We have all told ourselves these lies about alcohol at some point.

Maybe you're not waiting for it, but I'm just checking in on how your New Year's resolutions are going. Do you remember that on January 1 you swore that you would take it a bit easier with alcohol for a while? Or maybe you made a promise to yourself to participate in Dry January. It's completely understandable that this good intention is already in jeopardy now that the New Year's hangover is slowly fading away (why do those hangovers nowadays last at least three working days?) and the New Year's parties are approaching. Personally, I can always come up with a reason to pour myself a glass of wine. It's a kind of superpower. Comments like: ‘oh, it's just nice’, ‘we have something to celebrate’ or ‘I really need to relax’ often slip out of my mouth.

Of course, those statements do not help in reducing your alcohol consumption, and there are many more myths surrounding alcohol consumption that I will gladly debunk for you to help you stay sober and successfully reach the finish line of your good intentions.

1. Alcohol helps you sleep
Although it may seem like you fall asleep more easily after a few glasses of alcohol, alcohol is anything but good for your sleep. Drinking alcohol prevents you from entering deep sleep, which is why you wake up in the middle of the night feeling groggy, overheated, and dehydrated. And before you come up with the excuse ‘one drink is fine’: research shows that even one drink is enough to disrupt your sleep. So put that bottle back quickly.

2. Alcohol works relaxing
Admittedly: I always say this myself too. Unfortunately, it turns out to be nothing less than true. Although alcohol initially has a calming effect because it affects the same areas in your brain as when you use calming medications, its use the next day can actually cause more tension. If those same areas in your brain notice the next day that no calming substances are being used anymore, it can lead to psychological complaints such as stress, worrying, and nervousness.

3. Alcohol makes your life more interesting
Come on: alcohol often seems to make everything more fun. It makes you feel like a better dancer in your head, you suddenly speak a decent word across the border, and for a moment you feel like the most desirable woman in the city. Alcohol casts a haze over all your worries and your life seems problem-free for a while. However, that haze also affects the rest of your evening, making you less aware of what you're doing (or even forgetting what you've done), which sounds less enjoyable.

4. Life is boring without alcohol
Events without alcohol are almost unthinkable in our culture. Celebrating something without champagne or a party without a chronically full wine glass in your hand? We don't even think about it. Yet there are certainly ways to have fun without alcohol. Add to that the absence of hangover stress and gaps in the evening, and a party with soda and cola suddenly doesn't sound so crazy.

Source: Psychology Today