Why You Should Try Dry January

Key takeaways

• Dry January began in the UK in 2013 and has grown into a global movement, with more people trying an alcohol-free month each year, including in Australia.
• Current NHMRC guidelines recommend no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 on any single day, for men and women alike.
• A month off alcohol has been linked to measurable improvements in blood pressure, liver function, sleep, and weight, in some cases within four weeks.
• University of Sussex research found that people who complete Dry January often keep drinking less six months later, with a stronger sense of control over their choices.
• If you’ve been drinking heavily, stopping suddenly can be unsafe. Medically supervised support is available if you need to detox properly.

The concept of a “Dry January” has developed into an annual tradition for many people, so why don’t you give it a try?

Motivation for going alcohol-free for the first month of the year is driven by many things. For example, some people use it as part of a New Year’s resolution to drink less, while others consider January a way to detox from an overindulgent Christmas holiday period.

Alcohol consumption remains a significant part of Australian life, and it’s worth taking stock of the effects it has on individuals, families and the community more broadly. The most recent National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that around one in three Australians aged 14 and over, roughly 6.6 million people, are drinking in ways that put their health at risk, and in Queensland, more than a third of adults exceed the national drinking guideline. If you’ve noticed your own drinking habits have crept up in recent years and haven’t come back down, Dry January can be a useful way to find out.

The “Dry January” challenge is often marketed as a way to improve health. The benefits of being sober are THAT compelling that undertaking a “Dry January” could be a good start to adopting a sober lifestyle on a permanent basis.

The health benefits of going without alcohol

Your general health will improve

It’s been well documented that excessive drinking (defined by more than one standard drink per day for women and two for men) is associated with negative health effects such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, not to mention increased risk for diseases such as certain cancers, heart disease and liver problems.

The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends that adults have no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than four on any one day to reduce the risk of alcohol-related harm. A study published in BMJ Open also found that just four weeks of abstinence led to measurable drops in blood pressure and liver enzyme levels, along with reductions in markers linked to cancer risk.

You will sleep better and feel more energetic

Contrary to popular opinion, drinking alcohol can mess with sleeping patterns, which in turn affects energy levels throughout the day. Alcohol might help you drift off initially, but it disrupts the second half of the night’s sleep, cutting into the deep, restorative stages that leave you feeling properly rested.

The benefits of taking a break are commonly reported, too. In a survey of more than 6,000 Dry January participants, 70% said they slept better, 67% noticed better concentration, and 66% reported having more energy.

You may lose weight if that is a goal

One gram of alcohol contains seven calories. A couple of glasses of alcohol can add significant caloric intake in addition to food and may make it easier to gain weight. Conversely, removing alcohol from your life may make it easier to lose weight, particularly in tandem with the increased feelings of energy that also occur. University of Sussex research into Dry January participants found that around three in five reported losing weight over the month, often without changing anything else about their diet.

You may improve your immunity and resistance to illness

The USA’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism states that excessive alcohol intake can suppress our immune system response. According to the Institute, one evening of heavy drinking can impede the effectiveness of our immune systems. While having a depressed immune system is undesirable at the best of times, it leaves you more open to common colds, flu and other illnesses that circulate throughout the year. Giving your body a longer break from alcohol allows this immune response to recover, which may be part of why people often report getting sick less once they’ve cut back.

You may change your relationship with yourself and others

Being alcohol-free can have a marked impact on the relationship you have with yourself. You may experience improvements in your mental clarity and your ability to problem solve usually complex tasks. Your feelings and emotions may be sharper – which can often lead to a greater ability to re-evaluate where you are headed in life. The effects may last well beyond the month itself, with research finding that Dry January participants still felt more in control of their drinking six months later, even if they had started drinking again. For some, that greater awareness can also make it easier to avoid slipping straight back into old drinking habits.

Your relationships with others may improve because without alcohol, you can be more present and engaged. You may find that you become more tolerant of and less reactive towards others, due to an improved ability to think clearly and rationally.

You WILL improve your mental health

Think about some of the narratives around drinking alcohol. People drink for a multitude of reasons, for example, to celebrate an event. Yet people also drink to numb emotional pain and to change their mood. Removing alcohol from your life, whether in January or beyond, can propel you to take better care of your mental health and allow you to better experience your emotions in a healthy way.

If you are using alcohol to block out emotional pain or make difficult feelings easier to manage, it may be worth talking to a mental health professional. Hader Clinic Queensland can support you with this.

And if drinking is starting to feel less like a choice, or you are finding it harder to stop or cut back, it may help to learn more about the signs of alcohol dependence. Recognising what is happening early can make it much easier to find the right support.

It’s time to change the narrative around alcohol, and seek help if you need it.

Clever marketing has portrayed drinking alcohol as a desirable trait; however, from a health perspective, this narrative is completely false and potentially fatal for susceptible individuals.

Hader Clinic Queensland is glad to see more people trying a Dry January each year, for whatever reason brings them to it. It doesn’t need to run the full month to be worthwhile. Even short-term abstinence tends to leave people with a clearer sense of how it was fitting into their life, and what, if anything, they’d like to change from here.

For some people, that reflection turns up something more than a habit. If that sounds familiar, for you or someone you care about, our alcohol addiction treatment program is there to help make sense of it, in a confidential and unhurried way.

If you’ve been drinking heavily for a while, it’s worth knowing that stopping suddenly isn’t always safe. Alcohol withdrawal can bring on serious symptoms, including seizures, which is why medical supervision matters so much here. Hader Clinic Queensland Private Hospital provides medically supervised detox from alcohol and other drugs, so stepping away from alcohol can happen safely, with people on hand who understand what your body is going through.

Available support services

For immediate advice, Australians can contact the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline (1800 250 015), a free and confidential service providing counselling, information and referrals to local support services.

In urgent situations, Lifeline (13 11 14) or Alcohol Drug Information Service (ADIS) (1800 177 833) are both available 24 hours a day for emotional crisis support.

If you or someone you care about has questions about their drinking patterns, you don’t need to wait for things to reach a crisis point before reaching out. A single conversation can help make sense of where things stand and what your options might look like.

Call for a confidential chat

Dr Mel Symon

Director, Hader Group QLD

Dr Mel Symon is the Director of Hader Group QLD, leading both Hader Clinic Queensland and Hader Clinic Queensland Private. With more than 30 years of experience in human services and over 20 years as a founder and business leader, Mel has played a central role in establishing and growing Queensland’s leading addiction treatment services.

Mel holds a PhD in Addiction Treatment from the University of Queensland, along with a Master of Mental Health, Master of Professional Management, and a Bachelor of Social Science. Since 2016, she has overseen the development of the 40-bed Hader Clinic Queensland residential rehabilitation program and, in 2021, the creation and opening of the 25-bed Hader Clinic Queensland Private Hospital.

Passionate about lifelong recovery, Mel is dedicated to evidence-based care, meaningful change, and supporting individuals to rebuild their lives through sustainable recovery pathways.

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