Man who's been sober for more than a year shares everything that's changed since he stopped drinking
A man who quit drinking over a year ago spoke out about the impact giving up alcohol had on his life and body.
Jonathan Bourassa was a bartender for 10 years and in a YouTube video on his channel said he was 'partying seven days a week, 365 days a year'.
"Alcohol was in every aspect of my life and I wouldn't even think about going somewhere if there would not be booze there," he said.
"I remember vividly the first break of alcohol I wanted to take about five years ago, I wanted to do two weeks to cleanse the body.
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"Shakes, sweats, nightmares, insomnia for the first week. I never thought I was at that point in my drinking, it's like it creeped up on me, a real withdrawal that I'd never seen coming."
He described a typical day's alcohol intake and it was quite something, with him getting through beer, wine and spirits on a regular basis.
He said: "Post bartending in my worst years I was drinking about two bottles of wine, two big cans of triple IPA beer and about three fingers of scotch every day.
"Starting around mid-afternoon but on days off it wasn't rare I would start at 10am."
Jonathan then said he 'made a deal with myself that I couldn't drink more than half the days of the year', but it didn't work as he found reasons to get around it.
Then, in 2023, he decided to give Dry January a go and ended up feeling great about it.
However, it did have a big impact on his life, and not just on his body.
He said he found his decision to stop drinking 'p**ses off a lot of people around you', saying he was 'deemed not fun enough' due to his decision to avoid alcohol.
His friends told him he was making himself suffer by not drinking and said he was projecting that he was better than them.
A relationship also ended with his partner saying he was 'being too boring', but Jonathan remembered that he also 'did not pursue a relationship' with someone who didn't drink.
"She wasn't saying anything, she didn't do anything, she was just not drinking. But by not drinking and me being with her I was like 'I really have a problem with alcohol'," he explained.
"I wasn't ready to stop drinking at that point so I just found some dumb excuses like 'oh, I want to share my wine with someone' to kind of break it off."
Four months in, his friends stopped going on about it so much and he also noticed a major physical change.
Some of the aches and pains he put down to aging were alleviated after ditching drinking.
After over a year sober he said: "I sleep better, my skin looks healthier, younger, I'm much more creative, much more productive. Found out that I had a lot more time.
"I'm also much more patient, my bank account looks amazing and my self confidence went up about two-hundredfold."
He recommended planning doing things during free time to avoid the boredom that might lead to drinking to fill time.
Please drink responsibly. If you want to discuss any issues relating to alcohol in confidence, contact Drinkline on 0300 123 1110, 9am–8pm weekdays and 11am–4pm weekends for advice and support
Topics: Alcohol, Community, Health, YouTube, Mental Health
Joe Harker