Drinking doesn’t have to be all or nothing, yet our model for alcohol misuse assumes abstinence is the only answer
A chap with a dog stopped me on the street this week. He sidled up and said: “Rumour has it you’re off the sauce.” He was referring to a TV programme I made a couple of years ago, in which I talked about my need to reduce the vast amount of alcohol I was drinking; it was getting on for 100 units a week. My conclusion in the film was never that I needed to stop drinking; I just needed to try to cut down. Accordingly, I said to this fellow with the dog that, in fact, I hadn’t stopped drinking; I had just cut down a lot. He smiled a kindly smile and went on his way. I knew exactly what he was thinking: poor chap, he has obviously been unable to knock the drinking on the head and now he is deluding himself that he has it under control. Shame; he needs help.
I get a lot of this, as does every other heavy drinker who is managing to drink much less. We are simply never believed. To be fair, I never used to believe formerly heavy drinkers like me, either.
