January is almost coming to an end, a month were people have tried to realise New Year’s resolutions. In Britain, as in so many other countries all over the world, the focus has been on health and one of them is cutting down on consumption of alcohol. Alcohol Concern has driven a very successful campaign called DryJanuary, were people in the UK can sign up to staying off the booze for the entire month and raising money for the charity at the same time. However, this has not been an uncontroversial campaign.
What the DryJanuary campaign is aiming for is to raise self-awareness of just how big a role alcohol plays in people’s lives. Alcohol has for many become a part of their daily routine; it’s on the same shopping lists as the milk, bread and tea.
From reading comments on social media and in the news, many participants are surprised at just how much better they feel after weeks of sobriety:
- losing weight,
- feeling more energetic and
- sleeping better are a few of the positive side effects they experience.
Many have realised that alcohol doesn’t need to take such a big part of their lives and have decided to cut down or even stop using all together. Evaluation of the campaign’s long-term health effects remains to be done, but as far as raising awareness, it’s already a success.
Congratulations… A really great job. Wish you all success.
– Assistant Professor, Govt Medical College, Trivandrum
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Many many thanks for your campaign…to get rid of alcohol culture…your craze for health…running on beach (all weathers) are marvelous. May God bless you.
Neeraj Saxena (Advocate) (Yoga Trainer) India.