Tonight: Britain's Secret Drinkers 

6 years sober next week. For anyone knowing they need to stop but are afraid of what life would be like without alcohol....it gets better.

I thought i'd been secretly drinking when I saw the quality of the video

20 months sober - hasn't been comfortable, but it has been worth it. my sobriety took jail, several times in detox and eventually treatment, but when sobriety finally took, I am grateful

Almost 27 years sober. Worth it. I know that I am worth it😊

As a recovering alcoholic i can say that it is so much better not having it as any part of my life. Alcoholism = daily worries of how much do i have to drink, how drunk can I be and still able to drive to the store for more, the hangover, how to manage it, etc. The problems multiply as the addiction is worse and worse.

*Below is the truth from the Cambridge University study. This show NO benefits to alcohol consumption at all, and it can only do harm* Going teetotal is the only way to avoid risking health with alcohol, scientists have claimed. A major global study has concluded there is no safe limit to alcohol consumption. Previous research suggested that moderate levels of alcohol - around one drink a day for women and two for men - may protect against heart disease. But the authors of the new study insist that any benefits from drinking alcohol are outweighed by the harms. Alcohol is socially normal, but it`s a grade A Carcinogen like tobacco. Alcohol is a registered poison like bleach and creosote. Alcohol makes you less intelligent ( long term also) , reduces body hair including eyelash, shrinks the brain, shrinks men's testicles, produces high oestrogen in men and reduced testosterone. Reduces muscle growth and development by up 40 % due to protein synthesis uptake being messed up. It`s also bad for every organ in the body, mainly liver & kidneys. Causes, and is linked to seven different types of cancer. Red wine is not good for you as many claim, red grape juice is. The ethanol in red wine negates any positive`s and is dangerous. They estimate that consuming just one drink per day increases the risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related health problems by 0.5%, compared with not drinking at all. 'Strong association between alcohol consumption and risk of cancer' US lead researcher Dr Max Griswold, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said: “Previous studies have found a protective effect of alcohol on some conditions, but we found that the combined health risks associated with alcohol increase with any amount of alcohol. “In particular, the strong association between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer, injuries, and infectious diseases offset the protective effects for ischaemic heart disease in women in our study. “Although the health risks associated with alcohol start off being small with one drink a day, they then rise rapidly as people drink more.” The scientists pooled together data from 592 studies with a total of 28 million participants to assess the global health risks associated with alcohol. A standard alcohol drink was defined as one containing 10 grams of alcohol. The team used a new statistical method to estimate the risks of consuming between zero and 15 standard alcohol drinks each day. Drinking alcohol is seventh leading risk factor for premature death Globally, around one in three people - or 2.4 billion - drink alcohol, said the researchers, whose findings are reported in The Lancet medical journal. Each year, 2.2% of women and 6.8% of men die from alcohol-related health problems including cancer, tuberculosis and liver disease. Other harmful consequences from drinking alcohol included accidents and violence. Worldwide, drinking alcohol was the seventh leading risk factor for overall premature death and disease in 2016, the study found. However among people aged 15 to 49 it was the most important risk factor, accounting for 3.8 of women’s and 12.2% of men’s deaths. For people over the age of 50, cancers were the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths. They were responsible for 27.1% of alcohol-related deaths of women and 18.9% of men. The 0.5% increase in risk meant that 918 people per 100,000 who consumed one alcoholic drink a day would develop a health problem compared with 914 who did not drink. The relative increase in risk rose to 7% for people who consumed two drinks a day and soared to 37% for those who downed five drinks. Any protection against heart disease, stroke and diabetes offered by alcohol turned out to be “not statistically significant”, said the researchers. Drinking patterns varied greatly around the world, the study found. Denmark had the highest proportion of alcohol consumers, 95.3% of women and 97.3% of men, and Pakistan and Bangladesh the lowest. Just 0.8% of Pakistani men and 0.3% of Bangladeshi women drank alcohol. Men in Romania and women in Ukraine drank the most - 8.2 and 4.2 drinks per day respectively. Professor Emmanuela Gakidou, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said: “Worldwide we need to revisit alcohol control policies and health programmes, and to consider recommendations for abstaining from alcohol.”

33 months sober and don't miss the poison one bit.

I can only imagine the damage I've done to my body in my teenage years of hardcore binge drinking every weekend. Blackouts were normal and even funny to us. Alas, no more do I drink, and hopefully my body can recover. Alcohol is just awful

Don´t be fooled. It is not just in Britain. It is worldwide.

Lifes is better without alcohol. Alcohol has no benefits full stop

Stopped drinking all together 2 years ago and its so good to have a comma in my bank account again.

'I don't want to stop drinking. What should I do?' 'You should stop drinking...' Best advice ever

If they stop romanticing Alkohol in movies and shows then maybe the young generations will realize that how much they lie to us.

as i worked in the hostelry trade i noticed that when the smoking ban kicked in the pubs began to empty and more people began to drink at home or elswear,now many yrs later you only have to walk up the road on bin day and the bins are full of bottles and cans

The fact that she was so hesitant about not drinking for six months and what was she going to do socially tells me she’s developing a problem.

