Before I quit drinking, one of my biggest concerns was the reaction I might get from other people. I imagined walking into a bar, ordering a non-alcoholic drink, and the entire place going quiet as people turned in shock. (I know – dramatic...

When I was trying (and failing) to quit drinking, I always had a lot of angry questions for myself the morning after. Questions like: Why on earth did I do that? Why do I keep drinking when I said I wouldn’t? Sometimes my drinking felt like a bit of...

“This is too hard for me.” When I was struggling to quit drinking, I said this so often it almost became a mantra. But back then, alcohol-free living really did feel like an impossible task to me. If you’re feeling the same way, there...

Alcohol is such a blunt tool. If you’re drinking to take the edge off the day, you’re not just numbing out from the stuff you’re trying to avoid. You end up taking the shine off a lot of the good stuff too. You numb the lows and the highs. That...

All you’re doing is looking forward to your next glass of wine. Perhaps you’re half way through a bottle? Or staring into an empty glass and pondering another? You’re distracted, so you don’t realise a robbery is taking place...

At this time of year, I often hear from people worried they’ll be missing out if they stay sober on holiday. They can’t imagine skipping cocktails by the pool or saying no to wine with their evening meal. When you’re feeling this way, it’s so...

Picture the scene: you’re trying really hard to be good when, out of nowhere, you’re offered a free drink. It might be during a flight, on holiday, at a wedding, a party, a restaurant or a work conference… Wherever it is, there’s...

Perhaps you keep thinking about taking a break from alcohol. Maybe you’ve been dabbling with sobriety, on and off, for a while… You spend a lot of time worrying about your drinking and contemplating quitting. But you just don’t feel ready yet. Somehow,...

For a long time I didn’t want to quit drinking completely. The idea of total sobriety felt very restrictive to me. I was certain that if I could just find a way to control my drinking and “moderate properly”, I’d be happy. Back then, what...