7 psychological benefits of quitting alcohol (for good)

A review of the main benefits of stopping drinking alcohol on a daily basis.

Alcohol is currently the most widely consumed legal drug in the world. It is the social drug par excellence, and it is difficult to find people who have never drunk alcohol in their lives.

But that is changing. For years we have had scientific evidence that advises against alcohol consumption, because of its clear relationship with several types of cancer and many other diseases. The World Health Organization and the vast majority of health institutions warn that there is no such thing as safe alcohol consumption. there is no such thing as safe alcohol consumptionand that the safest dose is 0.

7 psychological benefits of stopping drinking alcohol

They are far behind those hoaxes about a glass of wine a day was good for the heart. False myths financed by alcohol companies to continue selling their poison.

But I'm a psychologist, so I'm going to talk to you about the psychological benefits of quitting alcohol (for good). (for good). Because there are (and there are many).

1. Greater mental clarity

Alcohol kills neurons, destroys connections, damages the cerebral cortex, hinders Blood flow in the brain. These physical effects have direct consequences on our intelligence, on our memory, on our ability to concentrate..

And of course there are many extremely intelligent people who have been drinking alcohol all their lives. But we should not fall into the fallacy that they are immune to the neurological damage of alcohol. They have simply achieved all their successes in spite of alcohol consumption.

If a successful or famous person comes to mind who drank a lot of alcohol, think that alcohol has only been a glass ceiling in their life.. You have limited your potential, you have limited your abilities. Alcohol does not add up, it does not bring advantages of any kind, it only subtracts.

2. You will improve your self-esteem

Why do we drink alcohol? Largely because of its obvious disinhibition effects. Alcohol temporarily "shuts down" part of the prefrontal cortex, which is largely responsible for our self-control abilities.

Most people use alcohol to temporarily ignore feelings of embarrassment, so that they can dance in publicMost people use alcohol to temporarily ignore feelings of embarrassment, so they can dance in public, talk to the person they like, or allow themselves to do the first silly thing that pops into their head.

Alcohol does not give us any magical power, it simply makes it easier for us to do certain things without feeling bad about it (until the hangover comes). What is the relationship between alcohol consumption and self-esteem? Well, what we commonly call self-esteem depends to a large extent on our sense of self-efficacy. Achieving things and being aware that we have had something to do with it.

What alcohol does is to give us a false sense of self-esteem.It's like Asterix taking a few sips of his magic potion to fight the Romans. But because Asterix has the power of the magic potion, he doesn't exercise or train. So if the Romans arrive at a time when he has no potion, he won't have much to do against them.

When we abuse alcohol to keep our lack of self-esteem afloat, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to learn to cope with social situations that frighten us. Self-confidence is not something we get one day out of the blue. It is something we build from many interactions. So, a direct consequence of quitting drinking is to improve our self-esteem and social skills without needing to get high.

3. You will overcome dependence

Alcohol is addictive, and many, many people suffer from psychological dependence on alcohol, even if they do not know it yet.. Many abusive consumption dynamics are normalized in our society, so some cases of addiction easily go unnoticed.

When we are in bad shape, we grab the life preserver that is closest to us. That's why many people who had recreational drinking on weekends for years end up escalating their drinking and developing alcoholism after some emotionally intense event, some crisis. Such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, a bad period....

Getting away from alcohol as soon as possible will end the chances of developing an addictive behavior problem in the future.

4. You will regain your motivation

Alcohol, like other addictive drugs, hijacks the brain's reward mechanisms. One of the reasons why alcohol and other drugs are so addictive is that they promote the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters associated with the feeling of reward and reinforcement.

When we abuse these mechanisms for a long time, the brain develops tolerance to the effects of these neurotransmitters, so it becomes harder and harder for us to experience the feeling of motivation without consuming alcohol (and larger amounts each time).

A person who uses alcohol every weekend or even daily, you are likely to experience this lack of motivation in all other activities in your life.. Abandoning alcohol consumption restores the brain's reward mechanisms, and makes it easier for us to feel motivation and other pleasant emotions on a daily and frequent basis.

5. You will feel less anxiety

Another reason why so many people consume alcohol is as a form of self-medication for worries, anxiety or sadness.. If our usual relaxation rituals revolve around alcohol, we will be depriving ourselves of the opportunity to deal with stressful situations on our own, in a natural way.

Alcohol temporarily disconnects us from unpleasant emotions, it makes us stop feeling anxious in the short term, but at the price of making us feel more anxious in the long term. Because every time we feel anxiety, instead of accepting it and managing it in a healthy way, we will turn to alcohol, the emotional lifeline that is closest to us (just out of habit).

6. You will strengthen your friendships

Many people drift away from us over the years. Our interests change, they evolve, they mature, we prioritize other things. This is something that also happens a lot with "friendships" that are only sustained by alcohol consumption.

I am often told in therapy how, after giving up alcohol, they have realized that they were maintaining rather superficial friendships, even somewhat toxic.even somewhat toxic. People with whom almost 100% of the plans had to revolve around alcohol. And if there were no drinks in between, they didn't really know what to talk about or how to enjoy their time together.

Stopping our social dependence on alcohol also helps us to better "filter" our relationships, and focus only on the ones that really bring us, that we enjoy spending time with. If you think about it, the fact that you need to get high to hold a conversation with someone is a bad sign of the connection you have.

7. You will sleep much better

Alcohol alters the circadian rhythms of the brain, including the complex mechanisms of sleep.. Most people who stop drinking alcohol improve their quality of sleep over time, with all the benefits that entails for all other aspects of life.

Do you need help to quit alcohol?

Quitting alcohol and becoming teetotalers is a very brave decision, because it means facing a large part of society that will pressure us to continue drinking. In addition, almost everyone has been subjected to years and years of marketing and normalization of alcohol consumption to celebrate and feel good. It is not easy to break free from psychological dependence on alcohol.

I am Luis Miguel RealI am Luis Miguel Real, a psychologist specializing in addictions, and if you think you need help to quit alcohol, I will be happy to lend you a hand. Contact me and we will get to work as soon as possible.