On this episode of Mental Health Pathfinders, host Erin Connors sits down with Dr. Petros Levounis to unpack the appeal of Dry January and what people can realistically gain from a month off alcohol. They talk through why a time-limited goal can be easier to stick with, how to handle social situations without making it a public announcement, and what benefits people often notice physically and psychologically when they take a break. The conversation also covers practical strategies for anxiety in the moment (including hydration, cutting back on caffeine, and finding a supportive ally), the rise of mocktails, what to know about medications that can help reduce cravings, and how to reintroduce alcohol more safely if you choose to drink again after a month off.

Transcript

Erin Connors (00:04) Thank you for joining us for this edition of Mental Health Pathfinders. I'm your host, Erin Connors. We are in that period right after the holidays where we can sometimes feel a bit full and over-served, and that's not just from the fantastic food, but also the fancy cocktails and alcoholic drinks. This is also the time of year that people start making resolutions for the new year, and one of those might be to try to skip alcohol, at least for a month. Dry January is a real thing, but is it a good idea? Joining us today is past APA president and professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and associate dean for professional development at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Dr. Petros Lavounis. Dr. Lavounis, happy new year.

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (00:49) Happy New Year to you too.

Erin Connors (00:51) So, you know, this idea of dry January, it's really, really taken off over the past few years. I think people go into this, you know, with really great intentions, but like most resolutions, it may not always be as easy as you think.

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (01:05) Yeah, that's totally true. ⁓ On the other hand, it's manageable. And the main reason it's manageable is because it's time limited. ⁓ January, it's 31 days. It's not for here to eternity. It's not I'm gonna start exercising forever and ever. ⁓ It is just 31 days. So it is quite manageable that way. And that's why it has been quite successful for a lot of people.

Erin Connors (01:29) Should you set other goals for yourself? Maybe is it a good idea to do this with a partner or someone else? ⁓

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (01:36) For a lot of people, having a partner is a great idea. ⁓ Everything that we do with somebody else, we keep on motivating each other. So again, for lot of people, that's a good idea. However, there are some people who are really attracted to their own privacy, and that's totally understandable and honorable, and nobody really needs to know. ⁓ You go out and people have a gin and tonic, and you can very, very easily these days ask, for something like that looks exactly like a gin and tonic, only it is just sparkling water or all these mocktails, of course, that people have. They're outrageously expensive in my mind, but otherwise they look the part. And so nobody really needs to know. You don't have to go out with a big declaration. doing a dry January or, ⁓ you don't have to expose yourself if you want this to be an experiment that's just between you. and alcohol. And that's all there is to it.

Erin Connors (02:39) think some people do do make a big deal out of it though. They put it all over their social media. Do think that's to keep hold themselves accountable a little bit?

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (02:44) People are different. Some of us like the stage and like to live a life that is very much out there and that's totally okay. And you can be all over the social media and actually draw some support from these ⁓ resources. Other people are much more private. So we have to respect both sides.

Erin Connors (03:09) You know, what are some of the benefits of dry January? Can skipping alcohol even for one month make a big difference?

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (03:16) Yes, absolutely. In the most basic sense, the less alcohol we expose our body to, the better off we are. So even if we take 31 days out of the mix, that's a big plus. But there's more to it. ⁓ You give your body a break. Your liver takes a break and starts regenerating all the parts that may be somehow affected by alcohol. and your heart and your gastrointestinal ⁓ tract, your entire body somehow resets itself in a very, very good and very healthy way. ⁓ On the psychological side, Treat it like an experiment. Check it out. Just see what it feels like. What does it feel to go to sleep and not have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom? Not to have a hangover the next day? ⁓ Just see all the pluses and some of the minuses perhaps that you will experience during that month. It is ⁓ something that you also need to file. somewhere in your head in case you want to do that kind of experiment sometime in the future as well. In general, what people report is that first and foremost, it's not as socially awkward as they were afraid it would be. How am I possibly gonna go out with my buddies? They're gonna make fun of me. They're not gonna include me as much. And again, 2025 is very, very different than even 2024, the whole culture is moving in more understanding and more kind of anything goes attitude in a positive sense. So it may, you may be very pleasantly surprised that it's not as awkward, socially awkward as you might have been afraid. The other thing about dry January is that it has a built in minor commitment, not a major commitment, going back to the idea of just being 31 days. So for people who may have commitment issues, ⁓ it is not ⁓ too short and it's not too long and has a nice ring to it. And it also has a social support to it that I think is a great idea to go for it.

Erin Connors (05:49) Well, you for some people, drinking can kind of take the edge off or make them feel a little bit better in social situations. What are some strategies for when you are in these situations and you're out, you're kind of, you're used to having that drink in hand.

