10 Things No One Tells You About Quitting Drinking
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Here are the 10 things I didn’t know until after I got sober!
You’re going to get emotional
You’re going to have dreams that you’re drinking alcohol
You’re going to crave sugar
You’re going to think about sobriety a lot
Things might get worse before they get better
You might have trouble with your mental health
Your friendships might change
Your self-esteem will hopefully improve and you’ll begin to trust yourself again
Your mind is going to try to tell you you can drink again
Quitting drinking doesn’t fix anything, but it allows you to start doing the work.
I was motivated to create this episode because most people talk about hangover free mornings and no one talks about how your skin might get all zitty and gross for months, your friends might stop inviting you out, your mental health might get worse, or that you'll become a sugar monster. I wanted to make sure to cover these neutrals and negatives so if/when they happen for you, you aren't surprised. Points 9 and 10 are especially important because your mind is going to tell you you're “cured” and you can probably drink again, and if you don't do the work in sobriety then those thoughts might get you.
Learn more about each point in episode 107
Most of us have no idea what to expect when we stop drinking because usually when we quit we are so ashamed we just try to get through the beginning. In this episode Gill explains 10 things that happen when you quit drinking that no one is talking about. We hear people online say how grateful they are for hangover free mornings and sober sleep, but what about dreaming that you drink alcohol? So this episode is about the positives, but mostly the unexpected neutrals or negatives that you encounter when you stop drinking. Make sure to listen to episode 80 too if you’re participating in dry July because I talked about the benefits of quitting drinking for 1 month and those are the positive physical and mental improvements you’ll experience. Episodes to listen to next:
(1) Emotions: episodes 40, 98, 83, 106
(2) Sleep: episodes 3, 75
(3) Sugar: episodes 41, 96
(4) Obsession: episodes 73, 86
(5) Things getting worse: episodes 73, 33
(6) Mental health: episodes 19, 22, 63, 64
(9) Relapse/moderation: episodes 20, 27, 28, 30, 42, 56, 61, 79, 81, 91, 92, 97, 99, 103
(10) Doing the work: episodes 78, 82, 86, 102, 104
Sources
See sources for all episodes mentioned above
Cite this episode
Tietz, G. Episode 107: 10 Things No One Tells You About Quitting Drinking. Sober Powered. 2022.
