Nick's story

When Nick was made redundant he turned to drink to help him cope with the shock and feeling of rejection. But when finally landed a dream job he found alcohol had taken off his life and he knew he needed to take action quickly or risk everything

I only ever drank at weekends and considered myself a social drinker. I tried to stay away from alcohol during the week, but it got to the point that even just drinking for three days – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – I would be getting through 30-40 units a week.

Things got worse last summer when I had a lot of events and parties,?and I started drinking during the week as well. I suffered from regular hangovers and wasn’t as sharp as I should be at work. My personality changed. I became a lot more argumentative. My family were treading on eggshells.

Alcohol had taken over my life and I realised I needed to do something about it.

The serious drinking really started during COVID. Like many others, the company I worked for suffered hard times. Business fell off a cliff and I was made redundant after almost 20 years. I was in a senior, well-paid job and redundancy came out of the blue. It was big shock to the system. That feeling of rejection triggered more frequent drinking.

I found another job within a couple of months, but it was nowhere near as well paid and nowhere near as enjoyable as my old job. After three and a half years of searching for a better role, I landed my dream job. It felt like an amazing opportunity and one I did not expect.

I was still drinking at that point and waking up in morning feeling hungover. Sometimes I didn’t feel like working but knew I had to, I knew I had been given a real chance with the new job, and I needed to be razor sharp and productive.

My wife and I have been together for 20 years, and we were arguing all the time. When you are hungover you become a crap husband, crap father, crap everything. When I told my wife I was going to stop drinking she took it with a large pinch of salt.

?When people are stressed or anxious they often look to alcohol to relax them. In reality, it exaggerates those feelings and makes everything so much worse. You become a different person.

I wanted to be a better person and feel better. I wanted to be a better employee and colleague at work and knew that if I did not get in control of my drinking it would be the last chance saloon for my career.

I got in touch with my GP, and he recommended LiveWell. I was assigned a behaviour change coach, Dan who was excellent and really helped me, especially in those early days. He became a big part of my journey to stop drinking. We tried to organise our sessions so that they came just prior to instances where I knew I would find not drinking a challenge. Like just before a trip to Twickenham to watch the rugby. I had never been sober at Twickenham before!

My coach Dan made sure I was in the right frame of mind to go to those events. We worked on a positive mindset, remembering why I stopped and looking at all the benefits of sticking to my no-drinking plan. Alcohol is a toxin, bad for body, bad for health.

I went to a university reunion with some mates, and they were shocked: “Unbelievable, Khanna’s not drinking!” They started following my lead and?alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks?and everyone said how great they felt the next morning. They actually thanked me for saving them from a hangover!

Stopping completely has not been easy, but I can wholeheartedly recommend coaching. It really worked for me.?Alcohol has always been a big part of my life, of my social scene, time with mates, sport, events. A lot of my people are shocked by my decision but there has been a lot of admiration too. Quite a lot of my mates have decreased their alcohol consumption, and I have inspired one friend to give up completely.

These days it is second nature to go into a pub and order a soft drink. Take alcohol out of your life and the benefits are huge.

The quality of your sleep improves so much. I now sleep well and feel much healthier as a result. I am not as susceptible to bugs anymore. Children bring everything home from school and I used to be the first in the queue to catch it.

I feel amazing and have lost a stone – drinking carries a lot of empty calories – and I am also learning to paddleboard.

I have only had one alcoholic drink in the past nine months – a glass of champagne at a friend’s big birthday. We all said cheers and enjoyed the bubbles. It felt bloody brilliant to be able to just have the one and know that was enough.

This has, without doubt, been one of the best decisions that I have ever made, I would certainly recommend LiveWell Dorset to any person who wants to make healthier lifestyle choices. Thank you, Dan, and thank you LiveWell.

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