To some students, college is synonymous with partying, and partying is synonymous with drinking. Alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained into college culture; it’s used to celebrate events like birthdays or the arrival of a weekend, but it’s also used to commiserate hardships, like going through a break-up or getting a bad grade.
Even in the age of COVID-19 when large social gatherings are less frequent, 18-39 year olds were the most likely age group to report an increase in alcohol consumption since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a study published in Preventative Medicine. It seems that kickbacks have transitioned to virtual happy hour, and that our cultural dependence on alcohol to have a good time is still going strong.
I was one of those people whose alcohol consumption increased since March. Suddenly, I was stuck in my house, bored, looking for a way to break up my day. I couldn’t hang out with my friends to have fun, so I opened a bottle of wine and watched Netflix. My partner and I couldn’t go out to dinner and a movie, so we made a night (many nights) out of drinking cocktails and making dinner together.
After going through several bottles of wine to “cope” with the stress of finals and a lot of other booze to “celebrate” the holidays in the weeks after, my partner and I both realized that the role of alcohol in our lives was much too invasive.
Could we have fun without it? Was alcohol impeding our personal lives and our relationship? We decided to find out by doing “Dry January,” in which we give up alcohol for the month. Here is what I learned by the end of the month:
1. Alcohol did not actually help me relax.
It came as somewhat of a surprise for me that I didn’t feel more stressed after quitting, because I previously viewed a couple glasses of red wine at night as a key to unwinding. However, I learned that consuming alcohol actually only makes the body feel relaxed for a few minutes and then releases cortisol, the chemical that makes humans feel stressed.
2. The physical and mental effects of not consuming alcohol were more significant than I had imagined.
Even though I rarely binge drank, I underestimated how much regularly consuming alcohol affected my body. In January, I found that I was less fatigued and woke up feeling much more refreshed than I used to on a daily basis. My focus improved, and I noticed a greater ability to manage my emotions.
3. Just because I’m not an alcoholic doesn’t mean my relationship with alcohol needs to go unexamined.
I knew that I did not have a physical dependence on alcohol before attempting Dry January. I was not secretly drinking, blacking out regularly, craving alcohol in the daytime or experiencing any of the classic symptoms of alcoholism. However, I did treat alcohol as an automatic way to relax or have fun, which wasn’t healthy for me mentally, emotionally or physically. It was important for me to take a period of time to see how this substance impacted my life so I didn’t become increasingly dependent on it.
I would encourage everyone I know to go sober for a month, especially college students who drink regularly. We think the effects of college drinking are temporary, however, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, roughly 9% of college students meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder, which can have life-long implications.
In December 2020, beloved comedian John Mulaney entered rehab for cocaine and alcohol addiction. Throughout his career, he’s been open about his extreme habits in his adolescence that led him to choose sobriety at 23 years old. Over a decade later, he is still struggling with substance abuse, exemplifying that our behavior in college can impact us long after graduation.
Of course, total sobriety might not be the answer for everyone. I’m not sure if I will go back to drinking this month, but if I do, I am going to make sure I am conscious of the place alcohol has in my life.
