At the start of the new year, making resolutions is common, with around 40 to 50% of Americans setting them. Many resolutions focus on health, with some people hoping to start fresh by cutting back on alcohol or other substances.

The new year can feel like a natural time for a fresh start, but lasting behavioral change is rare. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology reported that only 9% of people feel that they are successful in keeping their resolutions.

When it comes to alcohol, Michelle Simons, a program support specialist for the Swampscott Health Department, said resolutions can help some people reassess their relationship with drinking.

“I think all of it has a level of some type of escapism,” Simons said. “I think it’s important to ask ourselves questions like ‘Are there any negative consequences to my drinking?’ ‘Are there any negative consequences to my substance use?’ That’s really what defines alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder.”

The use disorders are complex conditions that come from the uncontrolled use of a substance despite the harmful consequences. When substance use becomes intense, which can sometimes be called an addiction, it can impair daily functioning. While regular drinking may become a habit, a substance use disorder is more compulsive.

New Year’s resolutions often focus on breaking habits, but they can also lead to meaningful change. Simons said many people report feeling “so much better.”

Dry January, a 31-day challenge to abstain from drinking alcohol after the holiday season, is also a trend people jump straight into in the new year. The dry month challenge started in 2014 as a United Kingdom public health initiative to get people to reconsider their relationship with alcohol.

While it’s a temporary challenge, Simons said resolutions or Dry January can serve as a “good sort of test drive to see how important alcohol is in my life.”

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released in July the results of the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which shows a United States behavioral health snapshot from nearly 70,000 self-reported responses. Among people aged 12 years or older in 2024, 58.3% used alcohol, used tobacco products, vaped nicotine, or used an illicit drug in the past month. 

Among the 134.3 million current alcohol users aged 12 years or older in 2024, 57.9 million people, or 43.1%, were binge drinkers in the past month. In addition, 48.4 million people, or 16.8%, had a past-year substance use disorder.

In 2024, 31.7 million adults aged 18 or older, or 12.2%, perceived that they ever had a problem with their use of alcohol or drugs. Among those adults, 74.3% considered themselves to be in recovery or to have recovered.

The holidays and New Year can be especially challenging for substance use, Simons said, because “people have things that come up.”

“People think of different things: their losses, their expectations for themselves they haven’t met,” Simons said. “That’s when I think we’re unsatisfied with ourselves or unsatisfied with our relationships or what’s going on around us, and we tend to want to not feel that, so alcohol and drugs can definitely come into play because we’re trying to change a feeling.”

If someone is predisposed to addiction or alcoholism, “that’s where drinking can become a problem,” Simons said.

“We have a common saying: one is too many and a thousand is never enough,” Simons said. “If you’re somebody that has experienced substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder in the past, then typically we try to warn people of the risks. Our bodies don’t know the difference.”

For Simons, she said spirituality, or a connection to a higher power, is important to understanding substance use. The natural longing people have to feel connected – “whether it’s to a higher power, it’s to mother nature, or even to each other” – people use alcohol and drugs often to feel more relaxed to be able to make those relationships. 

“It’s essentially the opposite of what happens,” Simons said. “We’re actually almost putting a barrier between each other.”

The spiritual connection, she said, “enhances our ability to remain sober if that’s our desire or remain substance free if that’s our desire.”

“That is something that a lot of people that are in recovery utilize in order to sustain their recovery,” Simons said.  

Anyone that is seeking support or treatment can contact Simons at 781-596-8864 x1282 or by email at osfprogramcontractor@gmail.com. She also hosts virtual office hours that can be found on the town website. Simons previously noted that the majority of people who reach out for support are dealing with alcohol use.