STAY WELL FEEL GREAT
A SOBERING
THOUGHT
Staggering home drunk after a night out has become distinctly out of vogue with younger people. Celebrities like Zac Efron and Jennifer Hudson have made it cool to abstain. There’s even a society for sober girls. MC magazine reporter Sophie Brown (right) asks can sober and sociable work?
W Zac Efron
Jennifer Hudson
18
e’ve all been there. Waking up with a hangover from hell and an inability to do much other than binge watching telly and eat stodge. It’s pretty much the norm right? We get on with it. I’ve grown up with what I now know to be a misconception – that you can’t go out for a catch up with friends, or indeed make it through a Friday night – without alcohol.
Do we do it to fit in socially? To forget our problems? Or is it just a habit? I chose to cut back on my own intake after realising ‘Hangxiety’ was more real than I thought. It seems I’m not alone. A report by British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), revealed almost a quarter of 16 to 18 year olds never drink alcohol. The rest didn’t drink much. Women’s Health writer Morgan Fargo, in her ‘Mindful Drinking’ article, recalls how ‘a glass of wine with supper on Wednesday, a catch up drink on Thursday and a ‘thank god that week’s over’ fizz on Friday, had my nervous system shot’. She reflects on the impact of a 30 day alcohol detox. ‘My anxiety attacks had calmed down and I felt in control of how I interacted with the world’.
The benefits are endless. Brighter mood, deeper sleep, more energy, better concentration, clearer skin, and better long term health all make a good case for cutting down or going tee total. You’d also be in the company of film star Zac Efron and singer Jennifer Hudson, both of whom found abstinence better suited them. Leading the movement for women is Sober Girl Society, a community for sober/sober curious women. Back in 2018, with her mental health suffering from partying and resulting hangovers, 26 year old Millie Gooch (pictured above right), gave up alcohol. She started the society to bring together like minded women.
