February 2026
Dry January has become a national reset button for millions in the UK, but for some it reveals a deeper struggle with alcohol. Addiction is not just a habit, it is a brain-based condition shaped by dopamine, stress and learned behaviour. Recovery is less about blame and more about how the brain can heal…
The quiet struggle of alcohol addiction
There are few things more woven into the fabric of British life than a drink with friends after work, a glass of wine at dinner or a pint at the pub on a Saturday afternoon. Yet for millions of people across the UK that familiar ritual doesn’t feel quite so familiar or joyful. It can feel like a compulsion, a cycle that drags them deeper into something they never intended to be part of. Alcohol addiction doesn’t always arrive with sirens and flashing lights. Often it creeps in quietly, insidiously, and before you know it the pattern feels almost impossible to break.
In the UK we’re seeing interesting shifts in drinking patterns. Recent figures suggest nearly one in four adults in England now chooses not to drink at all, a marked increase over recent years. At the same time a significant minority still drink at levels that pose a health risk, and tens of thousands of people are estimated to be dependent on alcohol. Around 608,000 adults in England alone were classified as alcohol dependent in recent estimates, which is roughly 14 out of every 1,000 adults. Across the UK, thousands of people still die from alcohol-related causes each year and one in four adults say they are worried about a loved one’s drinking.
Yet alongside these sobering numbers there is a cultural shift underway. Millions of Britons now take part in initiatives like Dry January. This campaign, run by UK charity Alcohol Change UK, encourages people to abstain from alcohol for the first month of the year. It has grown dramatically since its inception, with more than 17 million people across the country planning to take a break from booze in January 2026. Those who sign up using the free Try Dry app are more than twice as likely to complete an alcohol-free month and report improved wellbeing long after January ends.
What addiction really is
We often talk about addiction as if it’s a failure of willpower or moral fibre. In truth it’s far more complex and far more biological. Neuroscience shows us that addiction is rooted deep in the brain’s reward system. At the centre of this system is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate motivation, reward and pleasure.
Dr Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist at Stanford University, describes dopamine not just as the “feel good” chemical but as a signal that shapes behaviour. Every time we do something our brain deems rewarding, dopamine spikes above its baseline and then quickly drops back down. This rise and fall is normal and part of how we learn what is valuable for survival and wellbeing.
But when a person repeatedly uses a substance like alcohol, the brain adapts. It reduces the sensitivity of dopamine receptors or changes how much dopamine it produces in order to balance out those frequent highs. This means that over time the same amount of alcohol produces less pleasure and the person needs to drink more just to feel normal. In Dr Lembke’s metaphor the brain’s pleasure-pain balance becomes tilted so far towards pain that people drink not to get high but to avoid the discomfort of withdrawal and craving.
It is this disruption of the brain’s reward circuitry that can trap someone in a cycle of craving and compulsion. The very substance that once brought enjoyment now drives behaviour in ways that feel uncontrollable. What begins as a coping mechanism can become a force that overshadows relationships, work, health and self-worth.
The dance of dopamine and desire
Understanding the neuroscience of addiction helps to demystify what can feel like irrational behaviour. When someone drinks alcohol in large quantities and repeatedly, their brain’s reward system becomes less responsive. This means not only does alcohol deliver diminishing pleasure, but everyday rewards like a walk in the park, a shared joke or a creative hobby no longer stimulate the same dopamine response. This state is known as an anhedonic (or joyless) state and it feels a lot like depression, anxiety and restlessness.
Dr Lembke’s work emphasises that it is often the drop in dopamine below its baseline, not simply the initial spike, that fuels craving. The brain learns to associate the substance with relief more than reward. For someone experiencing alcohol addiction, this makes abstinence frightening and the urge to drink overwhelming. It also explains why simply cutting back is so hard and why people in recovery can be triggered by stress, success, celebration or routine.
Shifting the pattern
Dry January is more than just a month without alcohol. For many it becomes a lived experiment, an opportunity to give the brain a break from the repeated spikes and crashes of dopamine driven by drinking. The logic echoes what addiction specialists recommend for resetting the brain’s reward pathways: sustained abstinence long enough for natural dopamine regulation to rebalance. The improvements people report after a dry month often include better sleep, clearer thinking, improved mood and a more mindful relationship with alcohol.
But not everyone who struggles with alcohol addiction can simply take a month off and expect the problem to vanish. Addiction is a deep-seated pattern and often requires more tailored support.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy and alcohol addiction
This is where therapeutic approaches like Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) can make a real difference. Unlike therapies that delve extensively into the past, SFH focuses on the present and future. It works with the person’s strengths and resources to visualise change, build motivation and reinforce healthier patterns of behaviour.
In the context of alcohol addiction, SFH can help people reframe their relationship with drinking by strengthening self-belief and internal motivation. Hypnotherapy works with the subconscious mind to reduce the intensity of cravings and to support new positive associations with sobriety or moderated drinking. It can also help people manage stress, anxiety and triggers that often accompany addiction.
Clients often describe experiences of feeling more in control, more confident in their ability to resist urges, and more capable of sustaining changes they want to make. Rather than focusing on why the addiction developed, SFH invites people to picture who they want to be without alcohol and then subtly rewire their thoughts and feelings in that direction.
A new narrative for recovery
There is no single path out of alcohol addiction. For some people it is finding meaning in a Dry January and maintaining the momentum through the year. For others it involves professional support, therapy, community groups or medical intervention. Understanding the neuroscience behind addiction helps to remove shame and blame. It reminds us that addiction is not about weak will but about the brain trying to adapt to repeated chemical disruption.
Whether someone is just beginning to question their drinking or has been wrestling with addiction for years, the journey towards balance begins with compassion, curiosity and support. Celebrating small victories, finding new ways to experience pleasure and staying connected to others are all part of that journey.
In the UK today more people are questioning the place alcohol holds in their lives. Dry January is one expression of that questioning. Neuroscience offers insight into why addiction feels so powerful. And therapeutic approaches like Solution Focused Hypnotherapy offer tools to help people reimagine their lives without alcohol at the centre.
I speak from experience here. As a grey area drinker, my relationship with alcohol was full of inner conflict. One side of me longed to stop, while another clung on, convinced I was being deprived of something important. Understanding that it was not just about willpower, but about brain chemistry and deeply held beliefs, was transformative. It felt as though the door of a prison cell had quietly swung open.
Recovery is possible. And it often begins with understanding.
If you would like help addressing an unhealthy drinking habit, why not book a free consultation.
Information sources:
- Alcohol Change UK
- Wikipedia
- “Dopamine Nation” by Dr Anna Lembke