The end of November brings America alive. Thanksgiving is here, Christmas is coming, New Year’s Eve is next, and cheer is on high. The holidays are a time for family and friends, for love and for togetherness. For many, the holidays are also a time of indulgence – overspending, overeating, and overdrinking. If your problem is with eggnog, no big deal… just make a resolution to work out more! However, if you’re a recovering alcoholic, here are some tips on how to keep that eggnog un-spiked.
Not to scare you but starting Christmas Eve and ending on New Year’s Day, the number of DUIs increases by 33% on average. Furthermore, 41% of accidents on Christmas are alcohol-related, and 58% of them on New Year’s. This is much higher than average daily percentage of alcohol-related crashes, which is 28%. Now to scare you, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), nearly half of all car accident fatalities during that holiday week involve drunk drivers.
This is not an article on drunk driving. This is just a list of tips on how to stay sober during the holiday season. If you or someone you love needs immediate assistance, please call the National Rehab Hotline at 1-866-210-1303. We’re standing by.
- Practice Self-Care. This is essentially the mother tip. It’s pretty much common sense. If you make taking care of your sober self a priority this holiday season, then drinking and all that comes with it will seem insignificant. Celebrate by taking care of your whole being: body, mind and soul.
- Have Water in Hand. Pressure to drink rises during holiday season, and so to avoid the pressure, have a non-alcoholic beverage glued to your hand. If peer pressure is a concern, use a red plastic cup. People won’t offer you a drink if you already have one.
- Plan Accordingly. This is an umbrella tip, if you will, covering many aspects of how to stay sober. Just plan your sobriety however it works for you. Maybe it’s a sober companion to join you. Maybe it’s arriving late and leaving early. Maybe it’s knowing when to walk away if you feel triggered. You know what it takes to keep you sober. Plan accordingly.
- Know Your Relationships. If you plan on attending a get-together and you know someone will be there who triggers your want to drink for whatever reason, either don’t go or if you do, avoid that person. It’s better to maintain your sobriety than keep up appearances. Loved ones will understand why you choose not to attend or choose not to socialize with someone.
- Celebrate Your Relationships. That last tip seems a little dark, and so to shine some light on relationships, celebrate them! Holiday is all about being with loved ones, so take this opportunity to really be in the moment when you’re with them. If need be, talk to one of your favorite relatives or friends about your sobriety and wanting to maintain it. You may even expand your support system!
- Boost Your Support. Speaking of support systems, if you don’t have one, go ahead and close this window and build one. A support system, in terms of recovering addicts, consists of people, places and things that support your sobriety as well as prevent relapse. If the holiday season triggers your desire to drink, it’s time to boost that support system up. If you find it difficult to build one on your own, there are programs like Alcoholics Anonymous that meet all over the country and are literally support systems in and of themselves.
- Stay Healthy. The holidays should not be a go-ahead to unhealthy action. Although it seems for many they are, for a recovering addict, the holidays are more of a test. To help pass that test, stay healthy. Eat well. Exercise. Be proactive in achieving goals. Not to mention, unhealthy foods that often appear on tables during the holidays are loaded with carbs and fat and sugar and salt – all things that make us feel yucky when overconsumed. Feeling yucky is something every recovering addict knows is a trigger…
- Avoid Triggers. And speaking of triggers, simply avoid them. You know what situations make you want to drink. Don’t place yourself in them. They call it a trigger because it’s attached to a gun, that gun being a relapse. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that relapse is part of recovery. It’s more that relapses happen along the paths of many recovering addicts. They’re not supposed to happen, and you should do everything in your power to not have one.
- Make New Holiday Traditions. If you find yourself in the boat of not really being able to do much at all due to fear of triggers, do something new. Go down to a local community shelter and volunteer. Turn every single light in the house off and watch holiday movies, provided you’re okay being alone. If not, invite a friend who isn’t going to that party you want to go to but can’t. Call someone. Read a book. Decorate for Easter early. The idea is to replace drinking with something healthy.
- Call the National Rehab Hotline. This isn’t a plug for our hotline. You’re already on our website. We’re saying that we’re always here, even during the holidays, to help you. Call us anytime at all and we’ll walk you through anything from a crisis to providing info on a local rehab. We’re here for you, and we want you to have a happy and sober holiday season.