You can live without alcohol but not your liver...

Heavy drinking trashes your psyche too. If I binge drinking on a saturday I can hardly get out of bed the whole of sunday. If I manage to get out I can hardly see people in their eyes and things like that. I´m so totaly fucked up in the head. If the cell phone rings I almost get a heart attack. This can last all the way to monday.

one reason so many people drink is to fill a void, society had changed alot and nowdays we spend all of our energy at work and when we finish our Jobs we feel tired and we have not truely acheived things that we need these things can not be acheived in our Jobs or money or shopping. Basically we need to do the right thing and if your job is doing somthing which is not right then quit it.

I'm just over a year sober now, after 17 years of alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, for me, it was as hereditary as well, so alcohol abuse was prevalant thorughout the family. An absolute monster to beat, but it's so worth it in the end.

Anyone who uses alcohol as a coping mechanism is on a very slippery slope...

Bet every 'concerned' reporter in this documentary went home and cracked open the Chablis

my wife used to have a bottle of wine each night and a tin of brasso. It polished her off nicely.

No pun intended, but I made all the excuses myself while I was drinking and of course, I ignored the warnings of co workers and superiors. Socially, I paid a high price for calling people while being drunk (even without knowing it). Friends and family members were really mad and some didn’t want to have contact. It began with a can of whiskey and coca cola, increased to a bottle of spirits every day. Until my stomach wouldn‘t tolerate alcohol anymore. I didn‘t know, that I was dealing with depression, emptyness, family history; until I saw an addiction therapist. Just speaking for myself, I don‘t miss alcohol and smoking, which I also quit. And I don‘t think, that it is an issue when one is sober while being in a social setting. As far as I am concerned, when someone doesn‘t accept that I don‘t drink alcohol, then he/she isn’t just the right person to meet. I don‘t blame advertising. Chocolate, fast food, junk food, etc. are also advertised, but I don‘t have to buy it, if I don‘t want to.

Depending on how long these people like Jillian have been drinking you can’t just say stop for 6 months. Cold turkey alcohol withdrawal is dangerous. It can kill you depending on the severity of your problem. I wish they would have talked more about that, and a reasonable plan to wean her off.

The difference between alcoholics and normal drinkers it seems is tolerance. People often seem to say a glass of wine relaxes them.. It's never been enough to relax me. I need at least a bottles... Which is why I don't bother with alcohol. Drinking a glass of wine is fine but once you get addicted you just have to quit otherwise the inevitable is horrifying... Prison, institutions, death.

They don't actually give up alcohol they just dream about the day they get their next drink .

You can relax without wine, but with a a good book and a good tv ´ show , cheers !!!

How ironic to name a beer 'Long Life'.

Both smoking and drinking are damaging to health. But drinking only can also cause domestic and non-domestic violence, can kill behind or not behind the wheels, can cause behavior and say hurtful things that otherwise would not happen.

When you think you DON’T have a drinking problem.....chances are YOU DO......DENIAL

Hm. There is something to be said for a pub culture - if it means people are going to the pub to drink and socialize where it's a combination of things. But, I can see how drinking at home can lead to more dangerous habits.

I'm a home drinker because life is fucking shit

it is crazy how it just becomes a part of the ritual.

26 years sober in AA ,If one needs to self diagnose for Alcoholism,quit for a Month and report to yourself how you feel throughout the Month;If you slip chances is you are .Another one walk into your favorite Bar with firm resolution to have only two drinks see how you perform 🤞🏼😜🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

11 seconds sober. Couldn't have accomplished that without the help of this video...😁

I track all the days and units I drink Ona spreadsheet. It really helps you see how much you drink and set targets and control it. Once you are in control and keep units down it is not a problem.

I realized that I was drinking too much I just stopped never had a drink after that didn't crave it.. easy

They are doing nothing different than many organisations were doing addactions, Alcoholics annoynomous. etc, etc who do not charge. Problem drinking will always be here it is left to the person it affects, not to people getting rich out of some ones misery. And its in America as well.

The best way to stop drinking is to remove the desire, I read Alan carrs easy way to stop drinking, and alcohol explained...true freedom comes when you have no desire...2 years now...and life is amazing.

Sounds like me in the very early days. Then it became a drink every hour around the clock or more.

Drinking on the train on the way home?? That is crazy.

I freeze my booze then I eat it. Solved my problem.

i only drink when I go out or am at home. And only when I am by myself or with somebody

I had a dream a few days ago about my nan saying she drank 15 units a day. This woman really does drink 15 units or 1.5 bottles a day which is well over 100 units a week. A mans liver is 40% bigger so it's the same as a man putting away 70 pints of lager a week! And yet her fibroscan was on the lower end of normal. That means no fibrosis at all which occurs first before cirrhosis which is the scarring.

I have to say, theses stories make me a bit thirsty!

Oyster Bay is a lovely N.Z. wine, especially the Chardonnay 😊

I think we should get alcohol out of the supermarkets altogether. If you want a drink go to the pub. It is way too easy now to go to the supermarket and buy a couple of cases of beer or several bottles of wine and get blotto every evening.

