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27 MIN READ TIME

The shame of staying sober

Q Why do you think you were drinking so much? What did it represent for you?

It started off sharing a bottle of wine over dinner with my husband, and then it crept up so gradually that I hardly noticed it. I would turn to a glass of wine for a number of different reasons – to wind down, to celebrate, to socialise, to commiserate – just like everyone else. I didn’t feel I was an outlier – but, when you’re drinking for all those different reasons, it adds up, and the more you drink, the more tolerance you have. I was rarely drunk, but I could happily drink a bottle of wine and appear completely sober.

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Psychologies
No. 151
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