Welcome to the home of CLUB SODA’S COURSES TO CHANGE YOUR DRINKING

Alcohol as a comfort or reward

When do you think it was that we switched from thinking a day out, praise, sweets or a toy were a reward, and instead just seeing one thing, alcohol, as being our only comfort or reward?

None of us can really remember. It is partly because we are taught that successfully becoming a grown-up is all about alcohol. Drinking is something that society teaches us to use to celebrate (and commiserate). As we saw earlier, over time our drinking becomes habitual, part of our routines.

Wine or beer becomes something we deserve, ‘me time’, a reward for a good day, a hard day, a stressful day. It becomes a coping strategy to wipe away difficult days. It is hardwired. It is hard to unpick.

Over the holidays the idea of alcohol as a reward, comfort or celebration is ever present. So now is the time to reassess your rewards. 

It will be an ongoing personal experiment, even years after going alcohol-free some people may still feel they are denying themselves a reward, or feel that they deserve to have alcohol. But the reality is, we don’t. We have just been trained that way. Rewarding ourselves with alcohol is a learnt behaviour.

In much the same way comforting and soothing ourselves is also a learnt behaviour. Again, at some point probably none of us can remember, we also started seeing alcohol as the only way we can soothe ourselves. And even if we do reach out to friends, partners, family etc we often combine the reaching out with alcohol. because we still deserve it to destress, and we go out for a drink, or have a glass at home as we talk on the phone to someone.

But guess what. People who have never drunk alcohol in their lives also have difficult days. They navigate the roller coaster of daily life without alcohol as a coping strategy.

How?