Alcohol is a massive part of our social culture. Anything is an excuse to drink: a celebration, a night off, a bad day at work. But this heavy drinking culture is also detrimental to our health and well-being, which is why many people are now giving up alcohol entirely. Here are 18 of the main reasons why.
Painful Hangovers
It might be easy to brush off a hangover when you’re young, but they still take their toll. Painful hangovers can mean the entire day after drinking is spent in bed with a headache. If your hangovers are interfering with your work or your health, they’re even more serious. Now, many people are quitting alcohol to save themselves the pain.
Addiction
According to MedlinePlus, approximately 18 million Americans have an alcohol use disorder. Alcohol addiction is just as harmful as drug addiction, but it often isn’t treated with the same concern. Luckily, people nowadays are more aware of the dangers of alcohol and are cutting it out of their lives to avoid becoming dependent.
It’s Expensive
Whether you’re drinking at home or in a bar, alcoholic drinks are expensive. The average cost of a bottle of wine is $15, with beer being cheaper at around $3.99 and branded liquors costing even more. If you drink regularly, these costs will soon add up. Lots of people simply have no room in their budgets for alcohol anymore.
Strained Relationships
Even casual drinkers will see changes in their relationships when they get drunk. Drunk people are more likely to have arguments, act impulsively, and say things that they might not mean. Lots of Americans are now realizing that our casual drinking culture is negatively impacting their relationships, and their response is to stop drinking altogether.
Bad Choices
According to American Addiction Centers, people make poor decisions when drinking alcohol because it lowers their inhibitions before they even realize it. In this uninhibited state, people are likelier to do things they’ll later regret, including dangerous things like driving under the influence. The combination of fear and regret has been enough to push many people to give up alcohol.
Not Recognizing Themselves
There is nothing as strange as no longer recognizing yourself, but that’s what overuse of alcohol can do to you. Drunk people are unaware of their behavior, but hearing others recount how obnoxious or aggressive they were or seeing video evidence of it shocks them when they’re sober. Often, this is enough to make them want to stay sober permanently.
Lost Memories
Waking up and not being able to remember what you did the night before is jarring, but that’s the reality of a heavy night of drinking. Alcohol can cause blackouts, where your brain is temporarily blocked from creating long-term memories, so there are things you entirely forget. This uneasy feeling has prompted lots of people to quit alcohol.
Changed Appearances
While alcohol is also bad for your health, people usually recognize their changed physical appearance first. Drinkaware warns that alcohol dehydrates your skin, increases weight gain, and can even lead to bad body odor. We all want to look our best, and if alcohol is interfering with that, it’s no wonder many people are now cutting it out.
Age
People of all ages drink, but we most commonly associate binge drinking culture with the younger generation, especially college-aged people. Often, people grow out of this lifestyle and start prioritizing other things. They may have the odd drink, but they no longer spend half their lives going out, throwing house parties, or catching up with friends in bars.
They’ve Had Children
If there’s anything that will swiftly change your whole outlook on life, it’s the birth of your child, and many parents are finding that that journey doesn’t involve alcohol. Not only do parents go out less, but they also need to be more alert and have more energy, so they’re saying no to alcohol.
Bad Mental Health
The relationship between alcohol and bad mental health is not discussed enough. Though alcohol may not directly cause mental health problems, it exacerbates them. According to the Mental Health Foundation, people with depression drink regularly to make themselves feel better, and people with anxiety sometimes use it to relax. This is dangerous, and thankfully, society is waking up to it.
Health Concerns
By now, everybody knows that alcohol negatively affects your liver, heart, blood pressure, and brain, but people brush these health concerns under the carpet until they happen to them. Even a scare is enough to put some people off alcohol for life when they realize that drinking isn’t worth their health.
Bad Sleep
As well as causing deeper problems, alcohol also interferes with your sleep. When you’ve been drinking, your REM sleep is decreased, which means you’ll feel less rested, and your body clock gets disrupted. Spending the day after feeling tired can impact your job and other commitments, so many people are improving their sleep and lives by cutting down on drinking.
They’ve Adopted Healthier Lifestyles
Exercise and a healthy diet often mean nothing if you’re still drinking heavily. As well as increasing weight gain, alcohol is often also mixed with sodas, which contain lots of sugar. People who want to adopt healthier lifestyles often include alcohol in that cleanse and see the benefits of their healthy choices much more quickly.
Fear of Cancer
Cancer is one of the most terrifying diseases, and anyone can develop it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regularly drinking alcohol increases your likelihood of getting stomach, pancreatic, mouth, and liver cancers, among others. This fear of cancer has scared plenty of people off alcohol already, with more now following.
Sexual Dysfunction
Contrary to what we often see in the media, alcohol actually causes sexual dysfunction in both men and women. This is because it interferes with signals sent out by the brain, leading to lowered sex drives for women and problems with stamina for men. Sexual dysfunction can destroy relationships, and many are now waking up to the impact alcohol has.
Lack of Energy
When you’re drunk, you might feel like you can take on the world, but that energy high doesn’t last long. Overconsumption can make the body more sluggish, especially if it has experienced disrupted sleep, so it has less energy. People are starting to reach their threshold for feeling sluggish and deciding that alcohol isn’t as enticing as it once was.
Having Fun While Sober
Finally, one of the biggest reasons people are starting to give up alcohol is the realization that we don’t need it to have a good time. Plenty of places don’t require drinking to socialize, and it’s a lot more fun being able to remember everything. As a result, many are finding happiness with a new, sober lifestyle.
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