excessive alcohol consumption increased by 41%.

Amanda was not a drinker of trouble, but she worried that it could easily happen during the pandemic. “Eliminating the option altogether seemed a lot easier to me than waiting for me to moderate, considering everything that was going on,” he says. He is part of a growing number of people inspired by the pandemic to adopt a kind of preventive sobriety. In July, a survey of 2,000 people commissioned by the Alcohol Change UK addiction awareness group found that 7% of participants had stopped drinking completely during closure.

Meanwhile, the alcohol alternative beverage market has exploded and is expected to surpass $ 29 billion by 2026. Jen Batchelor, co-founder of Kin Euphorics, a non-alcoholic beverage line, says sales of her cocktail in most popular preserve, Kin. Spritz, has quadrupled during the pandemic. “People recognize that they don’t want to poison their food source while the state of the world is what it is,” Ms. Batchelor says. “They want to keep their agency at a time when it’s already mood roulette. But the mindset isn’t ‘I kicked alcohol.’ It’s ‘I got away from alcohol.’ It’s a choice, rather than what we often think is a necessity, the need for someone to stop drinking, or else. “

“I think a lot of people come to sobriety with a fresh, modern, data-driven goal, where it’s so easy to measure the contributions of your life and what variables make you feel different: what affects your sleep, your hydration, your attention, ”says Bill Shufelt, co-founder and CEO of Athletic Brewing Company, a non-alcoholic craft brewery. 2020 sales increased more than 500% over the previous year. isolation and being at home has especially helped people identify the variables that make them feel better or worse. ”

People who give up alcohol often report that they do not do so to address an alcohol problem, but to prevent its creation. “At a time when people are feeling more anxious, it has become very common among patients I see to give up alcohol preventively,” says Chicago psychotherapist Kelley Kitley. “People tell me: I don’t identify as an alcoholic, I’m not turning off. But, with all this so intense, I recognize that I could be tempted to use alcohol as a coping mechanism.

Chris Cucchiara, a 32-year-old real estate agent in Pismo Beach, California, has not drunk any drinks since January last year. “I thought it would start once the pandemic started, but I continued” soberly, he says. “In the past I have used alcohol to calm anxiety. It became a goal to test me during the pandemic, a kind of project. Will sobriety remain once the pandemic is over? Mr Cucchiara says he is not sure, but he is happier now than he once was.

“It’s interesting how a pandemic can feed into decisions that are as healthy as others that are not healthy,” says Manhattan psychologist Sarah Gundle. “People are definitely struggling to find ways to deal with it, as they are taking away some of their other tried and true methods, like the gym and friends. But making a conscious decision to do something different during this time — as an experiment or as a short-term goal or something more permanent — can provide a pleasant structure and approach that can be very calming and helpful. ”

Of her most introverted and sober patients, Dr. Gundle has heard reports of relief that they can now socialize without drinking. “They’re at home and they’re more comfortable and no one should know they’re taking a seltzer and not a gin and tonic,” he says.

Even some who never considered sobriety — and perhaps never again, once life returns to normal — have made the change for the duration of the pandemic. Brian O’Ceileachair, a 39-year-old content director and Irish expatriate living in Orlando, Florida, says the pandemic put an end to his drinking streak for more than 20 years several days a week. A friend had posted on Facebook about a sober year and Mr. O’Ceileachair was inspired to “take some free time.”

It didn’t take long to see a change in his stress levels and general mood. “The work got easier, the kids got less upset and the mornings were a lot easier,” he says. “I am currently in the longest sober streak of my life and I sincerely regret not having discovered it years ago. Everyone knows me as a grumpy gromudgeon, but since I stopped drinking, I’m no longer that guy. “

Ruby Warrington, author of the 2019 book “Sober Curious,” says she saw the Facebook group Sober Curious triple during the pandemic. “I saw a lot more people who could have been considered normal social drinkers suddenly realized they wanted to fall asleep and they knew it wasn’t great,” she says. “I also saw a lot of people who could have used alcohol as a social lubricant who questioned their habits because it was no longer something they needed to socialize.”

According to her, in the UK, the number of people who abstained from alcohol during the Dry Dry went from 3.9 million in 2020 to 6.5 million this year. It is estimated that 15% of Americans participated in the dry January of 2021 compared to 10% last year. Ms. Warrington believes the change has a lot to do with the fact that it can be much easier to completely abstain from alcohol than to try to moderate. “We spend a terrible amount of brain power to drink and as soon as we have one, our responses are already altered,” he says.

Prior to Covid-19, Lillie Marshall, a 39-year-old teacher, writer and mother of two in Boston, was a “classic drinking mother,” she says. “I would teach all day, come home exhausted, reward me with a drink, maybe two.” Once he started closing and found himself teaching from home, in addition to caring for his two young children, he realized that “he couldn’t survive this thing” if he wasn’t in top shape. She had never considered her drink once a day a problem, but she was sure it didn’t help.

Her best friend had noticed the same way. He advised Ms. Marshall to read Holly Whitaker’s 2019 book, “Quit Like a Woman,” which notes that while alcohol is used as a coping mechanism, it may seem to ultimately help. it hurts. Mrs. Marshall and her friend cut off alcohol and began doing daily meditations.

It didn’t take long to notice that he slept better, had more energy, and was much less irritable. Its productivity was through the roof, without wasting time or drinking or even the slightest hangover. “He would say to me,‘ Oh, God, of this drink? “He says. The friends had set themselves the goal of not drinking for 21 days, but almost ten months later, neither of them has looked back.” On top of all that, my husband doesn’t work this year for reasons. related to the pandemic and we save a lot of money, “says Mrs. Marshall.” Oh, and I have abs again! “

—Dr. Drexler is a New York City-based psychologist and filmmaker and author of two books on gender and families.