# Boredom Without Alcohol?



## Recluser (Aug 15, 2006)

I've been drinking almost every day for the last few years. I drink alone and I just love the relaxed numb state it causes - I'm normally quite tense. There's never been any obvious detriments to it, apart from occassionally having a rough stomach in the morning. Having irritable-bowel-syndrome symptoms anyway, it's hard to notice. 

Now for the benefit of my liver I'm going to massively reduce how much I drink. Almost no drinking apart from some social situations. The most important issue for me though is boredom. Without drinking at night, what is there for a SAD-suffering recluse to do? I have no major passions in life, no ambitions, no motivation.

I guess I want to hear that I'll magically stop being bored at nights, after staying off the alcohol... that some things will just suddenly pop up that I enjoy. Does anyone have any relevant experience?


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

I'm in the same boat as you though I haven't been drinking every day for a couple years. Its been drugs and drinking and I've been trying to quit both. It seems like there's nothing worth doing, nothing is entertaining, everythings just bla unless I'm altered. I don't know but I guess after a while of being sober things will start to be normal again and regain intererst in other things. I feel for you.


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## rabbit07 (Nov 8, 2007)

I don't think there is anything wrong with having 1 drink a night. I usually have a beer about an hour before I go to sleep to help me relax. If I'm really stressed/upset, I may have more. Maybe its not the "best" habit, but 1 drink a day can be beneficial to your health and certainly won't damage your liver. 

I understand what you're going through. Life is more fun for me after I've had alcohol and I have abused it a lot in the past (excessive drinking/combining alcohol and prescription pills). Now I am trying to eat healthy, exercise, and be constructive with my time (I'm not perfect at it, but I'm trying). Its hard to keep motivated and some days are easier than others. I do look forward to my beer each night. (One of the reasons I don't want to take anti-depressants is that you cannot drink while you're on them.) I often write in a journal after I've had my beer and I'm able to release some feelings that I can't when I'm completely sober.

I struggle with boredom throughout the day, but I try to at least do things that I know are good for me, even though I don't feel like doing them. It really is a case of mind over matter. Force yourself to exercise when you can't stand the thought of it and you will feel better in the hours to come even if nothing exciting happens. It makes life bearable. Even if you feel like a robot, make yourself do positive things and eventually, you will feel better. When you feel better, it will be easier to find thing you enjoy.


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## Recluser (Aug 15, 2006)

rabbit07 said:


> I don't think there is anything wrong with having 1 drink a night. I usually have a beer about an hour before I go to sleep to help me relax. If I'm really stressed/upset, I may have more. Maybe its not the "best" habit, but 1 drink a day can be beneficial to your health and certainly won't damage your liver.


I drank about 1/3 bottle of vodka every night (and some afternoons) to feel drunk or at least tipsy. The thought of only one drink seemed pointless to me. I thought the effect of only one drink would be so weak that I would definitely need to drink more. Maybe one drink a night can have a noticeable relaxing effect, it's a great idea. Thanks.



> I understand what you're going through. Life is more fun for me after I've had alcohol and I have abused it a lot in the past (excessive drinking/combining alcohol and prescription pills). Now I am trying to eat healthy, exercise, and be constructive with my time (I'm not perfect at it, but I'm trying). Its hard to keep motivated and some days are easier than others. I do look forward to my beer each night. (One of the reasons I don't want to take anti-depressants is that you cannot drink while you're on them.) I often write in a journal after I've had my beer and I'm able to release some feelings that I can't when I'm completely sober.


I've been on anti-depressants for 6/7 weeks, drinking alcohol like that almost all the while. I'm not worried about that.



> I struggle with boredom throughout the day, but I try to at least do things that I know are good for me, even though I don't feel like doing them. It really is a case of mind over matter. Force yourself to exercise when you can't stand the thought of it and you will feel better in the hours to come even if nothing exciting happens. It makes life bearable. Even if you feel like a robot, make yourself do positive things and eventually, you will feel better. When you feel better, it will be easier to find thing you enjoy.


I have also started using an exercise bike every day. Nothing good to report yet but also nothing bad - at least exercise doesn't feel like a chore right now.

Fantastic posts, thanks.


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## rabbit07 (Nov 8, 2007)

Good luck with the 1 drink a night! Let me know how it goes (although tonight I had a 2 hour conversation with a friend who "stopped by to chat"...the social interaction stressed me out so much I decided to drink 2 beers tonight!  

