There are many benefits of sobriety, some more obvious than others. Reducing shame, hangover-free mornings, and a clear head every day are all easy incentives. However, the psychological and physical benefits of sobriety go even deeper. 

Sobriety can help improve damaged relationships and boosts patients’ motivation and self-efficacy. Their desires eventually change to ward them away from alcohol and the situations that led them to drink. They take fewer risks, spend less money, and can even reduce their chances of suffering a heart attack. 

1. Reduced Chronic Health Risk

Quitting alcohol lowers cholesterol and reduces blood pressure, which puts thousands of Americans at risk of heart disease. Constant drinking also strains the liver and reducing alcohol intake drastically decreases the damage to the liver and liver disease. 

2. Healthier Weight 

Alcohol’s high in calories. Four light beers, on their own, are 20 percent of the average 2,000-calorie diet. Sugary liqueurs and cocktails are even higher in nutrient-poor calories than beer. You remove hundreds of calories from your daily intake when you cut out binge drinking (2-5 drinks in a few hours). This lifestyle change leads to significant weight loss and its many associated benefits. 

3. Faster Recovery 

Chemically, alcohol is a form of poison. Fighting that poison takes resources that your body puts to better use elsewhere when you quit drinking. Sobriety boosts the immune system and makes exercise more effective compared to chronic drinkers. It also prevents several dangerous surgical complications which are common to people who overdrink such as issues with anesthesia or medications and increases risk of infection. 

4. Reduced Risk-Taking 

Alcohol impairs judgement. Heavy drinkers give themselves many opportunities to make poor decisions with lasting consequences: 

• Impaired driving
• Unsafe sex
• Irresponsible spending

You won’t suddenly wake up sober and have good judgement—developing risk assessment still takes work—but sobriety will allow you to make better decisions with a clear head.

5. Changing Tastes  

The flavor of alcohol polarizes everyone. Some love it. Others hate it and some hate that they can’t stop drinking it. When the brain heals and learns to overcome its compulsions, it may come to associate the smell and taste of alcohol with the painful experiences that first drove you to sobriety. This powerful revulsion will help you stay sober even in difficult times. 

6. Better Mental and Emotional Health 

Addiction and mental illness accompany each other so often that the medical community has a shorthand for their co-occurrence: dual diagnosis. Many people with substance use disorder consume drugs or alcohol to cope with their symptoms, while others develop these brain diseases thanks to the consequences of life under the influence. Patients with both substance use disorder and a mood disorder should always seek “dual diagnosis” treatment for both conditions to maximize treatment efficacy. 

7. Effortless Self-Care 

When intoxicated, alcohol reduces inhibitions. Severe hangovers make basic life functions—eating, working, or thinking—difficult. Even though they’ll help you feel better, involved self-care techniques like healthy eating and exercise become next to impossible. 

Sobriety resets the mind. A clear head lets you consider how you’ll care for yourself with constructive activities rather than default to destructive, and easy, drinking. 

8. Happier Relationships 

Addictive behavior drives loved ones away. Breaches of trust, manipulative behavior, theft, and other grievous mistakes erode your support network when you need them most. Getting sober removes those behaviors, preventing further damage. It then offers acceptable justification to reach out and work to make amends, and involve frustrated loved ones in the recovery process.  

9. Improved Workplace Performance 

Sober people don’t come in late with a hangover, risk others’ safety in the workplace, or call their boss in the early hours of the morning to rant about the last week. They do show up to work on time, retain training, and focus better in the workplace. You, not your sobriety, determine your attitude—but it can’t hurt. 

10. Reduced Spending 

Alcohol costs more than many other foods and drinks, especially at restaurants. A commitment to sobriety puts every dollar spent on alcohol back in your pocket, which saves money. 

Chronic drinking has other, indirect costs. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and weakens impulse control, which makes spur-of-the-moment purchases too easy. Buying a round of drinks for the table can cost hundreds of dollars at once, and online shipping sprees deliver expensive items you neither want nor need while sober. Consider the cost of medical care when suffering chronic conditions caused by drinking. 

These expenses add up and don’t go away. People with substance use disorder are twice as likely to find themselves in debt than sober people. Going sober and paying off this debt reduces stress, bolsters personal cashflow, and leads to new financial opportunities. 

11. Increased Motivation

The human psyche is always in motion. Once it starts down one path it’s easier to stay on that path than to change course. Sobriety is one of the hardest courses to correct. Once you achieve lasting sobriety, you put yourself on a path to other successes. 

Success feels good, and drives us to continue succeeding (the same pleasure circuit that addiction hijacks). Your success in sobriety will motivate you to succeed in other areas—such as fitness, finances, or your career. As successes and lessons accumulate, motivation and self -esteem grow. 

12. Growing Self-Awareness 

Alcohol drowns negative emotions, which is why many people with alcohol-related substance use disorder also suffer from mood disorders. When you go sober, you stop using alcohol as a coping mechanism. You’re forced to confront and overcome your painful emotions, granting you a deeper understanding of yourself and why you feel the way that you do.  

13. Easier-to-Maintain Sobriety 

Deciding to get sober is hard. Staying sober, in early days, is hard. But the fight for sobriety makes sobriety easier later. 

Your success feedback loop and better understanding of why you drink or use recreational drugs helps you stay sober. When you name, identify, and defeat the issue, you no longer need alcohol as a coping mechanism. 

When you understand yourself and your habits, you make plans to defeat them. When you spend less, you make life less stressful, reducing reasons to drink. When you take fewer risks and take care of yourself, you feel better each day. 

Never Alone Recovery Guides Patients to Their Sober Future 

Sobriety is worth it. But it’s hard to achieve alone. It’s hard to achieve with the help of friends and family. It’s hard to achieve even with the Never Alone program. But it’s certainly easier with its resources. 

Try this Indiana rehab program’s online support group, or ask their addiction recovery consultants for help finding an insurance-approved rehab program. You won’t get all the benefits of sobriety from a single phone call to Never Alone, but it’s the first step on a lifelong journey with many benefits along the path.