Cocaine overdose is a serious risk in Australia, potentially leading to severe side effects or death. This article discusses the signs of overdose, associated risks, and emergency response actions.

Hello, and welcome to The Cabin’s guide on the benefits of quitting alcohol. If you’re thinking of giving up drinking for good, then you’re in the right place.
Imagine waking up sober every morning feeling happy, energetic, and excited about the day ahead instead of hungover, tired, sick, and angry.
Once you realise that there is no benefit to drinking alcohol and that it only brings misery, your life can change forever.
It’s true.
Quitting alcohol is literally life-changing. When you stop drinking, you immediately get these benefits:
But more importantly, stopping drinking gives you a chance at living a life full of true happiness.
As one of our recent patients at our rehab centre put it:
“It’s too emotional to write all my feelings…a new chance at having a real life is no understatement, and this is a gift of life beyond any gift I have ever received. I have confidence again (in myself and others). I was a moody, scattered broken guy just two months ago, and now I finally have some tools to live in the real world.
A better life in sobriety is within reach, and you may see some of the best benefits of getting sober within as little as 30 days.
Continue reading this guide to learn more about the benefits of quitting booze, how to stop for good, and some amazing stories of recovery from our rehab centre for alcohol abuse.
According to the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, the benefits of quitting alcohol include:
But this is just scratching the surface of what your life could be like when you change your relationship with alcohol.
Our clients consistently report that they feel the following benefits:
Let’s examine the benefits of removing alcohol from your life in more depth:
One quick benefit of not buying alcohol from the pub or store is all the money you’ll save. At a bare minimum, you’ll save more than $100 per month.
For heavy drinkers, it could be thousands.
The Australian Institute of Health And Welfare reports that the average Australian household spends $32 per week on alcohol in their report “Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs in Australia”. But that figure is heavily distorted by non-drinkers and “casual” drinkers.
For daily drinkers or “weekend warriors”, that figure could easily be 5-10 times larger. A pint of beer at a pub in Sydney is $12. It doesn’t take much work to spend $100 or more in a single night. And a decent bottle of wine is over $20 at the shop.
Think of all the advantages you’ll gain when you have an extra $200, $300, or even $500 in your bank account every week.
Many of our clients at our treatment centre report being in the best shape of their lives after getting sober.
Alcohol is only “empty calories”…and it’s A LOT of empty calories. Most light beers are 150 calories or more, and a glass of wine is 100 calories if you’re lucky.
If you’re drinking heavy beers or sugary cocktails, you’re looking at nearly 1,000 calories in a single night of drinking.
Now, couple that with decreased energy and reduced metabolism, and you can see why alcohol is associated with weight gain, lethargy, and excess belly fat.
One study published in the International Journal of Obesity And Related Metabolic Disorders published in March 1996 and cited in the National Library of Medicine entitled “Moderate alcohol consumption and its relation to visceral fat and plasma androgens in healthy women” found the following:
“Significant differences were found in waist circumference and waist-hip ratio as well as in plasma androgens with increasing daily alcohol intake.”
That study went on to conclude that “The results of this study show that moderate alcohol consumption correlates with abdominal distribution of body fat”.
Since we Aussies tend to be straightforward, what they’re saying is alcohol makes you chubby.
It’s not uncommon to lose 3-5kg (~6-10lbs.) in your first 30 days without drinking.
One of the first things you’ll notice when you stop drinking alcohol is you’ll feel happier and have a more positive outlook on life. In fact, one of our patients claimed he went from a hopeless state of mind to one of happy disbelief at the life he lives.
Jeff’s Recovery: I wake up almost every day in a happy disbelief that I am alive and that I don’t want a drink
I wake up almost every day in a happy disbelief that I am alive and that I don’t want a drink, (which is the first thing I ask God’s help for!). I think of this passage from Russel Brands book “recovery” quite often, and it also reminds me of how The Cabin was so instrumental in getting me here. It reads like this: “My old way of life is with me still like a worn-down coin in my pocket that I toy with from time to time. Like a madman I sometimes countenance going back, back into the burning past to snatch at some scorched pleasure… How did I become this person, on the other side of my misery? On the other side of my life?” Well, how I got here really started at The Cabin, and then was bridged by a good after plan, a sponsor, and really working each of the 12 steps in a program, which for me just happened to be AA.