Its good to know that you can drink alcohol with anti-depressants...I probably should go back on them because I felt much better with them. 

The exercise is key. Today and yesterday, I actually haven't been able to drudge up the energy too, but I plan on starting fresh on Monday or Tuesday since Monday's a holiday. It is actually the only thing, besides meds, that really help me feel better. That's definetly good that exercise doesn't feel like a chore to you. Meditation also has worked for me, you may want to try it. I just lay on my bed for 10 minutes, turn on my fan, and don't think about ANYTHING but the sound of the fan. Sometimes I fall asleep; other times I do feel refreshed.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

i find my drugs give me much better feeling than any alcohol.


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## Jenikyula (Nov 7, 2007)

Heehee, I drink coffee every day. Stupid of me, eh? Coffee makes me *more* anxious. I love it though. :banana


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## undecided (Nov 9, 2010)

*boredom and alcohol*

I drink a half pint of vodka or whiskey every night. I have no though or craving for it at all during the day. I work, i have fun at my job and then I come home. Home is my inlaws and a small room my living room and bed. at about 7:00 I start watching the clock, internally Im getting ready for my night to start and the shutting down process to begin. At 8:00 pm on the dot i get my ice pour my drink, climb into my bed(couch) and watch tv until 10 when i fade instantly asleep with no though and no cares. Ive done this every night for the last few years. I have stopped for a couple of weeks at a time to see if Im chemical hooked to it. know actual physical withdraws accured. My problem is the extreme boredom that is my life. I want to stop, I know that I can stop, But I dont really want to. What am I susposed to do with out it. the boredom kills me. Every morning i tell my self Im not going to drink tonight and yet at 700 im at the party store getting my stuff. This has helped make me gain weight and I know im hurting my health but im an extreme creature of habit. any suggestions that might help?


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## forever_dreamer (Jul 8, 2008)

I liked how alcohol made me feel (except when I drank too much) and smoking when I tried it (haven't touched a cigarette since last month) and sometimes I do get bored without alcohol so I know the feeling sometimes.


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## Robot the Human (Aug 20, 2010)

The boredom should get better over time. The hardest part is the beginning, and just hanging in there. This pretty much goes with any type of addiction, and whether it's a physical or psychological addiction. I think lots of people's problem is, not replacing your addiction with something else. I've heard of stories of people who smoked, and being obsessed with the internet or a sport has caused them to quit smoking or basically not give them time to smoke. I've experienced this myself too. Try to find something to replace drinking if you can.

When you don't want to, that makes it difficult. I think you can though, because you may come to realize that your future health is more important to your wants or personal needs.

I'd say just give it another shot when you are ready. For me, making a date on a calender to stop never worked. I just did a spur of the moment thing to try and break myself from my addictions. I did this when I was 100% sure I was ready and willing to go all the way. I also don't agree with giving your sobriety a little "birthday" like remembering how many months, weeks, and days you've been going. I think that hurts people more than it helps them, but that's just my opinion - I'd just pretend or have the attitude that you are in control and that you are well above drinking as if it's a little bug or something. Again, I wouldn't treat it like a person and give it a birthday. Time may seem slower if you keep track also, and this may discourage you to keep going.


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## Takerofsouls (Oct 20, 2010)

Noca said:


> i find my drugs give me much better feeling than any alcohol.


I agree, i only drink when i dont have anything better to **** me up.


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## DylanJK (Nov 11, 2010)

Since I started working full time, I usually have 1 beer a night. It's tasty, relaxes me and is a great way to take the "edge" off if it was a rough day of work. As others said, if the day was rough I might have 2 and MAYBE 3, but no more. My Grandpa is an alcoholic and gets drunk almost everyday, he is 70 now and surprisingly VERY heathly, but he worked on a farm for the past 50 years of his life and just retired last year. As long as you don't make a habit of getting completely tanked every night, I don't see the harm in 1 beer or a glass of wine


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## No Limit (Dec 6, 2005)

I don't like having hangovers though from too much drinking.


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## theEscapist (Oct 13, 2010)

I'd be a raging alcoholic if I could afford it. However, I cannot, and I'm in the same boat as you... what to do with my time?

