By Melanie Dallas, LPC

Each New Year, millions of Americans participate in what has become known as Dry January – giving up alcohol (and hopefully other substances) during the first month of the year. While some see this as an opportunity to ‘detox’ after the holidays, it is also an opportunity to assess your relationship with alcohol and other drugs, and how they might affect your life and health.

The health benefits of abstaining from alcohol, even for 30 days, are well documented. Many people who stop drinking alcohol note better sleep, less heartburn and acid reflux, and improved mood. You might also lose weight, have clearer skin and feel more energetic. And of course, abstaining from drugs generally – and alcohol is a drug – benefits your mental health as well by reducing your risk of addiction and other mental health disorders associated with substance use.

While the benefits of not using alcohol are important on an individual level, others benefit as well. By now we are all familiar with the dangers of second-hand smoke – that exposure to tobacco smoke when living with a smoker or working in an environment where tobacco smoke is common – can increase the risk of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases in people who do not smoke. Over the past several years, we have learned the same is true of drinking alcohol.

Second-hand drinking does not mean someone is exposed to alcohol simply by being in the presence of someone who is drinking (unlike second-hand smoke). Rather, second-hand drinking refers to ways someone’s drinking behaviors affect those around them. And those effects can be both profound and damaging.

If you think back to some of the early experiences you may have had with drinking – perhaps someone’s older brother bought beer for you and your friend group because you were underage – the first effect is several people breaking the law. But did one of your friends become intoxicated and need a ride home? Did he or she get sick in your car? Or perhaps became belligerent and aggressive, ruining what otherwise had been a good time. All of those are examples of how someone else’s drinking behaviors affected you – second-hand drinking – even if you were drinking too.

It can be much worse. Someone driving under the influence can cause a wreck that injures or kills another person or themselves – and both of those have a tremendous effect on any family. A person who may become aggressive when drinking alcohol may be verbally or physically abusive to a spouse or children, resulting in fear, anger, trauma, all of which are emotional burdens that individuals, especially children, may carry with them the rest of their lives.

Even showing up for work hungover – or not showing up at all – can affect your co-workers, while losing a job for poor attendance can affect the whole family. All of these are examples of second-hand drinking. You can probably imagine others, and maybe you have experienced them yourself.

So if you are participating in a dry January, I applaud you – and come February 1, I encourage you to consider whether using alcohol or other substances is something you want to continue to do.

I also know that not everyone can easily choose not to drink simply because the calendar flips to a new year. If you try to stop drinking and experience withdrawal or anxiety, or have trouble making it through the day without alcohol, it may be time to get help. If so, I would urge you to do it now – because your drinking can impact a lot of other people, and it is often those you care about most.

Melanie Dallas is a licensed professional counselor and CEO of Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, which provides treatment and recovery services for individuals with mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities in a 13-county region of northwest Georgia that includes Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk and Whitfield counties.