17 years sober. Best decision I ever made.

I only drink when I'm awake.

Back in the days when men could have 21 units a week...

What an excellent case for legalising cannabis!

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps. Buy and read The Happiness Trap by Russell Harris MD. It helped me with my anxiety. Due to cerebral palsy, I stopped alcohol on 2nd March.

6 months for Gillian needs to remain and never again.

The recommended weekly max is now 14 units for both men and women.

Dr.Harrison Consulting Room L01(Video 19.42) unfortunately does not explain that alcohol affects the Gamma GT function of the liver and alcohol depletes Vitamin B1 in the body which is helped by regular intakes of B1(as Thiamine Hydrochloride). Alcohol also causes damage to the nervous system and causes cancer of the pancreas and other parts of the body "Wet brain" will often occur also causing nightmares and hallucinations, I am not a Medical Doctor .....I simply learned the hard way, alcohol is actually a toxin to the body and the numbness and escape from reality through alcohol is only temporary.An Alcoholic needs more and more to achieve the same effect !

In this country that's called a scare tactic you will be liable for a heavy duty lawsuit

Social engagement is no excuse for drinking. If everyone around you takes in chemicals and drugs, which is what alcohol is, as an adult, you can't say no ? Then don't expect your children to say no to peer pressure !

Yes there is a way of knowing if your liver is in trouble. You begin to develop stomach pains, like many people in chemotherapy will know.

Drinking wine on the train? That sounds pretty desperate to me.

You have to eat along with drinking but many skip the meal so they don't get fat. Drink if you also eat normally will cause you to gain a lot of weight. But, if you don't eat along with the booze it is a lot harder on your liver. Also you should never drink every day. You need to give your liver at least 3 days without the booze. It takes 3 days for your liver to even start repairing damage.

I started slowing down my drinking in my late 30’s and stopped drinking a few years ago for general health reasons (social drinker only, 1 beer a week maybe) and don’t miss it at all. Life is way more than booze

I don't have a drink problem! Says her with a wine glass the size of a bucket.

Well the supermarkets ply you with it....and the licker shops everywhere... In my day it was a special trip to the off licence...if it was open..

When a few glasses slowly but surely become a few bottles, then you have a problem...3 months AF here.

Beer goggles were definitely on trying to watch this thing. There's two of everything.

I'm drinking now!! Wtf!!

She ain’t going to stop drinking for 6 months.

I stopped drinking because I had to start taking medicine every day. I really don't miss it. I'm not teetotal, but now i find I don't want to drink. It really doesn't interest me at all, especially since I found out how harmful it can be. Always hated being drunk anyway. Good riddance

Drink go in,,,,Brain go out,! 😁

21 units of alcohol for a man every week is about 7 imperial pints of lager. So a lager a day or one night out.

Enjoying a glass of wine. The phrase enjoying is descriptive that says it’s ok. It’s classic alcoholic terminology.

I drink and am miserable. When sober I am miserable. I suck.

I went to the dentist and asked him how my teeth were, he said your teeth are ok but your gums have to come out.

Try watering it wayyyy down and subbing sparkling apple cider or sparkling grape juice instead. Also smaller glasses can help as well.

I'm unwinding right now, folks....

14.50 Gillian this is what your consuming alcohol during the week, Gillian, oh I didn't think I was drinking this much? (Gillian) don't toss these in the drain I'll drink them

Drinking at home does avoid drinking and driving, and God forbid, alcohol related accidents.

Home drinking is my only drinking... It's difficult to stop. I'm only 24 hours sober now. I want to be sober but fuck I need an Irish Coffee

i need a drink......

If you drink at all, you have a drink problem!

How is the weather in the uk on average? It always looks so grey and rainy:)

I stopped drinking Sunday and wanted to see how long I can go without a drink and I wanted to go till Friday night but I ended up drinking on Thursday and I failed

That's what you drink every week that's how much I drank in the last ower

Gillian says she drinks well over a bottle of wine every week day (probably more at weekends) and doesn’t think she has a drink problem! She is in denial

Since this video was made the recommended limits have changed and are 14 units max for men and women

Im moving to Spain, boozers paradise hic

The Royal family live forever, and they are bunch of plonkers.

Very dangerous

Im mid 30s. I have no idea how anyone about 26 deals with a hangover.

Drinking makes me puke

Watch Rain in my Heart documentary

I've had my liver removed an a sponge put in lol hicup

Why would anyone pour poison into themselves.

There seems to be an unspoken underlying premise. That is, a long life of self denial is better than a short life of indulgence and excess. Is there any data to back this up? Or is simply a reactionary retort prompted by a survival reflex? A short indulgent life may work out better for society. There is a large economic strain that comes with supporting an aging population that slowly declines in health and needs long term support. This is exactly what happens when most people are healthy and avoid bad habits.

Nothing better than opening a bottle of wine in the evening. It's the sun in liquid form.

Alcohol has us all conned

40 people who don’t want to be told they drink too much dislike this video!

It's no secret to anyone in your neighborhood. 🤒 Chris Morris was great.

They should bring back Prohibition.

1-2 glass a night is no where near close to what is needed to cause liver disease.