I haven't had a drink in 9 days. I'm hoping eventually to stop counting... :eyes


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## Wrangler (Oct 3, 2010)

Guys, let me first say congrats to those of you who have stopped or limited your drinking. I know how tough it is for those of us who happen to be drawn to the bottle.

When I stopped, I dove heavily into any activity I could find that kept me busy. Reading, fishing things like that. 

Also, everytime I get an urge to have a drink (still happens from time to time) I brew a hot green tea. 

Hope these ideas maybe help you a bit. I'm not saying those exact things will work for you, but by keeping busy with things you enjoy or an alternative, it keeps your mind off the craving.

If I could stop, you can. On a "good night" I was drinking a 6 pack and at least half a bottle of beam. On a bad night, I'd sit at a bar spending as much money as I could find trying to solve my problems.


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## guyeva (Nov 10, 2010)

In the same boat here, and I've long recognized it's the boredom and loneliness that I'm drinking about. I'm not at all sure how I ended up a loner, I certainly don't want to be, that's just the way it worked out. I've tried many ways and times to connect with other people, but it seems there are very few if any that I can connect with. Past efforts got me used, ripped off, betrayed, and abandoned, so anymore I just keep to myself, and medicate myself out of boredom and loneliness with alcohol. 

I never get really drunk, I just get to the point where I don't feel the emotional emptiness and pain of being alone all the time. I really wish I had something better to do, but I don't know what it would be. I don't have a lot of options currently, and having been really poor for the last few years hasn't helped any.


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## FateFilter (Nov 12, 2010)

I recently started drinking a couple of vodka drinks in the evening to cure boredom and relax. I don't think there is anything wrong with it in moderation as long as you can keep it that way. I have a sort of built in safeguard because I get really nasty hangovers if I drink more then a couple drinks. I'm pretty thankful for it because I know I would drink a lot more if I didn't get such bad hangovers.


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## Rainbow1 (Dec 27, 2010)

OMG! Reading these posts I'm not alone! Just found this site, dont normally write things about me, but I have to say, boredom in the evenings at the end of a stressful day, means I drink to cope with the loneliness and BOREDOM...

I get up at 7am, sort the kids, drop them at school, go to work for 9. Work non-stop in a stressful job, finishing at 5. I collect the kids, we go home, I do tea, bath, bed etc and at 7, I have my first glass on wine. I watch the TV (which is better than I was a couple of years ago, where I would just sit in the kitchen and drink, not being able to face the TV or concentrate on anything!) and I go to bed at around 11 having drunk an entire bottle of wine.

Drinking helps me to levy the tolerance of being on my own (adult company!) and accept my lot. Im not a depressive person, I have a laugh at work and I love my job, which I am quite good at. But in the evening, sitting and looking at the 4 walls is only tolerable if Ive had a drink. It stops me thinking about how wrong my marriage was and the behavior of my ex-husband. I have developed a phobia, for want of a better word, to find anyone else. 

I stopped drinking for a couple of weeks when my mother came to stay, and I didnt experience any withdrawal symptoms, either. It very much is a boredom thing for me, but I want to stop, for my health. A bottle of wine a night, every night without fail, for the last 10 years (stopping only during pregnancy) is killing me, that I am sure. Trouble is, I dont know where to begin?


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

Rainbow1 said:


> OMG! Reading these posts I'm not alone! Just found this site, dont normally write things about me, but I have to say, boredom in the evenings at the end of a stressful day, means I drink to cope with the loneliness and BOREDOM...
> 
> I get up at 7am, sort the kids, drop them at school, go to work for 9. Work non-stop in a stressful job, finishing at 5. I collect the kids, we go home, I do tea, bath, bed etc and at 7, I have my first glass on wine. I watch the TV (which is better than I was a couple of years ago, where I would just sit in the kitchen and drink, not being able to face the TV or concentrate on anything!) and I go to bed at around 11 having drunk an entire bottle of wine.
> 
> ...


stop drinking can be hard, very hard. but it gets better with time, i promise. all you have to do is make it through the first stage of intense cravings which can last while i'll admit but then it gets easier and easier.


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## Slogger (Dec 14, 2010)

It could be tough to stop if you don't have a passion or ambition for something else. I drink too much on the weekends, but don't usually drink during the week because I want to go to the gym and don't like doing that with a hangover. Even so, I need to cut down during the weekend because I don't recover as fast these days, and it's starting to make me feel tired into the week as well. 

