Why Dry January Might Not Be Enough

If you struggle to moderate your drinking, a month off alcohol may not be the answer. For some people, real change means stopping for good

I used to think I was very clever for saying I wasn’t doing Dry January. After all, I’d been pregnant twice – that’s basically 18 months alcohol-free, right? I’d sometimes half-attempt a break, but I usually faltered around the three-week mark.

At the time, I just didn’t get it. But new research from Alcohol Change UK shows that over 17 million people are planning a month off alcohol in January 2026 – nearly one in three adults. So many people do!

According to research conducted by Censuswide, the top reasons people give for taking a break are:

1. Saving money

2. Improving health

3. Losing weight

4. Boosting mental health and wellbeing

5. Improving fitness

   
   

I didn’t care about any of those things. I didn’t care about saving money. I wasn’t bothered about my health or weight. I didn’t want to improve my fitness. Ultimately, I didn’t care about myself.

Dry January wasn’t enough for me because I already knew I’d be drinking again at the end of it. Even when I did stop for a short time, I was white-knuckling it; counting down the days until I could “reward” myself with alcohol again.

I’ve always liked to be a bit different, to rebel. Doing a challenge just because “everyone else” was doing it didn’t appeal to me. But underneath that was something else: I couldn’t moderate and I knew it.

So here’s my point. If you genuinely see yourself as a middle-lane drinker, Dry January can be a brilliant reset. But if you know you struggle to stop once you start, a month off won’t fix that.

If that’s you, don’t wait for February. Don’t treat January as something to endure.Just decide: this is it. You’ve already had your last Christmas and New Year’s Eve drinking. And I promise you, choosing sobriety for good is something you will never regret.