In putting himself out there, he's hoping that we in turn stop and think about our own drinking, or the drinking of a loved one, and question how we have normalised alcohol use in New Zealand. I think there will have been a variety of reactions to this documentary.
For some, this documentary is filled with a few home truths – watching it might have been confronting or even triggering. One in five of us are hazardous drinkers like Gower – unable to see the damage alcohol does to ourselves or to those around us. Gower's inability to moderate might have hit home, or the high functioning nature of his alcoholism.
Maybe you can relate to the feeling that everything is starting to unravel, but you haven't necessarily hit rock bottom. Some people might have been taken aback at Gower's drinking.
As he states at one point in the documentary "Hard-drinking is part of my life ... the only thing that will stop me drinking is a bad hangover".
Maybe there was a sense of relief watching this documentary in that you don't drink to the same extent. But whatever your own situation, 80 per cent of us drink alcohol in NZ, and Gower makes it difficult not to think about how we're drinking.
As the old saying goes, "it's not what we're drinking; it's how we're drinking". One thing that struck me watching this documentary is how our drinking might weigh on our own minds, but we don't necessarily talk about it to those around us.
I feel like there is a shift when it comes to drinking culture in NZ – a gentle shift.
We are seeing fewer young people drinking due to decreasing acceptability, and I've noticed more people turning down a drink socially saying they're off the booze for a bit, or not drinking so much.
However, if there is someone in your life who you are worried about, how do you strike up a conversation about their drinking without offending or judging them? Have you staged an intervention of sorts, and did it work, was it well received?
Or maybe someone sat you down for a chat, and just as Gower did when talking openly, have a moment that changes your attitude toward your drinking.