Maybe if you can quit for awhile and also try some treatments for SAD you'll start feeling ambitious about something. 

You should try to cut down though, because you can drink too much for years and feel ok, but you can be damaging your liver and not get any symptoms until your 50s or later, and then it's too late.


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## Dub16 (Feb 28, 2010)

I tend ta drink very little mid-week coz of me job. But at weekends and holidays I totally over-do it.
I use it as a crutch to get me through social situations and lessen the SA.

But its only masking the problem, not curing it.

As for the "boredom" factor. Well, I dunno. It doesnt really take away the boredom for me. It just numbs me a little and then I feel even worse the next day.

I'm startin to think its time to cut-back on it. 

But how do I explain my midnight skinny-dipping habit when I'm sober???


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## marielabete (Dec 14, 2010)

I miss the taste of drinking some good ol' wine. After meeting a psychiatrist, I found out that I'm not supposed to be drinking any wine at all because with the medication I'm taking (Effexor) I could have died. Apparently one of her clients died the next day after drinking just two coolers.

And it is a boring not being able to drink alcohol, especially during holiday season. I'd see all the wine bottles and beer, and I'd be craving for it. But it's so hard to restrain myself. Maybe I should join AA. 

And I don't know, I don't get as much as an effect as you guys. I drink, but I can't get drunk. I do like how I start feeling a bit carefree and start talking a little bit, but that all that happens, while everybody else in my family will be so drunk that I just watch them and think "WTF?!" 

Eh.


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## rockyraccoon (Dec 13, 2010)

I have never drank alone. Never. I will only drink unless I am around other people. Drinking around other people was a way for me to open up and be more social, so drinking alone doesn't make sense to me. But that's just me.


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## Wisconsin (Jan 23, 2011)

*Same here*

I've been going out and drinking, or just sitting in at night. I am pretty normal all day doing my job and then I get done working and there is nothing. Almost nothing interests me, nothing at all... I wouldn't cross the street to see the Superbowl, nor take a free trip on a vacation somewhere. I go back to my place and it is either stare at a wall or drink... Weekends are the worst.. Nothing seems worth doing. I know I can do this for ever or my liver will give out.. I am wondering if anyone that quit drinking found life interesting. I never really considered life that interesting so I don't think I can re-find life interesting again..


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## Wisconsin (Jan 23, 2011)

I totally understand this i can't stand doing nothing and nothing gives me any satisfaction. Watching tv, a movie, whatever I always feel I should be doing something else more productive like it is just a distraction to the problems of boredom and lonliness.


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## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

Yeah, I can relate. Drinking makes you dumb and dumb feels good to me.


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## DaedalEVE (Dec 2, 2010)

Never been one for drinking much, but I used to have a drink all the time when I went out to meet friends (when I had them). It really took the edge off. Now I find that I like to have something in most social situations. 
This past Christmas/New Years though... I was drinking a lot because I was home alone and depressed. 
In general I don't do that because of the calories. My depression is fighting with my eating disorder, and the ED is winning! :boogie


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## Yozo (Nov 19, 2010)

candy is dandy but liquor is quicker...as the saying goes.


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## Funny (Jun 25, 2013)

I realise that this is probably at least a year and a half out of date for this thread; but I drink because I'm bored.

I'm a 22 year old, first-year-student in the UK but boredom is the main thing that keeps me drinking. At this moment there are 3 people out of 15 in my flat and I need something to keep my mind busy.

I've tried to keep myself occupied with the gym (I go for at least an hour a day, to keep myself occupied) but I still spend the rest of my day watching films to stave of the urge to drink.

Normally I can resist, but sometimes, like today I just need a beer to make it worth it. I'm not sure if I actually have an alcohol problem but it would be nice to know if I have something to fight against.


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## noscreenname (Feb 24, 2013)

I could have written this. The part I find the hardest is you start thinking how much more enjoyable anything you do will be with a few drinks in you... 

This totally depends on the individual but I think the first few weeks is the hardest then it gets easier and easier. If you can't do it on your own then you might try AA, I mean if you really feel it is effecting your life that badly. 

I had great success with diet and exercise until resulting health problems left me unable to and I find myself reaching for drink again to deal with the resulting stress and depression.


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