Connect with us

CBS News

As Dry January ends, what’s next? What to know about drinking again—or quitting alcohol for good

Avatar

Published

on


January is coming to an end, which marks a milestone for those taking part in the Dry January alcohol-free challenge. But it also presents a question about what comes next for those who ditched drinking for the month. 

While some may want to take a longer break from booze or stay sober for good, others will opt to return to alcohol. In any case, experts say there are a few things to be mindful of.

If you’re not sure what path is best for you, reflection can be a useful way to transition into February, says Dr. Aimee Chiligiris, a clinical psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Questions you might ask yourself include: 

  • What are some of the reasons I wanted to make this change? 
  • What do I want my relationship with alcohol to look like in the future? 
  • What are the health benefits I noticed? 
  • Were there any other shifts I noticed when not drinking?

Drinking after Dry January? “Go slow”

If you do return to alcohol, there are a few things to keep in mind for your health.

“After abstaining from alcohol for a month, your tolerance for alcohol will be lower, so it will take less alcohol than it used to for you to feel the effects,” says Dr. Sarah Church, a clinical psychologist and founder and executive director of Wholeview Wellness. “Go slow and try to be mindful of how you are feeling so you don’t overdo it. You want to gradually introduce alcohol back into your routines.” 

You may have also experienced some positive health changes during Dry January that you’ll want to maintain, including:

  • Improved sleep
  • Lowered blood pressure
  • Clearer skin
  • Increased focus
  • Weight loss

A return to heavy alcohol consumption in February can lead to the reversal of these benefits, Church says. 

“To protect your investment in your health, consider reintroducing alcohol in moderation and pay close attention to see if there is backsliding on the improvements that are important to you,” she suggests. 

Or, instead of going back to a previous level of alcohol consumption, Church suggests considering a “damp” or “dry-ish” month approach, where you reintroduce alcohol but with more moderation and mindfulness.  

“You might want to set a number of days per week that you don’t drink, or you may want to set an upper limit on how many drinks you have on the days that you do drink,” she says.

Staying sober after Dry January

If you enjoyed the changes you saw with no alcohol, or discovered you had a more problematic relationship with it than you previously realized, your dry journey doesn’t have to stop in January. 

“Overall we’re seeing more people being more socially acceptable and encouraged to take breaks from alcohol or say, ‘I’m not drinking tonight.’ So at any time this can be something that can be implemented,” Chiligiris says, adding that it can also be helpful to get professional support if you need.

As you lean into your alcohol-free journey, Church suggests a few more tips:

Check in with yourself

“Identify your reasons for drinking and find alternative ways to achieve those objectives without alcohol,” she says, pointing out you’ve likely already tried a few of them during Dry January. “Reflect on the ones that were most successful and consider adopting them long-term.”

Stock up on spirit-free options

“Make sure to have lots of non-alcoholic beverages both in your home and when you go to parties and social gatherings,” she says, this can include sparkling water, non-alcoholic beer and more.

Communicate your plans 

Church also suggests sharing your goal with friends and family and asking for their support.

If you or a loved one is experiencing a problem with alcohol, help is available via the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

CBS News

7/2: CBS Evening News – CBS News

Avatar

Published

on


7/2: CBS Evening News – CBS News


Watch CBS News



Beryl leaves trail of destruction on Caribbean islands; Brooklyn organization tries to get more girls into skateboarding

Be the first to know

Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.




Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

CBS News

Robert Towne, legendary Hollywood screenwriter of “Chinatown,” dies at 89

Avatar

Published

on


Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of “Shampoo,” “The Last Detail” and other acclaimed films whose work on “Chinatown” became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, has died. He was 89.

Towne “passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family” Monday at his home in Los Angeles, his publicist Carri McClure, told CBS News in a statement. She did not provide a cause of death.

In an industry which gave birth to rueful jokes about the writer’s status, Towne for a time held prestige comparable to the actors and directors he worked with. Through his friendships with two of the biggest stars of the 1960s and ’70s, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, he wrote or co-wrote some of the signature films of an era when artists held an unusual level of creative control. The rare “auteur” among screen writers, Towne managed to bring a highly personal and influential vision of Los Angeles onto the screen.

Writer Robert Towne
Writer Robert Towne in audience during the 36th AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Warren Beatty held at the Kodak Theatre on June 12, 2008 in Hollywood, California. 

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for AFI


“It’s a city that’s so illusory,” Towne told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview. “It’s the westernmost west of America. It’s a sort of place of last resort. It’s a place where, in a word, people go to make their dreams come true. And they’re forever disappointed.”

