To live her highest potential she needs to quit the booze, so why will she start again? — Adele hit the news this week because she’s giving up alcohol. Is it strange that this is newsworthy? Perhaps. Does this say more about our obsession with celebrities or alcohol? I’m not sure. Reading the story I was struck by: a) how even millionaire hitmakers find 21st Century life…

Behaviors to watch out for so that your relationships stay healthy. — When I was nine years old I had a beautiful, charismatic best friend. Jessica was pretty, kind, clever and funny, and we had the best time together. Making up plays and dreaming of boys, we got on a treat if it was only the two of us. Add another player…

Or how I spent hundreds of pounds not solving my biggest problems really slowly — Nice white lady #1, 2015 Trigger: A friend pushed me to go to the doctor after I admitted to having suicidal thoughts. (Apparently, this is alarming. Who knew?) I cried to the GP and was given a prescription for Citalopram and a number to call the Talking Therapies team. Three months later I sat in…

Our conversation helped me stop over-explaining my choice. — I’ve been sober for six years now, and I no longer get defensive about my sobriety. But for the first few years, I felt pressure to prove my drinking was really bad. Like I needed permission to quit from the drinker’s club. …

Reflections on consciousness, newts, gardening and sobriety — Last week I was six years sober, and I didn’t even write about it. Yet. Because I can’t stop gardening. Lately, I’ve been spending every spare moment in the garden. Is this procrastination? I’m on the second draft of my third novel, after all, and have hopes of finishing it…

39 Years Old, 5.5 years sober, 1.5 years Actually Autistic, and I finally nailed it. — Enjoying a birthday sounds simple, but historically I’ve found it hard. There have been years where I’ve worried about ageing, years where I haven’t wanted to ‘make a fuss’, years where I’ve been flat out depressed (without realising). There have been years I organised things that weren’t to my own…

Emotional dysregulation and listening to the War on Drugs — Throughout my life I have enjoyed listening to melancholy music and sinking into the deep sadness that seems to reside in my gut. I think this started in my late teens. I recall answering my bedroom door to my housemate in halls with a tearful expression and some kind of…

Join me in a year of unmasking, and find a more authentic you 🥳 🤷 🥰 🤔 — Intermittently in my life, I feel myself waking up. A new burst of inspiration and understanding comes, and I feel ALIIIIVEEEEE. I see the world around me and inhabit my body better, stop living so completely in my head. This has happened recently. Perhaps because of the extended time of…

A discussion of how gender, disability and drinking interact — Those of you curious or invested in discussions of autism and alcohol, may be interested to watch this. Claire Davey, a PhD Candidate researching sobriety, alcohol and gender at Canterbury University, interviewed me for Club Soda, and we had a fascinating conversation about drinking, sobriety, mental health and autism. We…