New Year without alcohol. Stories of people who met the holiday sober and did not regret it

It is very difficult to give up alcohol on New Year’s Eve in a society where the tradition is already formed – chimes, champagne, a wish on a piece of paper….

If you decide to follow this path for the sake of mental and physical health, get ready for the fact that it will not be easy. But in case of success, you will feel that you have reached a whole new level.

Our heroes, who consciously gave up alcohol during the holidays and beyond, have seen it for themselves. We share their inspiring stories, which energize to improve the quality of life. And also the opinion of a psychologist about why it can be difficult to give up alcoholic beverages.

Psychologist of the psychological counseling service “Fringe.rf”

“The established tradition of drinking alcohol on New Year’s holidays as if deprives the possibility of consciously choosing: it seems that there are simply no alternative options to spend the holiday. All the positive emotions associated with this magical time begin to be firmly associated with alcohol. This is also why for many people the feeling of a special New Year mood is lost, as this association begins to dominate over the others.

As a result, the things that really make this holiday special escape our attention: the opportunity to relax, to make the environment more cozy, to pay attention to ourselves and our desires, to be with our loved ones.

In addition, alcohol consumption in one way or another negatively affects attention, memory, thinking, emotions, motivation, and behavior. The efficiency of the processes that allow us to think and analyze is greatly reduced, our mood is spoiled, we don’t want to do anything.

Then we fail to do everything we wanted to do in our free time, it becomes harder to come to our senses after the holidays and get to work.

And, of course, by choosing this way of celebrating New Year’s Eve, we broadcast it to our children. We can explain to them as much as we want that drinking is harmful, forbid them, scold them. But the most effective way for children and teenagers to learn is by the example of an adult.

The desire to celebrate the New Year with alcohol may be due to the lack of other ways to relax. In this case, of course, alcohol helps to some extent, but it does not solve the main problem – the lack of ability to listen to yourself and effectively relax.

Often it is enough for a person to simply consider more alternatives – and then the desire to drink during the holidays is significantly reduced.

Igor Devyatkov

personal trainer at Zebra fitness club, employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations

“Since I am an active employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, I meet almost every New Year’s Eve at work, so I don’t drink during the holiday.”

There are many interesting stories related to the New Year, says Igor. For example, once he and his colleagues arrived on a call: the dispatcher was told by the complainant on the phone that his house smelled of smoke. It turned out that it was three tipsy girls who said that they were burning. Had to lecture them for making a false call and left.

I can see from experience what misery alcohol brings to people.

“There are very many tragic cases in my practice, so I have no desire to drink. Instead, I lead a healthy lifestyle, professionally engaged in powerlifting, do personal training and control my nutrition. In addition, I am a favorable employee for my colleagues, if they ask me to fill in, I can always step in and help the guys out”.

Anna Justal

business coach

“I adhere to a healthy diet and often arrange detox programs, during which I drink only fresh juices. Alcohol is excluded during such periods. Once New Year’s Eve fell at a time when I was undergoing another detox program. We celebrated the holiday with friends in a nightclub. They ordered alcohol, and I ordered grapefruit juice.”

“I admit, it was very strange and unusual for me to observe how behavior changed in people who were gradually getting drunk. They started smiling, became freer, more talkative, and finally came out to dance – or rather, to try to move their arms and legs without getting on the beat.

I wondered why in reality we can not allow ourselves to be ourselves and enjoy life, and instead go into the world of illusions”.

Later, Anna still went out on the dance floor and began to dance, but her brain resisted and restrained her movements. After a few minutes, she began to take immense pleasure from the conscious movements, the musical bass. There was more emotion and feeling than under alcohol, as alcohol dulls sensations.

“It turns out that fun is when we can consciously make our brains shut down without interfering with enjoying the moment, and move as if no one is watching. The next day I felt invigorated and energized: dancing to music gave me a huge boost of energy and strength for new accomplishments.”

Another story about a sober New Year was shared with us by clinical psychologist Sergei Kumchenko. According to him, this example shows that the most important thing in the holidays and not only is to unite the loved ones. For this purpose, alcohol is possible – but not necessary.

“Last December, a patient was diagnosed with anxiety-depressive disorder and prescribed antidepressants. The course of taking antidepressants lasts from six months and means the refusal of alcohol for this period. Accordingly, the client had to celebrate New Year, his birthday and other holidays without alcohol”.

At first he became alarmed and looked for ways to circumvent this scheme. However, in his case this was impossible, and then he did not know how to tell his loved ones why he would not drink alcohol.

The patient found the strength to admit the diagnosis to his loved ones. And they accepted him. What’s more: the peculiar confession he had with his loved ones allowed him to become closer with his loved ones.

“He says he hasn’t experienced such a warm New Year’s Eve in a circle of understanding and accepting people for a long time. Some of them gave up alcohol out of solidarity, noting that they never understood the point of drinking it on holidays.”

Not everyone is able to sympathize with your choice. Psychologist Anastasia Kaitukova said that after giving up hot drinks she faced difficulties in communicating with friends.

Anastasia Kaitukova

psychologist, founder of the Soul Recovery Center “Nymphea”

“When I came to visit, it was not easy. They pestered me with questions: “Why don’t you drink?”, “Are you sick?”, etc. I tried to explain that I didn’t like it, but they didn’t understand me. I’m a psychologist, and I know that if you can’t explain it, you can translate it into laughter or give the person an exhaustive argument.”

“So I joked back that it was all from the evil one. Some laughed, others just nodded. I can clearly say that giving up alcohol has given me more focus, learning and planning ability. When people meet me, they can’t believe I’m in my 30s.

At some point the realization came that I just “don’t want to”. I don’t like the taste of alcohol, nor do I like the state of intoxication.

I am sure that the matter here is not only in genetics, but also in the refusal of bad habits. To relax, it is better to use meditation or body practices. And, believe me, they are much more relaxing than alcohol. “To drink or not to drink” – everyone’s choice. But my wish is to live without alcohol”.