Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for alerting people to the dangers of alcohol and encouraging the joys of sobriety. But booze is only a substance that helps people to relax and if humans hadn’t invented it, we would have invented something else just as mind-numbing.
Yet, there is a certain type of reformed drinker who blames all their problems on the grog, refusing to take any responsibility whatsoever for their ailments. Their belief is: ‘if I didn’t live in a society soaked in rum, I’d never have had any issues!’ But in the last couple of years I have come to realise that my alcohol consumption was only a symptom of something much deeper. It wasn’t the booze that was the problem – it was me. If I hadn’t become addicted to beer, you can bet your bottom dollar I would have become addicted to something else to numb the chatter in my head. It is why I’m so grateful for 12-Step programmes. They give me a much healthier way of getting out of my own head.
Whenever I go out for dinner, people inevitably ask if I mind them having a glass of wine, as if I might burst into flames at the sight of some Chablis. But I love people drinking normally around me. It is such a joy, and so, so helpful, because it reminds me of exactly why I can’t drink.
A glass of wine with dinner? As an alcoholic, the thought truly appals me. I’d much rather have none than one – as the saying goes in sobriety “one is too many; a thousand is never enough”. So here’s my message to happy, healthy, occasional drinkers, reading this over their evening aperitif: carry on enjoying your life, and let these scientists shove their surveys where the sun doesn’t shine.
Where to get help:
Alcohol and Drug Helpline NZ.
