One Irish woman has shared how she permanently gave up drinking alcohol after receiving a cancer diagnosis and is now 'happier than ever'.
Fiona O’Malley, 34, from Offaly, had started the 'one year no beer challenge' when she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and decided to give up alcohol for good.
She told RSVP Live: "I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer last September, when I was already doing the year without drinking and the strong links between alcohol and cancer compounded my decision to never return to drinking.
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"I was so lucky in that I caught breast cancer early and I am very grateful for the gift of the rest of my life. There is no way I am going to mitigate that or reduce the quality or the longevity of my life by going back to alcohol.
"A lot of us drink out of habit. When some people want to unwind they open a bottle of wine. For others it is, ‘here comes the weekend' or ‘I’m going to a wedding’. You can unlearn these habits and start a new routine and you have to do that every time you decide not to drink . It takes time to establish that new routine. A lot of people turn to drink not necessarily because of need, but because of habit."
Fiona said that giving up alcohol has given her a better quality of life and made her feel healthier, happier and more confident than ever before.
She said: "About a year ago I thought 'why am I drinking?' I had stopped drinking for long spells when I was studying or training before. I had done 10k runs, a half marathon and a couple of triathlons, so I went for a six month alcohol free block then a year block, then a two year block. I don’t want to sound preachy because I certainly overdid it when I was younger, but I realised it wasn’t worth the anxiety the next day.
"I noticed as I was getting older that the hangovers were getting worse and sometimes I’d get a two day hangover from just three or four glasses of wine which would nearly throw out my whole week.
"There were so many negatives - I wouldn’t feel good physically and mentally my anxiety would be high. I would be worried in case I’d said something wrong and usually would have spent more money than I’d have planned.
My healthy eating would go out the window because I would have had a takeaway on the way home and probably the next day too, when your energy levels would be on the floor.
"I started to notice a pattern of being happier when I had taken spells off drinking for training or studying, my life was better all round. Getting used to not drinking sort of crept up on me. The first big event I went to without drinking was a wedding. I felt a bit awkward because I was single and the only person there who wasn’t part of a couple. Initially I thought I would love a drink just to take the edge off.
"Then I thought drinking because I am feeling awkward is probably not a good thing. So I had sparkling water and decided maybe I would have a drink if I still wanted one after an hour or two. That awkwardness passed after 15 or 20 minutes and once I had something in my hand I felt more relaxed. I think it does say a lot about society however, that people feel the need to drink if they feel a bit uncomfortable or awkward.
"Once or twice people tried to encourage me to just have a drink, but since I gave it up permanently there is no pressure with people saying ‘oh just have the one. There is more finality and permanence to it when I say I don’t drink at all rather than saying I don’t drink at the moment."
Fiona said she went from "Sober Curious to sober" after doing the 'no beer for a year' challenge and now sees many more people becoming 'Sober Curious'.
She said that since giving up alcohol, she has noticed a trend of more young people choosing not to drink at social occasions.
"I was at another wedding recently and half of the people at the table weren’t drinking just because they didn’t want to. Non alcoholic drinks are very popular particularly with young people," she said.
"A lot of people just aren’t into binge drinking or hangovers anymore. I’m 34 now and when I go out, about 30 to 40% of my friends don’t drink, for a variety of reasons some people are just taking a break, others are just not drinking for the night and some like me don’t drink anymore because they don’t enjoy it.
"I have no issue with the finality because the writing was on the wall that I was eventually going to stop, it wasn’t an overnight decision. When I started drinking again after a break I didn’t enjoy the same quality of life. I was never an alcoholic or never did anything terrible on a night out.
"There was no big drama. I probably said too much and spent too much. But it was a slow realisation that my quality of life was better without the hangovers and the paranoia of wondering if I had said anything wrong.
"I have been in a relationship for two years now but my boyfriend wouldn’t be a massive drinker. He would have the odd glass of wine at an event, I’d say the max he would drink on a night out would be two drinks and that would even be unusual. My boyfriend has accepted me not drinking from day one. He said ‘fair play’ and has never tried to change my mind, it makes a huge difference when your partner is supportive."
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