🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
I have been a psychiatrist for over 40 years. I worked as a consultant for the United Kingdom's National Health Service until 2002, and have subsequently been the lead addiction consultant and a general adult psychiatrist at The Priory Roehampton, a private mental healthcare facility in south-west London for the last two decades.
My patients are aged 18 and over and typically belong to higher socio-economic groups; around half of them have private medical plans, while the others are self-paid. In terms of addiction, around 85 percent of the work I do is related to alcohol. Many of my clients with depression often have an underlying alcohol problem, which they don't initially disclose but emerges as time goes on.
In January, I tend to see an uptick in patients who have been admitted due to alcohol dependence. Perhaps they have over-indulged during the holiday season or there have been consequences to their drinking over the Christmas period.
Many countries take part in "Dry January", a campaign which encourages people to give up alcohol for one month. In my view, taking a break from alcohol for four weeks is very psychologically beneficial, because it allows people to focus their minds on their relationship with alcohol.
Often, people drink because they're stressed or anxious, and they think alcohol provides an instant cure. Of course, not everyone who drinks has a problem, but a break from alcohol can allow people to consider how much they're drinking and why. It usually takes a month to see the benefits of stopping, but in my experience they become apparent relatively quickly.
What alcohol can do to the body
Alcohol's two main breakdown products are acetaldehyde and ethanoic acid. Those byproducts are toxic to all tissues of the human body; however, we are able to metabolize a small amount of them.
So, while we can metabolize around a unit of alcohol an hour, if you drink a lot, everyday, your body has to rid your system of those toxins. If you overload the liver, you have more of those toxins inside your body, which can damage the liver itself, your brain, your stomach, your heart and your pancreas.
These things tend to happen silently. For example, damaging your liver is like scratching the back of your hand with your nail constantly until you break the skin. You can drink for years and years until eventually your liver starts to become inflamed, without any pain, which silently proceeds to fatty liver disease and then to cirrhosis.
Typically, my patients have abnormal liver function. It takes a large amount of alcohol for this to occur and once it does, a person could live 20-30 years normally before the liver stops functioning correctly. Then, the liver will become more and more abnormal, unless you stop drinking completely. In my opinion, abnormal liver function is a sign to stop drinking completely, immediately.
Additionally, your gastrointestinal tract or stomach does not react well to alcohol, so drinking can increase your chance of developing ulcers, which can perforate and cause gastritis. Alcohol can also cause an increase in blood pressure, particularly if you are struggling everyday to detoxify yourself. So along with feeling bad, you are putting yourself at further risk of a cardiac event or a stroke, particularly as you get older.
I have a number of patients who come to me on anti-acid drugs, antidepressants and blood pressure lowering drugs, but when they stop drinking they don't need any of them. Very often, people presenting to general practitioners with common conditions will not tell their doctor they are drinking two bottles of wine a day. So their symptoms are addressed, but not the cause.
What happens when you give up alcohol for a month
Week one: Increased energy, reduced calories, better sleep
Once you stop drinking, the alcohol leaves your system quite quickly. This means, depending on the physical state of your liver, that you gradually start to feel better. As the week progresses, you usually have more energy because your liver is not struggling to recover every single day. Your energy will be devoted to getting you going, as opposed to recovering from alcohol.
Your sleeping pattern tends to improve because alcohol is a sedative, but it has a very short half-life. So even if you are incredibly inebriated and fall asleep, it's likely you'll wake up at some point in the night and experience rebound insomnia.
While you won't start to lose weight immediately, you may gradually notice a change in your body. Usually there's a similar number of calories, all of which are empty and primarily made up of sugar, in wine or beer as there is in semi-skimmed milk or orange juice.
Usually, when people drink large quantities of alcohol, they either don't eat very much or don't eat healthy food. So, going sober may encourage you to improve your diet. In my eyes, it's better to take an overall approach to your health and combine going sober with a good diet.
Week two: Better brain function and lower blood pressure
By week two, it's likely you'll feel less foggy. If your body isn't recovering from alcohol everyday, you'll be able to concentrate more, notice an improvement in your memory and increase your overall function at work and at home.
Sleep is related to your brain function, so your sleeping pattern should continue to improve. It's likely you'll feel better physically overall because your liver is not struggling to break down alcohol and can focus on the other jobs it has to do
Studies have shown that after a couple of weeks sober, you start to reduce the damage to your brain and your blood vessels. It's also likely you'll want to do more exercise because you're less physically tired, which will also help your sleeping pattern and mental health.
While you're unlikely to notice, unless it is excessively high, your blood pressure will decrease. For example, patients of all ages who come to us drinking heavily have exceedingly high blood pressure. Even if they're on a detox plan with a significant amount of tranquilizers, their levels can be up to 170. Giving up alcohol can bring these levels down within a few weeks.
Week three to four: Better skin, reduced anxiety, improved mood
Anecdotal evidence suggests the effects of a detox from alcohol are gradual over the entire four-week process; so there's not a set timeline for each to kick in at one time.
Throughout the period your mood is likely to improve. Alcohol is a depressant and while it's unclear whether the mental health conditions of my patients are related to the direct effect of alcohol or the shame and guilt which can be connected with it, often they find that after detoxing they no longer need to take medication for their conditions.
While drinking, a huge number of my patients would experience anxiety in the morning. Often they would have panic attacks trying to get on the train or bus. However, after detoxing, they no longer had that anxiety associated with the withdrawal from alcohol.
Often people have more sex, and enjoy it more, when they're sober. Alcohol interferes with your ability to feel sexual stimulation and can delay orgasms. People may notice they have more energy, so sexual function can be improved by stopping drinking. Usually your skin improves after detoxing. Heavy drinkers usually have tell-tale signs; they often look red-faced or puffy with bags under their eyes.
Overall, I believe having a short-term break from alcohol is beneficial as it can allow people to consider how much they drink: how many units they consume, how frequently and the volume of alcohol in their drink. But, more than that, it makes people consider the consequences of their drinking to their physical and mental health.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Niall Campbell, of Priory's Roehampton Hospital in south west London, is one of the UK's leading alcohol addiction experts.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
As told to Newsweek editor, Monica Greep.
Do you have a unique experience or personal story to share? Email the My Turn team at myturn@newsweek.com
