SHE KNOWS –

Oct. 2, 2024 – As many dip their toes into sobriety this month, Olivia Foster explains the different phases she experienced after giving up booze, from ‘pink clouding’ to a complete work and relationship overhaul. Here’s how she did it and what she has discovered during her three-year-sober journey so far… Like many people growing up in rural parts of the UK, my first taste of alcohol was both exhilarating and repulsive in equal measure; I downed a glass of neat vodka at my best friend’s 14th birthday party before becoming heart-stoppingly convinced that I might die. Perhaps, in hindsight, I should have always known it didn’t suit me.

For nearly two decades after that night, I persisted, developing a dependent relationship with alcohol that was based largely on lies. If you’re one of the many people taking part in Go Sober for October this year, maybe you’ll recognise some of them…

When drinking on flights, I told myself I was cosmopolitan, when drinking in bars, I was a strong independent woman, when drinking alone in my flat, I was a hard-working professional who deserved to take the edge off of a long day. When I went out with friends and had a few too many, I’d tell myself everyone does it sometimes and, when waking up with crippling anxiety and a mouth that felt like cotton wool, I’d say it was a small price to pay for all the “fun” I was having.

CONTINUE@Independent