Before Dry January, "heavy alcohol drinkers are often in denial"

• Each year, Dry January, or sober January, has more and more followers, who play the game of not drinking alcohol for a month.

• The opportunity for those who embark on this challenge to take stock of their alcohol consumption.

• And, possibly, at the end of its Dry January, to set up a more reasoned consumption.

Not a drop.

The last vapors of New Year's alcohol barely evaporated, many are those who have embarked on Dry January, or sober January.

The objective of this challenge, which has more and more followers every year: not to drink alcohol for a month, take stock of your consumption and possibly, in the process, try to move on to a more reasoned.

But how do you know if you're drinking too much?

What elements can promote awareness?

And above all, how can we learn from this experience of a month without alcohol?

Detect problematic consumption

So, are you drinking sensibly?

According to the latest recommendations from Public Health France, the limit is clear: “do not consume more than ten standard drinks per week, i.e. no more than two glasses of alcohol per day, and no more than five days out of seven”.

A standard drink, recalls the Health Insurance, “contains 10 grams of pure alcohol”.

It will therefore not contain the same quantity of drink depending on whether it is wine, beer or spirits.

“The absorbed quantities of alcohol are obviously a determining point, reminds

Professor Bernard Granger, head of the psychiatry and addictology unit at Cochin hospital in Paris.

However, for many, these quantities are very quickly reached, and exceeded, without being aware that this can be problematic.

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In addition to the quantity and frequency of consumption, “we must also analyze his freedom to abstain from drinking, underlines Professor Granger.

It is the loss of this freedom that defines addiction: if you say to yourself "today I don't drink" and you can't do it, even if you have the impression of not having drunk in large quantity, it is already a sign of dependence and a risk of escalation towards greater consumption”.

In addition, a significant occasional alcoholization (API), or binge drinking, is also dangerous.

According to the High Authority for Health (HAS), “binge drinking can be defined as the consumption of at least 6 glasses of alcohol (i.e. 60 g of pure alcohol) per occasion”.

A hold that can even be absorbed in just two hours, by other definitions.

A massive phenomenon, since according to a survey by the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), 44% of 17-year-olds declared in 2017 at least one API in the month.

"APIs that are harmful to the central nervous system, neurons or even the liver, whereas these are unfortunately very widespread social behaviors", warns Professor Granger.

Support awareness

However, whether you have a significant repeated or occasional consumption of alcohol, becoming aware of it is not easy.

"There is a lot of denial in people who drink," observes the psychiatrist specializing in addiction.

And Dry January offers a time to talk seriously and without judgment about alcohol, the limits not to cross and the health benefits of sobriety.

This is the perfect opportunity to realize that it is actually very difficult not to drink, and that we are dependent.

An opportunity all the more precious that “often, the entourage does not dare to speak about it, it is delicate”, continues Professor Granger.

In his eyes, treating physicians do not have the reflex to question their patients about their relationship to alcohol.

And when they do, it is still necessary to know how to detect problematic consumption.

“When you ask the patient the question, they will often answer that they drink like everyone else,” continues the practitioner.

But if you dig, some will answer that they have a drink or two after work, then several during dinner, and much more on weekends.

If the denial is stubborn, doctors may prescribe additional tests, which may reveal biological signs of excessive consumption, for example liver abnormalities.

Other physical signs such as redness and swelling in the face, or sleep disturbances are also clues.

"There, the patient becomes aware of the effects of alcohol intake on his body," insists Professor Granger.

Measure your efforts and do not drink again from February 1

On the other hand, following this month without alcohol can quickly have beneficial effects: "we find better quality sleep, we have clearer ideas, with improved memory and concentration faculties, less anxiety", describes Professor Granger.

Weight loss can also be seen, because alcohol contains a lot of sugar, which then turns into fat in the body, as well as better constants, and a healthier liver.

But at the end of this sober month, how can you avoid catching up on your consumption from February 1 and falling back into excessive alcohol consumption?

So that Dry January is not just a simple parenthesis, "it must be experienced as a test to move towards longer changes", recommends Professor Granger.

So at the end of this month, the ideal is to start by taking stock of your experience: did you hold on or not?

Why ?

This allows for a reflection that is not placed in immediacy.

"If you really want to start a change, it's easier to have this approach of small steps that allows Dry January, with a horizon of one month of abstinence, insists the practitioner.

It's short enough to challenge yourself and prepare to be more abstinent or more reasonable in the long run afterwards”.

And like the apps that accompany quitting smoking and tell you the number of cigarettes you have not smoked, it is possible during Dry January to download similar tools, which will tell you the number of glasses you have will not have drunk.

“Anything that allows you to analyze your consumption is important, agrees Professor Granger, whether it is the money saved, because alcohol is expensive, or the number of grams of pure alcohol that you have. spared his body!

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• Dry January

• Alcohol

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