Are You A Grey-Area Drinker?

When it comes to alcohol, things aren’t always as black and white as they seem

- Emma Rossiter

After a hard day’s work, or once you’ve wrestled the kids to bed, do you reach for a glass of wine to unwind? And then sometimes end up polishing off the bottle? Or what about when you go out with friends for ‘just one or two’ and end up staying out until last orders? If so, you could be a grey-area drinker. While it might sound harmless enough, it means that while you have no intention of going overboard, you can find it difficult to draw the line once the alcohol is in your system.

The problem is made worse by the fact that pouring ourselves a drink after a stressful day seems normal in today’s society, and 28% of us admit drinking even more during lockdown, according to a study by Alcohol Change UK. We tell ourselves that just because we fancy a glass of wine in the evening it doesn’t mean that we’re not in total control – and, anyway, life is stressful and it can help take the edge off. But the surprise fuzzy head the morning after, or the empty wine bottle on the kitchen table tells a different story. It’s not that you need alcohol to function, or that you feel you’re addicted, it’s just that when you do drink, it can quickly become a little more excessive than planned, and with one in five Brits thinking about reducing their alcohol consumption at least once a day, it seems that we’re not in this alone.

We speak to the experts, and a former grey-area drinker tells Woman why going sober was the best thing for her.

‘CHANGE ISN’T EASY’

Ailsa Frank, an alcohol reduction hypnotherapy specialist, says: ‘Drinking habits build-up and the amount of alcohol that used to satisfy someone’s needs begins to not feel enough, so a glass of wine per night can easily become a whole bottle or more.