Does a drink after work actually help you relax? Why the evening pour stops working, and what does.
If you walk in the door wound up and the first thing you reach for is a drink, it probably feels like the only reliable off-switch you have. Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs both believed that for most of their working lives, and on this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast they put that belief under real pressure.
Start with the mechanism. Alcohol creates a need for itself. The first drink brings a genuine lift, then your body pushes back toward balance and you land a little lower than where you started, so the next drink is relieving the last one. Jonathan drank for years to cope with job stress and only saw after he stopped how much of that stress the drinking had been producing. Add the broken sleep and the harder morning, and the evening drink keeps buying relief from a problem it renews.
The need underneath is completely legitimate! You do need a way to leave the workday behind, and with phones and late email that line has mostly disappeared. Hold "I need a drink to relax" while trying not to drink, and you end up stuck between a real need and the only tool you believe can meet it. Jonathan calls that feeling a hostage situation.
So change the sentence before you change the habit. Jonathan swaps "I need a drink to relax" for "a drink would relax me, and I'm learning other ways to unwind." Learning is an active verb, and it hands your agency back. Ellen kept the ritual and changed what was in it: an apple cider vinegar sipper in a fancy glass while she cooks dinner, every night around five. The ritual was doing more of the unwinding than the drink ever did.
Tonight, try Jonathan's step one-and-a-half. Make your first drink a really good alcohol-free one, and notice how much better you feel the moment you open the fridge, before anything touches your lips. That feeling is your first piece of evidence!
Work with Jonathan: https://livecreativeaf.com/ | Work with Ellen: https://ellenbiggscoaching.com/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Groundhog Day evenings
01:13 The myth: a drink to unwind
03:47 Where we learned the belief
06:33 Screen drinking with no next day
08:27 When the drink causes the stress
10:03 Why only the first drink relaxes
12:11 The hostage situation
16:24 "I'm learning other ways to relax"
19:56 Ellen's five o'clock ritual
25:21 Protect the work-to-home threshold
31:33 First steps to try tonight
FROM THIS EPISODE
"As an addictive substance it creates a need for itself."
QUESTIONS THIS EPISODE ANSWERS
Q: Does alcohol help you relax after work?
A: Alcohol helps you relax after work for a short window, then your body pushes back toward balance and you feel a little worse than before. Add poorer sleep and a harder next morning, and the evening drink ends up relieving tension it helped create in the first place.
Q: Why do I feel like I need a drink after a long day?
A: You feel like you need a drink after a long day because the habit was learned early, from parents unwinding at home and from screen heroes who pour one after work. Repetition turned the glass into your cue for being off the clock, so relaxation now feels tied to it.
Q: How can I unwind after work without drinking?
A: You can unwind after work without drinking by keeping the transition ritual and changing what fills it: an alcohol-free drink in a good glass, a brisk walk, a shower, or a call with a friend. Quick switches shift your state tonight, while habits like reading build calmer evenings.
Q: Does switching to alcohol-free beer help you cut back?
A: Switching to alcohol-free beer helps many people cut back, and both hosts used it early on. Changing what is in the glass keeps the evening ritual intact, and many people notice they start relaxing the moment they open the can, which shows how much the ritual was doing.
You do not need to wait for rock bottom.
You do not need more willpower.
You just need a new way to understand what you are feeling and why you are reaching for the next drink.
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Email: thealcoholmyth@gmail.com
Jonathan Ball, CreativeAF Coaching: https://livecreativeaf.com/
Ellen Biggs Coaching: https://ellenbiggscoaching.com/
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