Booze author wants more people to try Dry January

The author of a self-help memoir about his sobriety has encouraged those attempting Dry January to continue the challenge.

Julian Tittershill, from Ormskirk, has said giving up booze goes beyond willpower and wants more people to take steps towards reassessing their relationship with alcohol.

He describes the journey of reaching sobriety in his book, Booze, into three main parts – part one: the hedonism, part two: the misery, and part three: self-help.

He said: “If I can do it, anyone can.”

He added Dry January helps us turn inward, to look at ourselves, our drinking habits, and what would happen after a month of stopping them.

“The only way to truly make a change with alcohol is to see the benefits, so you can’t look at it as I’ve stopped. I’ve stopped drinking, so I’m miserable. I’m missing out. I’m moping,” he said.

“You have to look at it as I’ve stopped drinking. What are the possibilities now? How is my life going to change for the better?

“Because if you don’t approach it with positivity, then your willpower is like a muscle. It gets weaker and weaker, and eventually you’ll capitulate.”

For Julian, the answer to why drinking is so normalised is clear: culture.

From sneaking alcohol from parents as teenagers to sit in fields, to going to the pub, to work parties, to weddings, and concerts, drinking had intertwined itself into every aspect of his social life.

Julian said: “I was almost half pleased, half appalled that the culture of uni these days seems to be very similar.”

“The single biggest challenge of being alcohol free is how to spend the time,” he added.

“Learning not to depend on alcohol is a step towards regaining freedom from having almost every facet of (your) life dictated.

“Freedom from the chains of alcohol.”

Before turning to sobriety, Julian faced multiple health problems due to his excessive drinking.

Weighing in at almost 21 stone in comparison to his sober weight of 14, was just one of the side effects.

After a scary physical diagnosis by doctors telling him he had damaged bone marrow, had a problem with his heart and blood composition, all due to his alcohol intake, Julian swore off alcohol for life.

However, this only lasted two months, as he said he was just relying on willpower.

It was not until he was introduced to the concept of stopping drinking being a joy instead of a misery by the company One Year, No Beer that he actually maintained his sobriety.

Julian has now been sober for nearly five years and hopes to be a prominent figure in the alcohol-free community.

He said: “I’d say to anyone who’s done Dry January, get to the 31st and ask yourself how you feel, how you’re sleeping, whether you’ve lost any weight, and you know, do you on the whole feel better as a person?”

Watch here to hear more from Julian and about dry January.

Julian Tittershill’s pros and cons to sobriety