This is sobering news.
Experts are concerned about a potential pitfall of Dry January, saying it could cause unhealthy withdrawal symptoms in participants who may not realize they have a drinking problem.
“Events like Dry January don’t work for everyone because many people don’t realize that they are drink dependent,” UK-based addiction specialist Lester Morse told the Daily Mail, adding that even a small amount of booze can “cause dependency for some people.”
“What a lot of people don’t know about withdrawing from alcohol is that there are serious dangers if you are drink dependent. In some cases, withdrawal can even result in death.”
While Dry January can improve sleep quality, cause weight loss and boost energy, alcohol withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, headache, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, shaky hands and sweating.
University of York associate professor Ian Hamilton told the Daily Mail that there is concern that, because Dry January is temporary, people will return to binge drinking once February rolls around.
“We don’t know what people do once they reach the end of January, I fear that many will think that as they have abstained for a month then they have a free pass for the rest of the year and can drink as much as they like,” he said.
As one New Yorker previously told The Post: “What’s the point of doing it just for one month? And then you’re gonna go back to it?”
The expert advice comes after the US Surgeon General advised that a cancer warning should be printed on bottles of alcohol.
According to the report, alcohol has been linked to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the US.
“Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer,” the office of Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a statement.
Amid the booming sober-curious trend among young people, mocktail hotspots have cropped up around New York City for people interested in ditching booze beyond Dry January.
“Now menus are more inclusive every month of the year, not just January,” Hilary Sheinbaum, an author and founder of GoingDry.co, previously told The Post.
