As Christmas and the end of the year draw nearer, people are flooded with messages about last-minute gifts, menu planning, family get-togethers and all the other bells and whistles associated with the silly season.
For some, one of the messages in the mix — that alcohol forms an intrinsic part of the celebrations — can be difficult to grapple with.
Deakin University's Peter Miller, whose research focuses on violence prevention and addiction studies, said the end-of-year period was harder for people who had a difficult relationship with alcohol.
"We have the alcohol industry, supermarkets, and a whole lot of people pushing alcohol constantly, everywhere you go," he said.
"There's all this stuff around alcohol that makes it much harder."
Many Australians are now opting to avoid alcohol for all sorts of reasons, such as mental and physical health and religious beliefs, and there are signs young people are drinking less than their parents.
Whatever the reason, if you're trying to limit your alcohol intake, or avoid it altogether this year, those in the know have offered some tips for sticking to your plan.
Recognise Christmas can be a hard time
Many people can enjoy alcohol in moderation, but there's evidence a lot of Australians drink beyond national guidelines that recommend not exceeding four standard drinks a day, or 10 per week.
About a quarter of the population aged over 18 — or about 5 million people — drink beyond that, according to ABS data, which heightens people's risk of alcohol-related illness and injury.
"It's not just people who have been identified or self-identify as alcohol dependent, because actually there are a whole lot of us who are in denial about it as well," Professor Miller said.
He said part of the issue at Christmas was that many people, particularly those who had experienced trauma or complex upbringings, used alcohol "to cope with their feelings".
"Christmas and New Year's can be very lonely times," he said.
"There can be a lot of conflict within families that comes up, or feelings of missing people, and many people, particularly if they are already using alcohol heavily, can lean on that more."
He said that was particularly concerning because alcohol hindered self control.
Professor Miller said violence towards others and self-harm usually spiked around this time of year.
"For a great many of them, alcohol is almost always involved," he said.
Avoid treating alcohol as medicine
Professor Miller said if you or someone you know is feeling upset, avoid adding alcohol to the mix.
"One of the worst stories you hear is somebody's upset, their friends take them out drinking and leave them at home at the end of the night," he said.
"At this time of year, pay much more attention, and don't treat alcohol as a medicine, treat it as a risk-factor for people's mental health."
He said taking time to reflect on how you feel about particular events and planning ahead was a good idea.
"Thinking about what you're going to go into, noticing how you feel about this period, and reaching out to supports earlier if you have them," he said.
"Recognise what the triggers are going to be and then setting up strategies to get out of it.
"Maybe you go to events, but you have a very clear time limit, and set it up so you can't change the time, like ordering an Uber or a taxi or making sure friends are going to pick you up."
He said bringing less drinks to events than you usually would, considering low or non-alcoholic options and drinking lots of water can all help you avoid drinking too much.
Have good alternatives at hand
For Dry But Wet founder Amy Armstrong, who lives in a coastal Victorian town, finding good non-alcoholic alternatives helped her step away from drinking alcohol completely.
"I stopped drinking, but I did not want to stop socialising and felt the need to still have something nice and adult in my glass," she said.
Things have come a long way since Ms Armstrong first began sampling and reviewing non-alcoholic beverages during the 2020 COVID lockdowns.
"There was quite a lot of tipping drinks down the sink, because they were pretty garbage," she said.
"Now don't get me wrong, that still happens, there's still a lot of garbage, but things have gotten a lot better."
Over the past few years, many companies have begun developing non-alcoholic versions of beer, spirits and even wine.
Ms Armstrong said having good quality non-alcoholic options on hand at events helps reduce the temptation to drink alcohol.
"If you're at Christmas lunch and Aunty Sharon's popping the cork on the champagne, if you can pop your own cork and have your own bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling wine, you're minimising that FOMO (fear of missing out) that you might have," she said.
Look out for the people around you
Professor Miller said the efforts of individuals — often grappling with underlying mental health issues — to stop drinking were strengthened by having supportive people and environments around them.
"So often, it goes back to blame on the individual where those individuals don't have that level of control over their drinking," he said.
"Try to think about your friends, try to think about how you can provide environments for people who may not want to drink so much or people who suffer from alcohol dependence — but who don't want to talk about it because it's deeply, deeply shameful.
"We don't want to stigmatise them, but create environments where people have alcohol-free choices that are not just soft drinks, and where we're not pushing people to drink."
Ms Armstrong said since she stopped drinking, the reactions of other people had been revealing.
"If you are getting challenged by people, or if someone's making fun of you or giving you a hard time, it says an awful, awful lot more about them and their relationship with alcohol than what it does about you," she said.
She said having someone to call or message someone in a moment of doubt could be very helpful.
"If it is Christmas Day and you think, stuff it, I'll just have a drink ... having them there is just a massive, massive support," she said.
