Health Counselors Say Dry January Helps Improve Your Heath and Mood

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The Dry January challenge was initially started in the United Kingdom in 2013. Millions of people around the world have participated and in the U.S., one in four adults joined in the last year.

“What I call Dry January is the Grand Experiment. When we quit drinking, even if we don’t have a drinking problem, sometimes we realize, well wait a minute I feel a lot better. Or my workouts go better, or I’m sleeping better,” said Amber Dew, Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Addiction Counselor at Sanford Medical Moorhead.

At Sanford, the challenge is not a requirement for patients to participate or learn about, but Dew and several of her coworkers take this opportunity to help others.

“Going a month lets you test yourself without needing a therapist or a counselor to tell you. You get to see how do I feel, how much money do I save, and there’s research that shows taking even a break does actually increase our health dramatically,” said Dew.

In North Dakota, the state ranks at number four for most alcohol consumption with an average of 3.16 gallons consumed per person.

“Alcohol is a big part of our culture here. So it’s hard especially with Superbowl coming people have a lot of internal, internal reasons why they feel well what’s the point,” said Dew.

“The stigma that comes along in North Dakota especially with drinking it’s very normalized. And so, for people to be able to silence that voice that might be stopping them from asking more questions,” said Mark Schaefer, Executive Vice President of Community Medical Services.

While the challenge has influenced many to give up alcohol, Dew and Schaefer hope people take this opportunity to learn more about themselves and ask for the help if they need it.

Learn more about Dry January on the North Dakota Health and Human Services website.