Alcohol Awareness Week 2024
Knowing ‘how much is too much’ can be confusing when it comes to alcohol. Most of us feel that we know when we’ve overdone it, but sometimes drinking can ‘creep up’ on us and, over time, we can find that we’re drinking more than we would like.
What do the low-risk drinking guidelines say?
The guidelines for both men and women state that:
- You are safest not to drink more than 14 units per week. 14 units mean roughly six pints of lager or one and a half bottles of wine. Use this handy calculator to work out the number of units in your drinks.
- It is best to spread this drinking over three days or more during the week.
- A good way to help you keep the risk low is to have several alcohol-free days each week.
- If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.
- There is clear evidence that alcohol can harm the developing brain, bones and hormones, so an alcohol-free childhood up to at least the age of 15 and ideally 18 is the healthiest option.
Check how healthy your drinking is with Alcohol Change UK's quick quiz:Check your drinking | Alcohol Change UK
Support Available
If you want to reduce your drinking try these Tips for cutting down from Alcohol Change UK. An alcohol-free break is a good total reset for the body and mind.
Drinkline:
A free, confidential helpline for people who are concerned about their drinking, or someone else's.
0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am–8pm, weekends 11am–4pm)
SMART Recovery:
Online meetings are available here. SMART holds both face-to-face and online meetings which support people in managing harmful addictive behaviour.
The SMART Recovery Programme helps individuals and family members of those who are struggling. They also have women's only meetings and those specifically for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Alcohol Addiction Services:
Alcohol addiction services can help you stop drinking safely.
Further support services:
Get help now | Alcohol Change UK
Warning! Stopping drinking suddenly can be very dangerous, and can even kill you, if you are dependent on alcohol. But you can still take control of your drinking, seek help from your GP or an addiction service if you are dependent on alcohol.
