Beyond Dry January: Psychologists on why celebration without restraint leaves lasting scars

Beyond Dry January: Psychologists on why celebration without restraint leaves lasting scars

January has a way of stripping life back to its essentials. The music fades, decorations disappear, and the group chats that buzzed relentlessly through December fall quiet. The calendar turns, work resumes, and the rhythm of ordinary life returns with little sympathy for what the previous month demanded. What remains is often uncomfortable. Bank balances that feel lighter than expected. Bodies that are slower to recover. Routines that were susp…