Talk it through with the SI guide

James drank every day from eighteen to forty-five. Four weeks in treatment in June 2020, and sober since. This guide speaks in his words. It is not James, and it is not a person. Read more about James

Nobody taught most of us what a normal amount of drinking is. We were assumed to know, and society gave us permission to carry on.

Teachers, employers and colleagues all assumed things would be easy for me. Every one of those assumptions was wrong. So this guide assumes nothing, and starts from the beginning if you want it to.

Somewhere to be honest about your drinking without being labelled. It helps you put what you notice into words and think about one next move. It does not diagnose or treat.

The drinking is rarely the only thing. It usually sits alongside the work, the body and the loneliness. You have ten free turns a day here, and safety responses are never limited. Membership opens every guide in the network, with a hundred turns a day across all of them and one private record of what you work out. See what membership includes

You are speaking with an SI guide, not James replying live. It can help you put what you are noticing into words and think about a next sensible move. It is not a doctor, addiction clinician, counsellor, therapist or emergency service. It cannot diagnose you, assess how bad it is, arrange treatment, contact anyone on your behalf, or monitor you.

It does not diagnose and it does not treat. It will not tell you whether you are an alcoholic, how much is too much for you, how to come off alcohol, what to take, or which clinic to choose. Stopping suddenly after heavy daily drinking can be dangerous, and that is a doctor today, not a chat window. If anything has become an emergency, stop and use your local emergency services — the safety page lists the routes.

Do not name your employer, your clinic or anyone else here. Nothing written in a chat window is confidential or privileged.

The safety page lists where to go.