People who are physically dependent on alcohol should be careful about quitting drinking abruptly because alcohol withdrawal can be fatal in severe cases. "Early data suggest more people developed alcohol-related liver diseases and needed transplants during the pandemic, and one study suggests hospitalizations related to alcohol withdrawal increased, as well." "Being female, having kids at home, dealing with depression or anxiety, and losing income were associated with greater alcohol use," she said. Stress was a particular contributor to increased drinking, she said. Powell said that research from 2020 suggests that more people increased drinking during the pandemic. "If your idea of unwinding or self-care at the end of the night is to have a glass of wine or a cocktail, think of things you can do to still feel rewarded - taking a hot shower, reading a book, journaling," Goodhart said.ĭeveloping new coping mechanisms might be especially necessary as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year. "You can develop new hobbies, develop a support system, find other things you like to do with friends that don't revolve around alcohol." In Philadelphia, that may not even mean avoiding the bar - many restaurants here have developed increasingly sophisticated non-alcoholic cocktails over the years. "Even if participants don't drink problematically or have no intention of maintaining long-term abstinence, there's still benefits of doing Dry January," she said. Recovery or wellness doesn't look the same for every person, Goodhart said. But he does try to limit himself to those guidelines. Kranzler is not a teetotaler - "Alcohol is not good for you, by and large, and I say that with a certain degree of discomfort, only because I really like good wine," he said, laughing. The evidence points strongly to the idea that men or women should not drink more than, on average, a standard drink per day." (A standard drink is a 12-ounce bottle of beer, five ounces of wine, or an ounce of liquor.) But how you drive can dramatically influence your risk, just like how much you drink can dramatically influence your risk of alcohol-related harm. If you drive, you are at risk of having an accident, and potentially a fatal one. ![]() "There's no safe level at which people drive. "I think the safest approach to alcohol is to think about it like driving," Kranzler said. Some participants might quit drinking during the week or simply reduce their alcohol consumption generally. ![]() Many Dry January participants try to abstain from alcohol entirely for a month, but any reduction in drinking can be beneficial, said Henry Kranzler, a physician and director of the Center for Studies of Addiction at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. A 2016 study on more than 800 adults in the United Kingdom who undertook a Dry January found that most participants drank less and got drunk less frequently afterward, Powell said. There's not an extensive body of research on Dry January itself, but some studies show that quitting drinking for a month can have health benefits, Patricia Powell, the deputy director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, wrote in an email. "One of the benefits of Dry January is using it as a way to maybe look at some of your substance use or drinking, and developing new habits," Goodhart said. Although some people do quit drinking entirely after a month of abstinence, many use Dry January as a jumping-off point to explore drinking habits and modify them as necessary.
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