why do “Dry January”?

The trend comes from Great Britain. In recent years, with a lot of publications on social networks, it has attracted other countries. Right to our house. Dry January, also called “The January Challenge”, consists of not drinking a drop of alcohol from the 1st^is as of January 31.

Want to take stock of your alcohol consumption, reduce your spending, or simply pay attention to your health. Last year, Viv', a 30-year-old from Cayenne, had her first Dry January. « It did me good digestively after the excesses of the end-of-year holidays. I did it to start the year in a healthy way. » This year, Viv' is not sure she will repeat the experience. « I'm wondering: I want to do it, but at the same time I also want to enjoy the start of carnival with the evenings. »

For Owen*, whose first name has been changed, the decision has been made : it will be Dry January for the fifth consecutive year. But he concedes : each time, it is a complicated challenge to maintain. The hardest ? “People always want you to drink. Because you don't usually refuse a beer, now they don't understand anymore. They think you're sick, or that you're an alcoholic… That's why I chose to testify anonymously. »

When I failed my Dry January, I thought maybe I had a problem

Owen, who has been participating in the challenge for 5 years

While his first Dry January went rather well, the forty-year-old admits “having had a hard time” three years ago. “I missed my Dry January. I wanted to do it and on the evening of January 7 I was drunk. I always liked drinking. I like drunkenness, I like partying and often they go together. I tended to have festive drinks on the weekends. When I failed my Dry January, I thought maybe I had a problem. I took up the challenge again on January 8th. As I had failed, it gave me the motivation to immediately do a “Dry February”: I continued not to drink until the end of February. »

Cet ” failure “ in his Dry January, Owen admits to having experienced it, in reality, as an opportunity. “Looking back, I said to myself that the palpitations and blood pressure problems I had before were perhaps linked to my alcohol consumption. I might not have realized all this without this experience of Dry January…”

Following this experience, Owen chose to seek counseling. “I saw a doctor because I took this seriously and I don't like failure. There, it was a failure of me against myself. I was very afraid that the doctor would tell me that I had to stop drinking completely. However, he did some tests on me, he took the parameters from the World Health Organization and he told me that I needed to slow down my alcohol consumption. Which I did. »

To accompany him, at that moment, Owen downloads an application that allows him to « to focus » on his challenge. “I haven't needed it for a long time, so I uninstalled it »he admits. Indeed, applications and websites to help anyone who wants to think about their alcohol consumption are legion. Dryjanuary.fr, which is available as a web page and free application, is full of advice and ideas to make the January challenge fun. The site also unravels preconceived ideas on the subject: “If I have a drink in January, the challenge is lost” or even “Stopping drinking for a month is no use” passing through « Doing Dry January means not knowing how to have fun ».

David, 40 years old, considers himself a very moderate consumer. He won't do Dry January, like Viv', because of carnival. The Cayennais will allow himself a cocktail from time to time when he goes dancing. For Sarah*, on the other hand, Dry January will be a bit “à la carte”. Because she already has a party scheduled for the beginning of January, she will start the challenge after that date. Its objective is to move towards a healthier diet.

I'm going to do it to take care of my health

Sarah who will experience her first Dry January

“This will be my first Dry January, even if in reality I have already spent a “dry” month, without difficulty. The problem is that non-alcoholic drinks are very sweet. I'm still going to do it this year to take care of my health. But I want a Dry January without sugary drinks with a less processed diet. »

His choice goes with Owen. « If I had to give advice to someone who wants to do Dry January, it would be to do it without pressure. You have to set a goal : a week, ten days or a month, and stick to it. Maybe the person will like it, they will see that it is not that hard. Maybe after a few days it will be like an electric battery. There, she will have to ask herself questions about her habitual alcohol consumption. »

* First names have been changed