Mental health is one of the key factors that cause alcoholism. If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, and low mood, quitting drinking is your best chance of living a happy, fulfilling life.
Alcohol is a poisonous depressant that makes your life worse in every way. It not only worsens feelings of depression and anxiety, it slowly destroys your brain by decreasing neurotransmitters, which makes it harder to fight off negative emotions.
According to a study in the National Library of Medicine called “Alcohol Use Disorder And Depressive Disorders” by McHugh, Kathryn R., et al., “People with AUD have a heightened risk for depressive disorders, which are the most common co-occurring psychiatric disorders for this population.”
That means if you have alcohol use disorder (AUD), it’s very likely that your drinking is causing your depression or at least making it worse. Not only that, but it’s making it more difficult to treat your symptoms.
As one patient of ours put it, he felt whole again after removing alcohol from his life.
In his words “I am now sober and enjoying life. It still amazes me when I look back at where I was and how far I have come today. For the first time in nearly a decade, I feel whole again.”.
Happiness
Begins with
Quitting
Alcohol
Changing your relationship with alcohol could help drastically improve your self-respect and give you real confidence for the first time in years.
Here’s why…
Alcohol destroys self-esteem. It’s a mind-altering substance that changes the way you perceive yourself and the world around you.
And while you might think that it’s giving you courage, it’s actually doing the opposite. If you’re struggling with self-image and have a low opinion of yourself, alcohol is almost certainly a major reason why.
People struggling to control their alcohol intake often tell themselves “I’m not drinking tonight” or “I’ll go easy this week!” only to find themselves drinking way more than they intended.
The more you do this the more you lose confidence in yourself.
In Dan’s story of recovering from addiction, he mentions that getting sober restored his confidence in himself and other people.
Dan’s Recovery: ‘Beyond anything I’ve experienced before’
It’s too emotional to write all my feelings (although I am learning how to express these better) – a new chance at having a real life is no understatement, and this is a gift of life beyond any gift I have ever received. I have confidence again (in myself and others).
Getting sober gives you the ability to focus on improving your mental state, succeeding at work, and establishing healthy, loving relationships. The more you succeed in life the more your self-esteem will improve. It’s as simple as that.
Further Reading: Check out our guide on binge drinking and its effects on mental health. In it, you’ll learn how heavy drinking destroys self-worth, increases anxiety, and causes depression.
One benefit of giving up drinking is you’ll get deeper, more restorative sleep, which helps you wake up feeling refreshed, energetic, and with a positive outlook on the day ahead.
You know how, after a big night, you wake up feeling groggy, irritable, and anxious? That’s because of alcohol.
Consuming alcohol before bed disrupts sleep and causes you to get less restorative rest, which is the reason why you’re feeling tired and moody in the morning.
It even aggravates sleep apnea, disrupts your circadian rhythm, and contributes to insomnia.
According to the Sleep Foundation’s web page on Alcohol And Sleep, a high amount of alcohol decreases sleep quality by 39.2%, mostly due to how alcohol in the bloodstream fragments sleep. And even a low amount of alcohol causes a 9.2% reduction in sleep quality.
When you abstain from beer, wine, and spirits altogether, you can wake up feeling refreshed, happy, and energetic.
Struggling to
Sleep
Without
Alcohol?
Quitting alcohol drastically decreases your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, digestive issues, and unintended accidents.
Let’s cover some of these issues in a bit more depth, so you can see just how destructive alcohol is to your body.
According to the World Heart Foundation’s page on “The impact of alcohol consumption on cardiovascular health”, even small amounts of alcohol increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease, including coronary disease, heart failure, stroke, hypertensive heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and aneurysm.
