Man who broke sobriety after 322 days and noticed 'scary' change after having a drink

When Dan Hancock documented his sobriety journey in 2023 he reached 322 days before reaching for another drink.

He'd spent his time at university on 'boozing and parties', and realised he had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, so he embarked on an attempt to go without drinking.

He ended up the 'happiest and healthiest' he'd ever been, but almost a year in he started thinking about alcohol after going for several months without experiencing cravings.

Dan, who goes by The Mental Health PT, explained that after eight months of 'confidently not drinking' he then had eight weeks of 'forcing himself not to drink'.

He started having this 'logical conversation' in his head to weigh up the pros and cons of having another drink, and realised later that by the time he was doing that he was back on the path to breaking his sobriety.

"I was feeling great, happy, very healthy," the Scottish personal trainer said of his sober lifestyle in a clip shared to TikTok in 2024. "It was the best decision that I've ever made.

"[But] the sun was starting to come out, there was a change in seasons... That was such a deeply conditioned relationship in my head with picking up a drink."

And he's not alone - as a lot of Brits correlate any hint of a heatwave with getting hammered.

"The thoughts started to creep into my head," the health fanatic said, as he confessed that he started convincing himself that he was now able to go for 'just one' single drink.

Explaining his thought process, Dan said: "I've developed so many skills, I have proven to myself that I have an on/off switch, I now can go and enjoy nights out sober.

"So therefore, I should be able to go out and have one drink or two drinks, because I can do the extremes. So, surely I could do something in the middle." Famous last words, eh?

He admitted that he even began questioning whether he'd ever even had a 'problem' with alcohol at all, while persuading himself into believing that he might have just 'needed a break' from hitting the bottle.

"All of these reasons popping into my head were guiding me and encouraging me to pick up a drink again," Dan said. "I was having this debate in my head, this back and forth, for quite a while.

The personal trainer explained that he finally decided he was ready to have a couple of drinks while attending his mate's stag do, as he got 'wrapped up in the moment' while in the airport with his pals.

"For anyone who's been sober and thinking about picking up a drink again, I want you to hear what happened to me and how fast it happened," he told his 10,500 TikTok followers.

"I had a drink and it was like a switch, honestly. It was like an on/off switch. That moment, as soon as I'd had that one drink, I knew where that night was going.

"Next thing I know, it's six in the morning the next day and I'm sitting there with my mates on this couch. And I transported back into the person that I was six years ago.

"I didn't even transport back into who I was 12 months ago when I decided to go sober - I literally went back in time to the worst version of myself from six years before.

"I became that person again. Like that. That just shows you how quickly it happened."

As well as feeling disappointed in himself, Dan was left nursing a hangover and his feelings of regret - however, he did manage to find a silver lining.

"The positive was that [I decided] I'm not going to do this again," he went on. "Now, I know that I can't stop. It's not for me, I should not drink, end of."

However, Dan admitted that when he began to feel himself again after a few days of sobriety, he began to 'crave a drink'.

He added: "How crazy is that? After not having that craving, impulse or urge for a whole year. I immediately felt the craving again."

Dan explained he wasn't 'beating himself up' about supposedly 'losing' 322 days of sobriety - as he was happy to start from scratch as he believes that it was just 'something he needed to do'.

"To realise and reinforce 100 percent that this is not for me," he said. "We can start fresh with a clean slate, knowing it's not for me and also knowing that I've done it for a whole year before. And I can do it again."

Lat year, Dan said he is in a 'completely different headspace' and remains dedicated to his sobriety journey. Good for you, lad!

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.