You’ve no doubt seen a few people showing off and posting about how they’re off the booze for October and how they’re hoping to keep it up after the month’s done. Whilst no doubt their smugness can be annoying, there’s a lot of good reasons to join the sobriety club for October, not least because it’s in aid of Macmillan Cancer Trust. The other reasons are quite simply that it’s great for your mental and physical health.
A recent YouGov poll showed that a huge amount of UK residents experience what we call ‘hangxiety’ or the feeling of unhappiness, anxiety, and physical fragility we get the day after a heavy night on the booze. Further polling suggests that the way we behave while on the booze can lead to feelings of regret and shame the following day (yep, we can confirm!) – losing personal belongings, contacting an ex, or even simply oversharing with friends are common causes of deepened anxiety.
Another series of studies has shown that ongoing and regular drinking can really mess around with your brain chemicals, making it so that you’re permanently functioning on a depleted amount of serotonin, the happy chemical!
And if that weren’t enough already, booze slows down your metabolism and is high in sugar, making it a dreadful aide when it comes to losing weight. So ditch the booze for October and you could be happier and thinner!
Whilst it’s only for a month what’s clear is that once you take all these factors into consideration there’s a lot to be said for simply pausing your habits and becoming more self aware when it comes to drinking, in ways that might extend beyond the month of October. So let’s raise a glass of some suitably unalcoholic beverage to going sober in October!
