About the Website
Who am I?
Hi, my name is Andrew Elliott, and I am the owner of this website. I have created the ‘Drink-Smart’ website as a resource to help others who are either thinking about going sober for life or just trying to reduce their current alcohol intake.
I am just an ordinary person and I am just under a month sober. I am not a diagnosed alcoholic, I did not drink every day, neither did I have the ‘shakes’, but I did find that over the last couple of years my drinking had increased to unhealthy levels. I was drinking about 3 to 4 times a week and on average I was consuming around 30 to 40 units of alcohol a week. This was equivalent to around 15 to 20 pints, 3 to 4 bottles of wine a week, or 21 to 28 glasses of spirits.
I had tried to give up alcohol before by taking part in activities such as ‘Dry January’, however the longest I lasted without alcohol was around 2 weeks. I found that during this time of abstinence all I though about was when I could give up and have that next drink. I have tried cutting down which always lasted for a couple of weeks and then I would either have a blow-out or my alcohol intake would gradually increase back up to where I started. I got to the point where I was always looking for an excuse to go out for a drink (rarely did I drink in the house). This would include to relax after a hard day’s work, celebrate occasions (this could be anything, not the opening of an envelope!), dates out with my wife (which always involved consuming some alcohol).
Eventually I was finding that alcohol was starting to consume my life, even when I was not drinking, I was thinking of when I should take the next drink. I did not drink every day but that was down to my self-loathing that I should not drink every day as this was not the ‘norm’. My life was starting to spiral towards the point of no return, I was no longer a happy drunk, the hangovers got worse, both my personal and work life was starting to suffer, as well as my health. So at the end of March of this year (2019) I decided to try ‘Sober Spring’, this was a little late and it was not a success at first. On the 1st April I stated but only lasted 3 days and lapsed for 2 days, since the 6th April I have not had any alcohol (currently 21 days and counting).
Part of this website is to provide information to others in my position and provide myself with a form of self-healing by giving back to others. So please go ahead, I hope I can help you on your journey. Please leave any comments you feel would help improve this website and give inspiration to others, see the comments page. You can also visit my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
Where to get help
If you are, or feel you are, addicted to alcohol please seek help from either a medical professional or professional services in your area. Do not stop drinking alcohol on your own as this can result in serious side-affects. To get further information visit organisations such as:
For the rest of you, external resources you can get help to either stop or cut down one of the best resources to start at is Drinkaware (drinkaware). For other resources check out my guest blog and book review list.
You have made the fist step on breaking the shackles or alcohol, good luck on your journey.
Andy.