Table of Contents
Benefits of Sobriety
Giving up alcohol has countless positive effects on your physical and mental health. When you’re ready to stop drinking you will notice a number of changes over the days and weeks following your last drink – from improved sleep and lowered blood pressure in the short-term, to other crucial long-term health benefits for your body.
You’ll begin to feel your body healing and bouncing back
Being alcohol-free for one week, you might start to see changes on the surface; no hangover, more energy, and better skin. But how is your body responding? Is your mental health improving?
- Day 1: Your body eliminates alcohol from your system at the rate of a unit per hour
- Days 2-3: You may feel under the weather as dopamine (a mood-enhancing chemical) is depleted, and your body works to replace glycogen and other minerals. Sleeping might be tricky, too, as you will not be drinking to send you off.
- Day 4-7: Your body’s systems are back to their normal working levels – you will have better concentration and more energy. You can also expect better quality sleep and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed.
Better Sleep
Being sober from alcohol in just one week will see dreaming return. When you drink, REM sleep is suppressed, which might describe why you feel so tired after a night of drinking.
When your dreams begin to reappear, they’ll likely be more vivid and lucid, caused by increased rapid eye movement.
Improved Mental Health
Alcohol can lead to depression and anxiety, these feelings won’t immediately go away after you give up drinking, but you will be able to properly address them during therapy sessions.
Losing Weight
Alcohol contains empty calories, a pint of lager contains the same number of calories as a slice of pizza, if you’re overweight and regularly drink alcohol, it is likely that you will notice you lose weight after you stop drinking. If you start drinking again you will notice your weight starting to increase again.
Better Skin
Alcohol dehydrates the skin and can lead to acne and rosacea. After you give up drinking you will notice positive benefits to the quality of your skin.
Safe Detoxification from Drugs & Alcohol
Going to rehab like Smarmore Castle to recover from alcoholism means you will not only build a stable path to sobriety but be able to build bridges with your nearest and dearest.
Enjoy Emotional Freedom
Alcoholism is an illness of hiding, shame, and isolation. Coming into treatment is a discovery that you are not alone; you are in fact, one of a growing number in Ireland who has the courage to face their demons and recover from alcoholism.
It is about a life worth living.
Alcohol rehab is not just about getting sober; it’s about healing, rebuilding, and learning to cope with whatever life throws at you without the need for other substances.
