Sober October: how it works, the rules, and what a month off can do

What Sober October is

According to its organisers, Sober October is a fundraiser that challenges you to go alcohol-free for the month of October, to make some healthy changes while raising funds to support people affected by alcohol harm. In the UK the money goes to Alcohol Change UK, the charity behind the Try Dry® app.

Signing up is free. You get a profile page to collect donations and post updates, you can create or join a team with friends or colleagues, and you can take part even if you do not live in England. Donations stay open after October ends.

The rules in 2026: no Golden Ticket

Earlier versions of the challenge let you buy a Golden Ticket to skip one night. The organisers say they have now retired it, to better reflect Alcohol Change UK's approach to supporting long-term behaviour change.

They are also clear that you do not have to be perfect. On having a drink during the month, their advice is not to panic: one drink or one day does not mean you have failed. They suggest reflecting on what happened, recording it honestly and deciding how to carry on, and say every alcohol-free day still counts. Their Try Dry® app includes Drink as Planned days for events you have decided to drink at.

If you want to keep your own record without an account, our tracker works for October too: in October, choose "This month" and tick off each alcohol-free day. The total never resets after a drinking day.

What a month without alcohol can change

The organisers list a sense of wellbeing, a clearer head, more energy, better sleep and a sense of achievement among the benefits. The research on a month off was done on Dry January participants rather than Sober October, so treat it as a guide to what a month without alcohol can do.

In a 2018 study in BMJ Open, 94 healthy regular drinkers who stopped for a month saw insulin resistance fall by 25.9%, systolic blood pressure by 6.6%, diastolic blood pressure by 6.3% and weight by 1.5%, while a group that kept drinking showed no significant changes. Surveys of Dry January participants at the University of Sussex found they were drinking less six months later. Our guide to Dry January benefits explains what those studies did and did not measure.

Sober October or Dry January?

Both are a month without alcohol; the main difference is timing. Sober October ends weeks before Christmas and New Year, so it gives you time to see whether new habits last through the party season. Dry January starts straight after it.

Some people do both. If October goes well, you might use the weeks after it to try drink-free days rather than going straight back to old patterns, or plan for a dry January with our Dry January tips.

Who should not stop suddenly

The challenge is for people who can stop without medical help. The organisers warn that people who are clinically alcohol dependent can die if they suddenly, completely stop drinking. They say that if you get fits, shaking hands, sweating, seeing things that are not real, depression, anxiety or difficulty sleeping after a period of drinking, you may be dependent and should not suddenly stop, and should talk to a GP or local alcohol service instead.

The NHS gives the same advice: it can be very dangerous to stop drinking suddenly if you are dependent on alcohol, so get medical help before you try. Our page on what happens when you stop drinking explains the difference.

Common questions

When to get help

This site offers self-help tools and information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor, or call one of the lines below, if:

• you feel shaky, sweaty, sick or anxious when you haven't had a drink;
• you find it hard to stop once you start, or you want to cut down and can't;
• drinking is causing problems with your health, work or the people close to you.

Before you stop: It can be very dangerous to stop drinking suddenly if you are dependent on alcohol. If you get withdrawal symptoms, get medical help before you try to stop drinking.

Sources

1. Sober October: about the challenge and FAQs. Alcohol Change UK (Sober October). soberoctober.org.uk
2. Mehta G, Macdonald S, Cronberg A, et al. (2018). Short-term abstinence from alcohol and changes in cardiovascular risk factors, liver function tests and cancer-related growth factors: a prospective observational study. BMJ Open, 8(5), e020673. PMID 29730627
3. de Visser RO, Robinson E, Bond R. (2016). Voluntary temporary abstinence from alcohol during "Dry January" and subsequent alcohol use. Health Psychology, 35(3), 281–289. PMID 26690637
4. Alcohol-use disorder. NHS. nhs.uk