Dry January

[BearFeet]

AIBU to think that if you feel like you ought to give up alcohol for a month, then you're probably drinking too much and should cut down anyway.

YABU Christmas is a time of excess of everything, not everyone overindulges in food, alchohol, shopping, but many do. Its no different than going on a diet, going to the gym, chopping up the credit card. its a change from the excess.

Hadn't really thought of it like that.
A month of too much then a month of nothing. Kind of evens itself out.

I think because I'm not a big drinker it wouldn't enter my head to do it.
And previously thought that if you think you need to have a month off the booze you must drink to much in general, rather than seeing it as just a Dec/Jan thing.

Thanks for answering.

That was probably the shortest AIBU in Mumsnet history

I read in the paper at the weekend that it is far more effective to just have 2-3 alcolohol free days a week all year round then have a dry January

Surely people do it for charity not because they have drunk too much?

Yes I think you're right. I'm doing Dry Jan and that's mainly because I noticed myself binge drinking around 4 times a week. This weekend it actually felt STRANGE to me that I DIDN'T feel hungover on Sunday morning.

I feel much better for not drinking and psychologically the very fact that I can just stop whenever I want reassures me that I'm not a full blown alcoholic yet lol

Yes I think the problem is that people use Dry January to make amends for drinking excessively or every day for the rest of the year, and after stopping for 4 weeks go back to their over drinking for the remaining 11 months. And that is why medics question it.

A lot of people use it as a way to kick start better alcohol habits, with the intention of cutting back to sensible levels after dry January is finished.

I intend to cut back dramatically after Jan too. Previously (before dry jan) I was drinking heavily every Friday and Saturday night. Then it became every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. That became every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night ... I could see a dark path ahead that I did not want to keep treading.

So after Dry January I intend to cut back my drinking to one half bottle of wine on a friday night, same Saturday night and that's it.

So how is it going? I have had zero alc. and feels ok!