Recognizable around Hollywood for his high forehead and full beard, Towne won an Academy Award for “Chinatown” and was nominated three other times, for “The Last Detail,” “Shampoo” and “Greystoke.” In 1997, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America.

“His life, like the characters he created, was incisive, iconoclastic and entirely (original),” said “Shampoo” actor Lee Grant on X.

Towne was born Robert Bertram Schwartz in Los Angeles and moved to San Pedro after his father’s business, a dress shop, closed down because of the Great Depression. His father changed the family name to Towne.

Towne’s success came after a long stretch of working in television, including “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” and “The Lloyd Bridges Show,” and on low-budget movies for “B” producer Roger Corman. In a classic show business story, he owed his breakthrough in part to his psychiatrist, through whom he met Beatty, a fellow patient. As Beatty worked on “Bonnie and Clyde,” he brought in Towne for revisions of the Robert Benton-David Newman script and had him on the set while the movie was filmed in Texas.

Towne’s contributions were uncredited for “Bonnie and Clyde,” the landmark crime film released in 1967, and for years he was a favorite ghost writer. He helped out on “The Godfather,” “The Parallax View” and “Heaven Can Wait” among others and referred to himself as a “relief pitcher who could come in for an inning, not pitch the whole game.” But Towne was credited by name for Nicholson’s macho “The Last Detail” and Beatty’s sex comedy “Shampoo” and was immortalized by “Chinatown,” the 1974 thriller set during the Great Depression.

“Chinatown” was directed by Roman Polanski and starred Nicholson as J.J. “Jake” Gittes, a private detective asked to follow the husband of Evelyn Mulwray (played by Faye Dunaway). The husband is chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Gittes finds himself caught in a chaotic spiral of corruption and violence, embodied by Evelyn’s ruthless father, Noah Cross (John Huston).

Influenced by the fiction of Raymond Chandler, Towne resurrected the menace and mood of a classic Los Angeles film noir, but cast Gittes’ labyrinthine odyssey across a grander and more insidious portrait of Southern California. Clues accumulate into a timeless detective tale, and lead helplessly to tragedy, summed up by one of the most repeated lines in movie history, words of grim fatalism a devastated Gittes receives from his partner Lawrence Walsh (Joe Mantell): “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.”

The back story of “Chinatown” has itself become a kind of detective story, explored in producer Robert Evans’ memoir, “The Kid Stays in the Picture”; in Peter Biskind’s “East Riders, Raging Bulls,” a history of 1960s-1970s Hollywood, and in Sam Wasson’s “The Big Goodbye,” dedicated entirely to “Chinatown.” In “The Big Goodbye,” published in 2020, Wasson alleged that Towne was helped extensively by a ghost writer — former college roommate Edward Taylor. According to “The Big Goodbye,” for which Towne declined to be interviewed, Taylor did not ask for credit on the film because his “friendship with Robert” mattered more.

The studios assumed more power after the mid-1970s and Towne’s standing declined. His own efforts at directing, including “Personal Best” and “Tequila Sunrise,” had mixed results. “The Two Jakes,” the long-awaited sequel to “Chinatown,” was a commercial and critical disappointment when released in 1990 and led to a temporary estrangement between Towne and Nicholson.

Around the same time, he agreed to work on a movie far removed from the art-house aspirations of the ’70s, the Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer production “Days of Thunder,” starring Tom Cruise as a race car driver and Robert Duvall as his crew chief. The 1990 movie was famously over budget and mostly panned, although its admirers include Quentin Tarantino and countless racing fans. And Towne’s script popularized an expression used by Duvall after Cruise complains another car slammed him: “He didn’t slam into you, he didn’t bump you, he didn’t nudge you. He rubbed you.

“And rubbin,′ son, is racin.'”

Towne later worked with Cruise on “The Firm” and the first two “Mission: Impossible” movies. His most recent film was “Ask the Dust,” a Los Angeles story he wrote and directed that came out in 2006. Towne was married twice, the second time to Luisa Gaule, and had two children. His brother, Roger Towne, also wrote screenplays, his credits include “The Natural.”



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

CBS News

Analyzing impact of Supreme Court’s Trump immunity decision

Avatar

Published

on


Analyzing impact of Supreme Court’s Trump immunity decision – CBS News


Watch CBS News



It’s been a day since the Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken in office but that he is not protected from prosecution for unofficial acts. CBS News legal analyst Jessica Levinson joins to unpack the decision.

Be the first to know

Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.




Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024 Breaking MN

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.