12 Tips for Staying Sober Throughout the Holidays

I have seen in my own clinical sessions how trying the holidays can be for people in recovery, from general stressors like budgeting for gifts and meal-planning to anxiety about being offered a drink at a New Year’s party. The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time for anyone, especially those struggling with a substance use disorder or mental health condition. While the New Year is a popular time to make a change for the better, waiting to get the help you need is never the best option. To get started on your recovery journey, contact a treatment provider to learn more about your options. Isolation and loneliness are commonly experienced during the holidays, even when surrounded by family and friends.

At some point between the birth of my youngest child and his second birthday, my wine drinking ramped up. I seemed to have it all together — I was “high functioning,” you could say — but eventually I couldn’t even fool myself. The “edge” I continued to take off every evening got bigger and bigger until wine wouldn’t even touch it.

Tips for a Sober Holiday

Having a source of support readily available, such as a sponsor, therapist, or friend, can likewise make all the difference when navigating New Year’s gatherings and other holiday celebrations. In The Temper’s The Ultimate Guide to Get Through the Holidays Sober, we’re here to help you during this oh-so-confusing time of year. Whether you’re celebrating your first holiday sober, navigating family relationships, managing holiday stress or figuring out how to turn down a cocktail on Zoom, we’re here to help you survive the holidays sober.

These different experiences occur alongside a time of the year well known for its inclusion of substances, often alcohol, to “celebrate” the holiday season. Whether it is at a holiday work party, family gathering, or simply walking down the various aisles at the grocery store, alcohol in all its forms is commonly on display. This results in few welcoming environments for those who are looking to maintain their sobriety. There are 14 religious holidays in December representing all the world’s major religions. None of them are a good excuse to drink or drug— they’re an excuse to spend quality time with loved ones and spread holiday cheer to others.

Sobriety And The Holiday Season

Always have a way to leave, and don’t be afraid to use it. If you feel triggered by the thought of being around alcohol or drugs during a holiday event, you have every right to leave. The holidays are a relapse gauntlet for someone who struggles with alcohol, even for us California sober types. Compounding the problem, the recently sober run this bottled-in-bond obstacle course while facing increased isolation as support networks and therapists head out of town themselves. Like every dry drunk, I’ve been told the key to getting through the minefield with your chip intact is to have a plan and stick to it. Plenty of mental health and addiction experts have offered their tip sheets.

• Setting boundaries can apply to any person, place, or thing that can influence one’s mental health.
• One of the most important elements in any relationship is communicating what makes you feel safe, which is what setting a boundary is all about.
• While statistics about relapse during the holiday season are difficult to find, correlational studies do suggest that this time of year, in particular, can take an emotional toll on those struggling with addiction.
• Add these stressors to the steady flow of alcohol other substances present at many holiday events and individuals in recovery have the perfect storm for potential relapse.
• They say it’s hard to have a happy holiday season if you’re arrested for drunk driving.

Just being around people who have gone through similar experiences, and finding a distraction away from drugs or alcohol, can offer the opportunity to ground yourself and your commitment to recovery. One of the best strategies for preventing a relapse is to identify your triggers and come up with strategies for either managing or avoiding those personal triggers when possible. Or you can connect with a trusted friend or family member who has supported you throughout your recovery journey.

Find Sober Activities

It also gives you a way to occupy your hands, helping you side-step your alcohol cravings. Caring for yourself will give you the reserves to manage both holiday stress and drinking urges and help you to feel your best throughout the season. Nothing can lead us to entitlement faster than resentments.

I’ve been practicing my sadly wistful smile in the mirror, along with a softly spoken “not anymore” and just the exact right heel-turn. Another way to show support is offering a variety of alcohol-free drinks like https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/8-tips-on-ow-to-spend-holidays-sober/ water, juices and sparkling sodas, he suggests, or to put more emphasis on sharing food options than drinks. «Respond supportively in a way that indicates your approval of their personal choices,» Koob says.

Support for Me and My Family

We do not receive any compensation or commission for referrals to other treatment facilities. If you’re looking for resources and tools to help you stay on https://ecosoberhouse.com/ track in your recovery during the holidays, AddictionResource.net has got you covered. Don’t worry about facing this holiday season in recovery alone.

Packed airports, tight schedules, liquid lunch for Aunt Sally. Everyone is running on empty, and the annual fight is just waiting to happen. Haddish was in a festive, and sober, frame of mind at the party, we’re told. But these days, many women are citing sobriety as a pillar of their feminism. At a politically fraught time, clarity of the mind is a potent weapon, and the #MeToo movement has also helped give abstinence from alcohol an extra kick.

Additionally, there has also been an abrupt increase in mental health issues and other life stressors that could lead some to self-medicate. Traveling may also be more pressured for some and may also be avoided by others. Finally, we are living in a heated political atmosphere and family events may elicit unwanted conversations and conflict about these topics.

While some people may be OK with questions about their reasons for abstaining, experts say it’s best to simply respect people’s boundaries around alcohol. Sober Holidays Tip #11 Be sure there is plenty of light in your life. Keep the lights bright at home, try to get out when the sun is shining, light a cheery fire in the fireplace. Winter solstice darkness and drabness can be psychologically (and physiologically) depressing. If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please contact at Addiction relapse may be identifiable by physical signs of substance use, changes in behavior, or other cognitive or emotional symptoms of intoxication.