Five immediate benefits of going sober
We all know that drinking too much alcohol or drinking too often is bad for our physical and mental health. Many people are beginning to cut back or even cut alcohol out completely. But what are the immediate effects of stopping drinking? Here, I explore five common health benefits of going sober.
Cutting back on alcohol, or giving up completely, can improve your overall health and wellbeing. Here are five benefits you might expect to see shortly after changing your drinking habits.
1. Better sleep
Drinking alcohol can reduce our quality of sleep. You might notice you still feel tired when waking up after a night of drinking and find it hard to get out of bed. This is because alcohol disrupts the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of our sleep cycle. Disrupted sleep can also make it harder to concentrate throughout the day.
Improved sleep can be one of the most immediate benefits of going sober. Without alcohol in your system, you’re likely to have longer, more high-quality sleep. This can help you to feel rested and alert the next day. Getting a good night’s sleep is also important for boosting your mental health.
2. Improved mental health
You might feel more relaxed or in a better mood after a drink or two. But alcohol interferes with the chemicals in your brain that help to maintain good mental health.
Drinking alcohol can contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression. Drinking can also cause a hangover the following day, where you might feel anxious and unwell. This is also likely to have a negative impact on your mental health.
Stopping drinking can reduce anxiety and depression. You might find it easier to deal with feelings of stress when you go sober. Without experiencing regular hangovers, you’ll have less anxiety and an improved mood.
Some people might develop an alcohol dependence if they use alcohol to deal with existing mental health conditions. This can lead them to drink more, which will in turn make symptoms worse. If you’re struggling with your mental health, seek professional help from your GP. They’ll be able to provide treatment, so you don’t need to rely on alcohol.
3. Improved physical health
It’s not just your mental health that benefits from cutting out alcohol. Your physical health can improve in the first few weeks of going sober. You might:
- reduce your blood pressure
- have lower blood sugar
- reduce fatty build up around your liver
- experience fewer headaches or gastrointestinal (digestive) problems
- have weight loss
Some of these effects can be essential to improving your physical health. For example, cutting out alcohol can help you maintain a healthy weight. Alcohol contains empty calories and can increase the amount of fat your body stores, without providing any nutritional value.
Reducing your alcohol consumption can also lower your blood pressure and prevent a build-up of cholesterol (a type of fat made by the liver), by helping the liver to function properly.
4. Better skin
When you drink alcohol, your body becomes dehydrated, and this includes your skin. Your skin might look dull, dry or puffy. Drinking less can improve your skin, making it look brighter, plumper and reducing the appearance of wrinkles.
Cutting out alcohol can also improve existing skin conditions, such as psoriasis (dry, flaky skin) and rosacea (redness or facial flushing).
5. More energy
We’ve learnt that cutting back on alcohol can improve our sleep quality, our mental health, and prevent the sluggishness we feel when we’re hungover. This can help us to feel more energised throughout the day.
Having higher energy levels can help us be more productive and achieve the thing’s we’d like to do. This might include sticking to a regular exercise routine, pursuing our hobbies or being more productive at work. Having more energy and an improved mood can benefit our overall health and wellbeing.
Going sober has multiple immediate benefits for your physical and mental health. If you’re finding it difficult to cut back how much you’re drinking, speak to your GP. You can also find support online at Drinkaware or Alcohol Change UK.
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Sources Sources
- Benefits of cutting down or giving up alcohol. HSE. Hse.ie, reviewed September 2022
- What to expect when you stop drinking. Drinkaware. Drinkaware.co.uk, reviewed November 2021
- Alcohol, mental health and the brain. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Rcpsych.ac.uk, published February 2024
- Alcohol, mental health and the brain. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Rcpsych.ac.uk, published February 2024
- Alcohol. Heart UK. Heartuk.co.uk, accessed March 2025
- How alcohol affects your appearance. Drinkaware. Drinkaware.co.uk, reviewed November 2022
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