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Dry January is a campaign delivered by Alcohol Change UK where people sign up to abstain from alcohol for the month of January. The term "Dry January" is a registered trademark with Alcohol Change UK and was first registered in 2014.[1]
The campaign was first delivered in 2013 by Alcohol Concern (now called Alcohol Change UK)[2] and 2024 marks the 11th anniversary of the campaign.[3] The first reported Dry January was in 2008 by Frank Posillico in Huntington, New York. Many noted his dramatic weight loss and increased energy level. Inspired by Posillico's movement, Emily Robinson started an international Dry January campaign when she joined Alcohol Concern in 2012. While others may have had a month off alcohol in January, Robinson was the first person to turn it into a campaign and trademarked Dry January for Alcohol Concern [4] Around the same time Nicole Brodeur of The Seattle Times wrote a column on her first Dry January motivated by a friend who had done the same for several years before.[5]
In its first year, 4,000 people signed up for Dry January and it has grown in popularity ever since with over 130,000 people signing up to take part in 2022.[6] Dry January was endorsed by Public Health England in 2015 leading to a large uptake in numbers[7] and steady increase in participants year on year. Research by the University of Sussex published in 2020 found that those signing up to take part in Dry January using Alcohol Change UK's free Try Dry app and/or coaching emails were twice as likely to have a completely alcohol-free month, compared to those who try to avoid alcohol on their own in January, and have significantly improved wellbeing and healthier drinking six months later.[8]
Dry January has official partners in Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Iceland, France, the Netherlands[9] and the US.
In some countries, such as the Czech Republic and Canada, Dry February (or Dry Feb) is campaigned instead. The Finnish Government had launched a campaign called "Sober January" in 1942 as part of its war effort.[11]
A Morning Consult poll conducted from January 4–5, 2021, with 2,200 US adults found that 13 percent of American respondents were participating in "Dry January". This compared with 11% in previous years. 79 percent attributed the decision to being healthier[12] while 72 percent were trying to drink less alcohol in general; 63 percent said they wanted to "reset" their drinking, and 49 percent said they were drinking too much during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In 2022, 35% of adult drinkers decided to become abstinent at the start of the New Year.[14] Some people believe that they will go back to their old drinking habits right after Dry January, but recent studies have shown that making this small lifestyle change can have a lasting impact for months down the road.[15]
For participants with a dependency on alcohol, Dry January may lead to symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome if they start out abstaining completely.[16] For such people, experts advise consultation with a health professional before participating in this exercise.[17][18]
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