I stumbled across a news item this week about a sober bar in Columbus, Ohio that was closing shop after just seven months.

The bar, named The Dry Mill, had opened at the tail end of April, funded in part through a Kickstarter campaign. It served as an entirely alcohol-free location for people to gather without any social pressure to drink alcohol.

In a Facebook post, the owners explained, “Our purpose was to help those who are sober or didn’t want to be around alcohol, and give them an environment where they felt safe.”

Unfortunately, despite social media buzz and a successful Kickstarter, the bar simply didn’t generate enough sales to stay in business. According to the post, “The past few months sales have declined and we cannot continue to operate the business based on the current levels of customers we are receiving.”

At the end, the post leaves the door open for a possible relaunch by saying, “We hope one day The Dry Mill can return and we can open our doors again.” However, there aren’t any further details about what that return might look like.

The Sobriety Fad

Several recent surveys and studies show that sobriety rates are rising, at least in some demographics. A 2021 Gallup poll, for example, found drinking rates lower throughout the United States, and particularly low for adults under 35 and over 55. A Drinkaware study, per Deseret News, found that Gen Z was the most likely to abstain.

Anecdotally, my observations confirm this trend too. I quit drinking at the end of 2016 (and first started trying to quit about 7 years before that). The first time I ever tried getting sober, when I was in my early twenties, it felt like there was almost nobody else under thirty in the recovery world. These days, the recovery community is overflowing with twenty-somethings.

Over the past few years, non-alcoholic drinks and alcohol-free bars have also taken off. I’m always browsing news stories about addiction, and it seems like every other week I read an announcement about a new sober bar opening.

However, it’s been much rarer that I see a news article about a sober bar closing, which is why the story about The Dry Mill caught my eye. It made me wonder: Is the sobriety fad coming to an end?

What’s Next?

My answer is that I don’t know, but I hope sobriety doesn’t go out of style. I’ve never been the type who believes that everyone needs to quit drinking. However, I think that those of us with addictions to alcohol do.

It’s been great to watch sobriety become so normalized. It’s not as if the stigma around addiction has disappeared completely, but it sure is a lot better than it was a decade ago.

I truly hope that anyone struggling with addiction — to alcohol, or anything else — can feel comfortable getting the help that they need. Without a doubt, normalizing sobriety has saved lives.

With all of that said, I do think that the trend toward non-alcoholic drinks and sober bars is probably going to fade out soon. The reality is that these things just aren’t necessary for recovery.

I’ve been sober for nearly six years, and I’ve never set foot in a sober bar. I understand the appeal for some, but for me, they just serve as a reminder of the miserable life that I escaped from when I quit drinking.

Instead of replacing my drinking habit with things that emulate drinking, I’ve replaced it with hobbies and habits that are completely different. I’ve taken up exercising, spending more time outdoors, and pursuing creative hobbies. For me, at least, this is a far more constructive approach than going to bars, sober or not.

Again, I’m not trying to knock the concept of a sober bar. I think they’ve helped to normalize sobriety, and for some people, I’m sure they help. However, I don’t think that they’re central to many people’s recovery, and I have a hard time believing that they will generate enough long-term interest to stay open.

Regardless of whether I’m right or wrong about these sobriety trends, I hope that sobriety itself is not a fad. Those of us who have struggled with alcoholism know just how important and life-changing it was to quit drinking.