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (06:04) Yeah, the way to think about that is in two major terms. One is how can you decrease your anxiety in the long run across the board? And that's, course, when we get to the issues of exercise, when we get to the issues of diet, of sleep optimization, of keeping your routines, of socializing, all the things that we know that reduce anxiety without medication, without substances, without anything else. So this is your baseline in some ways. but you are asking about the acute situation when you are out there and you want to somehow decrease your anxiety. And there are some tricks of the trade there. A big one that people don't appreciate as much is hydration. Being dehydrated is actually severely dehydrated, much more so ⁓ quite associated with anxiety. So keep on hydrating yourself and you are gonna see that your anxiety is gonna come down. Avoid caffeine or reduce your caffeine intake and that also will improve your anxiety. On the psychological and social side, find an ally. Find an ally. Find somebody ⁓ in your group that you feel most comfortable with and have that person in your proximal vicinity, just somewhere close to where you are. It's a safety blanket of some sort. It is something that has been shown to reduce anxiety quite significantly.

Erin Connors (07:39) And you mentioned the mottails before that all the bars have them now. And there are even bars just, that's all they have. They're popping up all across the country now. It's amazing to see that people are kind of turning to this.

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (07:51) Yeah, and it's not just people who are trying to stay away from alcohol. A lot of people enjoy those drinks and exactly as you said, are becoming fancier and fancier. ⁓ Downside is the economic one. They're so delicious that you may find yourself at the end of the evening with quite a bill. live in New York City, so I know what I'm talking about. But otherwise, they're great.

Erin Connors (08:18) Thank Yeah. So, you know, on another topic here, you know, we're hearing more about these GLP ones and the diet drugs that are on the market right now. Some people say it cuts their craving for not only food, but also alcohol, too. Do you suggest people look into that when they're trying to cut back on alcohol?

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (08:22) Thank No, the answer here is no, ⁓ or to be more precise, not yet. ⁓ The research is encouraging and exactly as you said, it may be that it cuts cravings across the board, but we're not there yet. We're not there yet and we should not rely on GLP-1 agonists for ⁓ reduction in alcohol cravings. Not the least argument here is that we do have safe and effective medications that do reduce those cravings. We have naltrexone, we have acamprosate, a conversation with your psychiatrist, with your primary care physician can very well ⁓ end up with a recommendation of one of these medications. They are pretty well tolerated, ⁓ meaning that you don't have much in terms of side effects, but of course a discussion with your physician can lead to one of those medications that are tried and true. They are FDA ⁓ approved ⁓ while the GLP-1 agonies as promising as they are and as encouraging as the data are at this point. They are not approved by the FDA for the reduction of alcohol cravings and we don't know everything about them yet. So ⁓ let's slow that train a little bit and let's go with the things that we know they work.

Erin Connors (10:04) Absolutely. Do you hear a lot about Dry January in your own practice? Do people bring it up with you?

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (10:09) Yes, yes, they do. And I encourage it. I think it's a good idea. Let's just be, you know, thorough here in our argument. There are some downsides to it. ⁓ For some people making a major decision and turning a new leaf and saying, I'm never going to drink again or with cigarettes, I'm never going to smoke again is a very, very effective strategy. So for some people, ⁓ closing the door, shut once and for all may be the way to go. But for a lot of other people, just this kind of experimentation, let me try it out, let's see how I feel, how troublesome it will be, how helpful it will be, is very effective.

Erin Connors (10:56) So once it's over, once this dry January is over, and maybe you want to get back to having a drink or two, and you've been abstaining from it, do you have advice for people? Because if you haven't been drinking for a month and you're used to it, and you start drinking again, there should be some kind of strategy involved in that.

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (11:14) Yes, first of all, take it slowly. ⁓ Your body has adjusted to no alcohol. You have lost some of your tolerances, we say, to alcohol. So expect that you may get drunk ⁓ easier after dry January. So if you're going to be going back to drinking, do that ⁓ slowly. ⁓ My major advice with people who go back to drinking, and of course, there are quite a few who do, is to register your experience during the dried January. Just as you go through those 31 days, sometimes in writing, ⁓ keep some kind of mental or ⁓ physical diary of ⁓ pros and cons of what you experienced. And if need be, just kind of do it again. Doesn't have to be January. You may find yourself that you had a few too much ⁓ a little too much to drink over the summer with vacations and the like, you may want to have a dry September. ⁓ And that's perfectly fine as well. Or you can want to try a couple of weeks of no alcohol. Just it's one of the tools that you have that you can use as needed in the future.

Erin Connors (12:33) Well, Dr. Petros-Lavonis, thank you so much for joining us. This was really great information to kick off the new year.

Petros Levounis (he, Him, His) (12:38) Thank you so much for having me here. Happy New Year.

Erin Connors (12:41) And to your listeners, join us every month for a new episode of Mental Health Pathfinders on your favorite podcast platform.