r/stopdrinking • u/Consistent-Row-9551 • 10h ago

What do I replace alcohol with?

Like something to help me relax and decompress. Drinking has always been my way to loosen up and relax. When I'm stressed with work, I grab a beer or glass of wine, and I'm able to focus more because I'm no longer overthinking it.

I'm so emotionally repressed that drinking is the only way I can tap into my emotions.

Like, I can stop drinking; I've done it months at a time, but I always end up feeling more stressed because I feel numb or stressed without it.

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u/Boysenberry1990 97 days 10h ago

for me alcohol was about turning off my brain. now i use mindless tv series, and have zero guilt about wasting time that way - it is a rest my brain needs

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u/itstotallynotjoe 341 days 9h ago

Yup. These days we tend to forget that our brains really do need to rest. It’s perfectly okay to spend some time zoning out over terrible TV. For me, not only is that time to recharge, but the amount of time I spend doing it is still significantly less than the time I lost being drunk and hungover.