May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Several factors lie behind this, according to Richard Piper, the chief executive of Alcohol Change, a charity that campaigns to reduce alcohol harm.

She didn’t consider herself to be addicted to alcohol, but says: “I knew my relationship with alcohol wasn’t going in a good direction. Regardless of the amount you drink, this little book will enable you to enjoy social occasions more and leave you better equipped to handle stress. Using examples from his own experience, Allen demolishes all of the myths that surround drinking and shows us all exactly how to enjoy social occasions more, leaving you better equipped to handle stress. For James, who is in his mid-50s, what finally convinced him to ditch the booze was waking up hungover after a workplace Christmas party.There are inequalities within this – he says it tends to be women, rather than men, who are cutting down or giving up, and it tends to be “wealthier, more wellbeing-conscious parts of the population, whereas working-class populations and communities are not, at the same level, exposed to those kind of messages, or are finding it harder to make the change. She had followed a similar pattern to that of other people she knew in their mid-40s – teenage drinking that continued at university and in her 20s, then drinking at home in her 30s and 40s. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

She went back to working in broadcasting, and presents her own show on BBC Radio Lancashire, as well as hosting a podcast, Over the Influence, about life alcohol-free. We also know far more about the harm alcohol causes, he points out – younger people may recognise this, but so do increasing numbers of older people.I used to brag that I didn’t get hangovers, but I think because of the frequency of my drinking, I lived in a constant state of hangover. The day before the hangover to end all hangovers, I had gone for a late lunch with a friend; we shared a bottle of prosecco. Looking back, university was probably the last time in my life when drinking a lot was anything close to resembling fun. This is a great easy book to dip into anywhere whenever you want a 'pep rally' talk, a simple and quick read but packs a powerful punch. I was that person when I was drinking who was gutted if somebody turned up and they were on antibiotics or they were pregnant.

Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. I would never touch it again, which feels bonkers to me, because I could never have seen myself doing that,” he says.She took a selfie of herself that first day, and then another each week, watching her face deflate, the blotches on her skin disappear, the whites of her eyes become clearer. We work closely with publishers and authors to ensure that we offer the best books on the market for your child. One is life stage: drinking usually starts as a social activity when people are in their teens or 20s. I never thought a group of strangers on the internet could help me change bad habits built up over more than two decades, but they did.

Kate Beavis, 50, a menopause awareness campaigner, also gave up drinking after her second attempt at dry January, in 2015, with a loosely held thought that she would try to continue it for a year.Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian View image in fullscreen ‘There are some people I rarely see now: our relationship was built around getting drunk’ . The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. The main thing it’s made me realise is it’s so endemic in British culture – people drink all the time and you see, when you stop doing it, how ridiculous it is.