September can feel like a shock to the system.
After summer holidays, long evenings, weekends away and a slightly more relaxed routine, suddenly everything starts again.
The alarm goes off earlier.
The commute returns.
Your inbox is overflowing.
The children are back at school.
Deadlines start appearing.
And by the time you finally get home, one thought can become increasingly appealing:
“I need a drink.”
For many people, alcohol becomes the dividing line between work and relaxation.
You close the laptop, pour a glass of wine and the working day feels officially over.
But what happens when that occasional drink becomes something you rely on every evening to switch off?
And what can you do if you’ve already tried to reduce drinking, only to find yourself returning to exactly the same routine?
Why Do We Associate Alcohol With Relaxation?
Habits develop around cues.
For some people, the cue might be Friday evening.
For others, it’s preparing dinner.
But for many working adults, simply finishing work becomes the signal to drink.
It specifically gives examples many people will recognise: wine while preparing dinner or beers while watching television once the day’s chores are finished.
At first, you might consciously choose that drink.
After months or years of repetition, however, it can start feeling automatic.
Finish work → drink → relax.
That’s a powerful routine.
Did Summer Make Your Drinking Worse?
Summer can complicate things further.
Perhaps you drank more on holiday.
Maybe there were barbecues, weddings, parties and afternoons in pub gardens.
Perhaps your usual Friday and Saturday drinking gradually expanded to Thursday.
Then Wednesday.
Then you found yourself having something most evenings.
Now you’re back at work, the summer social drinking may have been replaced by drinking to relax after work.
If you’re thinking “I drank too much this summer”, September is a useful time to assess what’s happened rather than simply allowing the pattern to continue into autumn.
Are You Really Drinking Because You’re Stressed?
It’s worth asking yourself this question.
Imagine you’ve had a difficult Tuesday.
Do you automatically reach for wine?
What about a good Tuesday?
Do you still have the wine?
If alcohol appears regardless of whether you’ve had a good or bad day, the behaviour may have become connected with the routine itself rather than simply being a response to stress.
This is why tracking your alcohol consumption can be so useful.
Write down what you drink, when you drink it and what was happening immediately beforehand.
You may start recognising patterns you’ve never noticed before.
Is There a Pill to Stop Drinking?
When people repeatedly struggle to change these patterns, they often start looking for additional help.
That’s why searches such as these are increasingly common:
“Is there a pill to stop drinking?”
“What medication helps you drink less?”
“Can Naltrexone help reduce drinking?”
“What is the Sinclair Method?”
There isn’t a magic pill to stop drinking that instantly removes the desire to consume alcohol.
However, there are prescription medicines used in alcohol treatment, including Naltrexone.
Naltrexone is an opioid-receptor antagonist. It works on opioid receptors involved in alcohol’s reinforcing effects.
For appropriate patients, Naltrexone can be considered as part of a medically supervised approach to alcohol treatment.
It isn’t suitable for everyone, and prescription treatment requires an appropriate clinical assessment.
Naltrexone, John Sinclair and the Sinclair Method
One of the most fascinating areas of research into Naltrexone and drinking is associated with the pioneering work of Dr John David Sinclair.
Sinclair’s research into alcohol-seeking behaviour began in the 1970s.
His work investigated learned drinking behaviour and reinforcement, eventually exploring whether opioid antagonists could be used to weaken some of the learned associations surrounding alcohol.
His approach subsequently became widely associated with what is known as the Sinclair Method.
A concept central to Sinclair’s work is pharmacological extinction.
In simplified terms, alcohol can reinforce drinking behaviour through its effects on reward-related systems. Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors involved in some of these reinforcing effects.
Sinclair investigated whether repeatedly blocking this reinforcement in association with alcohol consumption could gradually weaken learned alcohol-seeking behaviour.
The Drink Less Method is inspired by the pioneering work of John Sinclair and his Sinclair Method, while following its own clinically guided approach.
Why Is the Sinclair Method Interesting to People Who Want to Reduce Drinking?
Traditional conversations around problematic alcohol consumption have often focused heavily on one objective:
Stop drinking completely.
For some people, abstinence is absolutely the right goal.
But not everyone looking for help with alcohol necessarily starts from that position.
Some people are thinking:
“I don’t want to get drunk every weekend.”
“I don’t want to finish a bottle of wine every night.”
“I want to be able to have one or two drinks and stop.”
Or simply:
“I want to reduce my drinking.”
The ideas associated with John Sinclair attracted interest partly because they contributed to a different discussion around alcohol treatment and learned behaviour.
Change What “Switching Off” Looks Like
Medication is only part of the picture.
If alcohol has become your signal that the working day is over, try creating a different signal.
Alcohol Change UK suggests identifying the two or three situations in which drinking tends to slip and deciding beforehand what you’ll do when those moments arrive.
For example, when you finish work:
- go for a 20-minute walk;
- have a shower and change clothes;
- make an alcohol-free drink;
- exercise;
- listen to music;
- cook something different;
or simply avoid going immediately to the place where you normally pour your first drink.
The specific activity matters less than changing the automatic sequence.
Instead of:
Work → alcohol → relaxation
you’re trying to create:
Work → new routine → relaxation.
What If You’ve Already Tried to Cut Down Alcohol?
Many people know exactly what they should do.
That’s not necessarily the problem.
They’ve already tried alcohol-free days.
They’ve promised themselves they’ll only drink at weekends.
They’ve stopped buying wine during the week.
Yet eventually the old behaviour returns.
If you’ve repeatedly attempted to reduce drinking but haven’t achieved the change you want, it may be worth exploring whether additional support or medication to reduce drinking could be clinically appropriate.
For suitable adults, Naltrexone may be one option a qualified prescriber considers following assessment.
It isn’t a guaranteed pill to stop drinking, nor should it be presented as a replacement for addressing the causes of stress or problematic drinking.
But medication can potentially form one component of a wider plan for change.
Don’t Let September Put You Back on Autopilot
Returning to work means returning to routines.
But they don’t have to be the same routines you had before.
If you drank more than you intended over the summer, this could be the ideal opportunity to draw a line under that period and look at what you want to happen next.
- Track your drinking.
- Identify your triggers.
- Notice when alcohol becomes automatic.
- Find different ways of switching off after work.
And if you’ve repeatedly tried to cut down alcohol without achieving the result you want, consider learning more about the medically supported options available.
Anyone who is drinking heavily or may be physically dependent on alcohol should seek appropriate medical advice before suddenly stopping or substantially reducing their intake, because alcohol withdrawal can sometimes be dangerous.
A Different Way of Thinking About Drinking Less
The pioneering work begun by John Sinclair in the 1970s, the approach that became associated with the Sinclair Method, and subsequent research into Naltrexone have all contributed to the discussion around different ways of addressing problematic alcohol consumption.
For some people, the objective is complete abstinence.
For others, the starting point is simply:
“I want to reduce my drinking and regain control.”
If your first thought after every stressful working day has become “I need a drink,” perhaps September is the right time to create a different routine.
Want to Find Out More About Naltrexone and Reducing Your Drinking?
Learn more about Naltrexone, the Sinclair Method, medication to reduce drinking and the Drink Less Method approach for suitable adults who want greater control over their alcohol consumption.
Find out more: www.drinklessmethod.co.uk