Happy (Dry?) January!

Are you observing Dry January?

It’s a brand new year, and maybe you’ve been rethinking your relationship to alcohol or substances? Maybe you’ve felt emotionally challenged during the holidays and found yourself reaching for a drink or other substance more than you wish you had? If so, you might want to observe “Dry January,” or a month of abstaining from drinking. I’ve put together a few resources for you below.

It turns out, Dry January originated during World War 2 in Finland, but has more contemporary roots in the UK in 2013. This article explains the origins more fully, and also the reason Dry January has become an increasingly common practice around the world. According to the article, “The World Health Organization said that no level of alcohol consumption is good for our health, calling alcohol a Group 1 carcinogen, the highest risk group, alongside asbestos, radiation and tobacco.” It’s always a bit shocking to be reminded of the toxicity of alcohol, given the ubiquity of alcohol in our culture and communities.

This 2023 article in Bicycling Magazine is extremely powerful and well-researched. In the Bay Area, and Marin particularly, we have a huge cycling culture. Despite the fact that cycling is a healthy habit, many of its health benefits are overshadowed by its curious pairing with drinking. This article unpacks (no pun intended) it all - from the common practice of paying the bike shop mechanic a six-pack tip, to the practice of offering whisky shots at aid stations during gravel rides (!) - and the health and safety impacts that come with all of that. The author states, “But odds are, most cyclists don’t know how even moderate drinking affects their bodies. And they might be surprised to find out.”

If you need some support with Dry January, or sobriety generally, the Alcoholics Anonymous website has a national directory of meetings. If your life has been negatively impacted by someone else’s drinking, you might want to check out Al-Anon. Al-Anon by The Bay has a directory of in-person local meetings, as well as zoom meetings.

As always, feel free to reach out if you’d like referrals for treatment, or if you’ve been sober for awhile and would like to try some depth psychotherapy to examine the emotional and psychological aspects of addiction.

Be well, and Happy New Year!