Dry January Diaries: Is cutting out booze during lockdown cheating?

Two weeks into Dry January and I haven’t had a drink at a single social event, or caved once when a colleague has offered to get a round in.

Obviously.

With no parties or pub trips to turn down, temptation to abandon a sober month and get shit-faced with my pals has been non-existent. Which makes me think – am I cheating?

I’m most certainly a social drinker in normal times. But I’m also a lone drinker, and love to treat myself to a glass (or a bottle) of wine in front of the TV on any given day. I also, like a lot of people, use alcohol to break up the day, to delineate between work hours and leisure time, and to cope with work pressures and the relentless bad news cycle.

So though this month I’m not going to be able to hone any drink-refusal skills, I will hopefully learn how to stomach stress, loneliness and boredom (oh, so much boredom) without the emotional cotton wool.

“Home is where many of us do at least some, but possibly even the majority of our drinking - so breaking these habits can be just as tricky, and just as worthwhile,” says Dr Richard Piper, Chief Executive of Alcohol Change UK, the charity behind the official Dry January campaign.

“That might be especially true for people who found themselves drinking more at home during lockdown one. Even though we're not going out partying this Dry January, turning down drinks offered by a partner or housemate gives us a great chance to practise.

“Then there's coping with cravings - that feeling of ‘Mmm, I really fancy a drink.’ Making sure you can choose when to have a drink, rather than finding yourself pouring every time the thought crosses your mind, is a big step forward when it comes to healthier drinking habits.”

Pouring a drink every time the thought crosses my mind? Yep, guilty as charged. During previous lockdowns, I’ve refused to even consider limiting my drinking, because, well, the world is crap, right? The thought of a nice cold glass of Pinot normally crossed my mind at about 3ish (on a good day), and I’d power through the rest of the day with the image in my mind’s eye like a carrot on a string. Sometimes I wouldn’t even make it until 5.30 before I caved (sorry, boss).

I may have only been boozeless for two weeks (a RAGING hangover on NYE meant I’m one day ahead of schedule) but I’m already pleasantly surprised to realise that I can switch off from work just as easily with a walk round the block, a hot shower or a living room workout. And this is something I’m hoping to be able to bring forward with me into a post lockdown world.

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“Some of the things we learn aren't exactly skills, but more like knowledge: the knowledge that we CAN have fun, relax, enjoy ourselves without a drink in our hand,” agrees Dr Piper. “That our friends enjoy talking to us just as much when we're alcohol-free. That numbing our emotions with alcohol doesn't really help us. And that just a short period without alcohol can have some amazing benefits for our bodies, brains and lives. We can then choose which of these changes we want to hold onto when Dry January ends, and find drinking habits that allow us to keep them.”

So far, this has been a very different lockdown for me. Last summer I used booze to numb uncomfortable emotions, like anxiety and loneliness, which, don’t get me wrong, worked a treat at the time. Living as we were in “unprecedented” circumstances, I was quick to push the ‘f-ckit’ button and treated it as a sort of holiday. I didn’t have to face my nightmare commute with a banging hangover and I didn’t even have to shower in the morning, if I didn’t want to (which I often did not).

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But by the end of it I was worried I’d picked up habits I wouldn’t be able to break. And though it’s been a struggle, the benefits, at the moment, are outweighing the cons.

“Dry January isn't just a challenge - it's also an opportunity,” says Dr Piper. “And if some of the challenges of Dry January are magnified by lockdown, so are many of the benefits. Couldn't we all do with the deeper sleep, extra energy and boosted mood more than ever? Not to mention saving money.

“Over the first lockdown, many of our drinking habits slowly - or maybe not that slowly - changed. Something which brought us pleasure in the past might have become a habit that no longer felt like a real choice.

“This is a perfect opportunity to make sure that we break those patterns.”