Woman who's gone sober reveals early warning sign that she had a dysfunctional relationship with alcohol

Warning: This article contains discussion of alcoholism which some readers may find distressing.

With summer in full swing, it often feels like every social plan suddenly revolves around drinking.

Your colleagues suggest a quick pint after work, all the group chats are discussing is which beer garden is best and your housemates are offering you a cold one the moment you walk through the door.

But it can be a tricky time for those who are sober or, those with a drinking problem.

Plus, it might be a time you notice perhaps your best mate doesn’t have the best relationship with alcohol as you keep an eye on their habits.

And helping with that, Issy Hawkins shares videos about her sobriety on TikTok and talked through what some of the ‘early warning signs’ were that she had a ‘dysfunctional relationship with alcohol’

She would ‘try and sneak in extra drinks’ while out with her mates.

So while offering to get a round in, she’d quickly down an extra one while at the bar.

Another big warning sign for her was: “Having a feeling of panic when I realised maybe everyone was gonna stop drinking and I hadn’t had enough and hadn’t had my fix.”

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Issy said she’d also end up feeling panicked if she arrived at an event and realised that people weren’t going to be drinking and she ‘might not be able to’.

“Just a general feeling of panic,” she explained, “if I felt like I wasn’t gonna have enough.

“Then, scheming in my head to be like, ‘How can I make sure this heads in the direction that we’re all gonna start drinking?’”

Other warning signs Issy says she'd experienced included ‘secret drinking’, absolute loving and being ‘obsessed with day drinking as well as turning into an ‘angry, nasty person’ if she realised she wasn’t going to get to drink.

Another thing she found happening as she got older was ‘drinking at home, by herself’ for no particular reason.

Plus, when she’d be out drinking with friends, she’d ‘constantly have an eye’ on the pace they were drinking at.

Issy explained that alcohol began to consume her ‘every waking thought’.

“It was like my whole life revolved around when I could drink, how I could drink, how much I could drink. These were all warning signs for what later became a really insidious dangerous drinking problem,” she added.

Keep an eye on your mates lads, and don’t forget to check in with yourself as well as them.

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.