‘I’d had enough of over-drinking, so I did something about it’

‘I gave up booze; now I can enjoy socialising’

When hangovers started to last for days, Kirstin Chaplin, 49, from London, took drastic action. ‘I’d been locked in a love-hate relationship with alcohol for decades. But after having my first child when I was 35, hangovers no longer just made me feel lousy the next morning, they also filled me with overwhelming guilt, which turned into days of crippling anxiety.

Things came to a head at the end of 2016 when, once again wracked with self-loathing after a boozy night out, I decided to write a list. If I could come up with 50 reasons to stop drinking, I’d stop for a year. I scribbled down 46, then I stopped, too scared to finish. But a month later, after a hectic round of socialising, I added the last entries and there was no going back. The anxiety disappeared but cutting out alcohol also means you lose its numbing effects, which can be tough. However, I found that once I’d told people I’d stopped drinking, the social pressure was replaced with encouragement. Initially, the idea of stopping forever was too overwhelming, so I settled on a year. Now, it will be three years this December since I’ve drunk alcohol and I don’t miss it. I expected socialising to be torture but now, instead of spending the night fretting about topping up, I enjoy having good conversations. So, if you meet a non-drinker, don’t write them off as dull, they’re having just as nice a time as you!’