Man shares shocking effects that took place after he went 500 days without drinking alcohol

During the summer, it can often feel like everything revolves around booze. Every catch up with your mates seem to be in a beer garden, everyone at work wants to go for a pint after and no BBQ seems to take place without a bucket of drinks.

And with plenty of people struggling with drinking problems, often without even realising, it can seem even harder to imagine doing these things without alcohol.

But giving up drink can be life-changing and has improved the lives of many.

So, if you’re thinking about going sober for the long run (and I’m talking more than just dry January), this man shared the shocking effects he experienced after going 500 days without drinking alcohol.

Mark Manson says that for most of his adult life, he was ‘drunk a few times per week, every week’, making him a ‘chronic alcohol consumer’.

So, he decided to quit drinking completely and has felt ‘profound changes’ since, which he shared in a YouTube video.

For Manson, giving up booze has been worth it. (Getty Stock Photo)

While he explains he, of course, found himself losing weight, sleeping better and making fewer bad decisions, he wanted to explain the ‘non-obvious long-term benefits’.

Manson explained that alcohol gave him a ‘surge of heightening energy and awareness’ with his ADHD as well as quelling his nerves while suffering from social anxiety.

So when he gave it up, thee ‘biggest struggle’ was actually just boredom.

“It felt like everything in my life had had the volume knob turned way down,” he said,

“People at parties weren’t nearly as interesting as they used to be. Dinners didn’t taste as good, trips weren’t as exciting.”

Manson has done over 500 days without drinking. (YouTube/Mark Manson)

But this all led to a big realisation: “That much of my social life, my friendships, my hobbies had been this kind of lie. They were a dopamine driven, alcohol fuelled mirage I had constructed, this boozy persona that had been driving most of my social life for decades."

So, he didn’t really know who the ‘real Mark was’. Apparently this ‘boredom and insecurity’ is pretty tough but he explained that if you stick with it, ‘you start to find out what you actually truly enjoy’.

Although, Manson did find he ended up in this ‘weird but constant state of dull but happy’.

Nowadays, he socialises ‘a fraction’ of how much he used to and found he’s far more introverted than he ever thought.

He also finds himself enjoying ‘simple things’ more and has developed healthier habits like exercising and making ‘more conscious and less compulsive’ food choices.

“My brain no longer gets hijacked the way it used to,” he said.

“So my preferences and values have changed which means what I do every single day has changed which means by Aristotle’s definition, I am a different person.”

Manson went on to say that he had regular therapy throughout the whole period, which has been ‘instrumental in helping him become more aware of his emotions’.

He has also found that he seeks commitment more and is ‘more content and satisfied than ever’.

The bloke is still working through the identity crisis he’s faced since going sober, but isn’t worried about it.

“Because unlike before, I’m actually patient about my future,” he explained. “I don’t mind being bored. I don’t mind the lack of excitement. In fact, these days, I actually kind of enjoy it.”