07/06/2026
(Copied but so very true and really resonates with me. I grew up with a poorly mother in and out of a liver unit where you see first hand what drink does to your body. My mother never drank it was caused by deterioration of another medical condition which resulted with a liver transplant) god rest her soul as our family lost her in 2000 weeks before my 21st bday🩷🩷🩷 I was hit by a drunk driver when 3 months pregnant with stanley which is what caused the cataylst of events that unfolded afterwards with my own health. I also ended a DV relationship 4yrs ago with an narcissistic alcoholic so alcohol is not something I wish to have in or around my life x
It often shocks people when I tell them I don’t drink alcohol. Not occasionally, not rarely… never. Never have and never will.
I have absolutely no desire for it whatsoever. I don’t like the smell, I know I wouldn’t like the taste and I’m just not interested in the slightest.
People often look confused. They ask if I’m teetotal, if I’m recovering, if something happened, if I’m doing it for charity or if I have a medical condition. Rarely do they ever just accept that I simply do not want to drink and have absolutely no interest in doing so.
And that in itself fascinates me….Because alcohol has become so normalised that choosing not to consume a known toxin somehow requires an explanation. Yet if I said I didn’t drink bleach, nobody would ask why.
Alcohol is responsible for so much suffering and destruction and yet it is advertised, celebrated and deeply woven into society.
⚠️ Around 25-50% of domestic abuse incidents involve alcohol and some studies have found figures as high as 73%. Severe violence is twice as likely when alcohol is involved.
⚠️ Around 39% of violent crime in England and Wales is alcohol related which equates to roughly 440,000 incidents every year.
⚠️ Drink driving still causes thousands of casualties every year and hundreds of deaths.
⚠️ In 2024 there were 9,809 alcohol specific deaths registered in the UK. In 2023 there were over 10,000. That is almost 27 people every single day dying from something society encourages people to consume.
⚠️ Alcohol misuse costs the NHS billions every year and contributes to liver disease, strokes, cancers, heart disease and mental illness.
And before anyone says “everything in moderation” I think it is important that people understand what alcohol actually is (I also hate this saying, because would you go and consume some arsenic or mercury because it will make you lose your inhibitions??? No!)
Alcohol is a neurotoxin - simple as thst.
It crosses the blood brain barrier. It affects neurotransmitters. It damages nerve cells. It disrupts sleep architecture. It impairs memory and cognition. It increases oxidative stress and inflammation throughout the body.
Studies have linked alcohol consumption with increased risks of at least seven cancers including breast cancer, bowel cancer, liver cancer and oesophageal cancer!! Even low levels of alcohol consumption have been shown to increase risk.
🧠 It shrinks grey matter in the brain.
🧠 It interferes with REM sleep and recovery.
🧠 It raises cortisol and can worsen anxiety and depression.
🧠 It impairs decision making and reaction times.
🧠 It damages the liver because the body recognises ethanol as a poison and prioritises breaking it down before anything else.
And what I find interesting is that if a new substance came onto the market tomorrow which was linked to violence, domestic abuse, cancers, neurological damage, road deaths and thousands of deaths every year, people would be demanding it was banned.
But alcohol has one thing on its side…Money!!!
Alcohol duty and VAT generate billions in tax revenue for the government every year. The industry itself is worth tens of billions and supports huge sectors from hospitality to advertising. There is simply too much money involved.
So no, I don’t drink.
Not because I’m recovering.
Not because I’m pregnant.
Not because of religion.
Not because somebody told me not to.
I just have absolutely no desire to willingly consume something that has caused so much misery, destroyed so many families and is recognised by science as a neurotoxin.
And what’s funny is that society sees the person who says “no thanks” as the strange - I’ll carry on with my filtered water with lemon and lime, thanks 🙂