It’s not just your heart, either. Alcohol is a destructive poison that affects your entire body and puts you at greater risk of developing cancer in nearly every organ. The Center for Disease Control’s page on “Alcohol and Cancer” states that alcohol increases your risk of developing cancer in your:
It goes on to report that three or more drinks per day increase your risk of stomach and pancreatic cancer as well.
Long story short: Stop drinking and you’ll most likely live a lot longer.
Alcohol disrupts the production of collagen, which leads to more wrinkles, sagging, and older-looking skin, even at a young age.
You know those bags under your eyes and wrinkles on your face? Those will be gone when you get sober (or at least less noticeable – we never promise anything).
Alcohol is one of the most destructive and aggressive substances for your skin, and it leads to far worse-looking skin, especially if you consume it in large amounts.
Drinking heavily can also lead to broken capillaries, dry skin due to dehydration, and even jaundice.
You’ll look years younger if you give up boozing, and it won’t take very long to see results.
It’s different for every person, but chances are you’ll see some of the benefits of stopping drinking within the first few days. Many of our patients at the Cabin report feeling better after just 30 days than they ever felt in active addiction.
You’ll see some benefits of abstinence right away. For example, money savings, no hangovers, no stomach aches, and less anxiety.
Other benefits like weight loss and reduced health risks may take a month or more.
Here’s a quick timeline of what to expect after ditching the bottle for good:
Within the first week, you should notice some incredible benefits of being alcohol-free like:
Overall, you’ll most likely notice that you’re feeling and looking much better after just a few days without beer, wine, or liquor. That’s especially true if you aren’t out all night partying and getting a good night’s rest.
Many of our clients report feeling a sense of calm and relief, because they no longer are worrying about what they said or did while drinking. That’s something to look forward to in sobriety as well.
You only need to go one month without alcohol for the big wins to really start kicking in.
You’ll start seeing the biggest benefits of sobriety in the following areas:
NOTE: Perhaps the most important change we see in patients who stay with us for one month is they now have had the time and space they need to reflect on their relationship with alcohol. After one month, many realise that life is much better in sobriety than it ever was with alcohol.
Quit
Alcohol
with Our Support!
Three months is enough time for you to start noticing significant changes to your mind and body.
These are real, permanent changes that will drastically improve your quality of life and outlook on the future.
You’ll start seeing the biggest benefits of sobriety in the following areas:
NOTE: You may have gotten through the most difficult time, but you’re not out of the woods yet. It’s important that you remain dedicated to sobriety and continue with your aftercare programme like attending meetings at least weekly.
After one year without alcohol, your life could be unrecognizable. You may wonder why you ever drank in the first place.
Some of the key benefits of a year without drinking include:
But most importantly, a full year without alcohol will give you the time, energy, and money to build the life you always dreamed of.
Many of our alumni have gone on to start new businesses, repair their relationships, and achieve the dreams they always had in active addiction, but never had the focus or energy to achieve.
Further Reading: Alcoholism wreaks havoc on relationships. If you believe your spouse is suffering from alcohol addiction, read our guide on dealing with addiction in marriage.
Quitting alcohol is possible with the right plan of action. It seems impossible at first, but we see it every day.
It all starts with a clear plan and a commitment to improving your well-being. Here’s a practical roadmap to help you make the change:
You don’t have to be an alcoholic to gain the health benefits of sobriety.
But if your drinking habits are impacting your life in a negative manner, and you simply cannot quit despite wanting to, acknowledging the need for help is the first step towards recovery.
At The Cabin Sydney, we offer discreet outpatient help for alcohol and other addictions. Our trained, licensed, and experienced addiction treatment counsellors can treat both adults and teens and will support you in building your new life in sobriety.
Contact us today for an initial consultation. Your government insurance may cover treatment, but the only way for us to know for sure is if you contact us for more information.
call us directly on
1 800 251 994