By Rebecca Birt
While university life appeals to many students for the freedom to be away from home and dive head-first into the party lifestyle, for 22 year old Rhys it has had the opposite effect. “Alcohol and partying has lost its appeal, there are so many more entertaining things to do instead.”
While university life appeals to many students for the freedom to be away from home and dive head-first into the party lifestyle, for 22 year old Rhys it has had the opposite effect. “Alcohol and partying has lost its appeal, there are so many more entertaining things to do instead.”
Rhys, a second year chemistry student, has not touched alcohol for over 6 months now, and has no plans to start again, beginning life anew as teetotal. The amount of young people abstaining from alcohol is on the rise, with a quarter of the UK’s young population turning away from the substance. “I don’t blame them,” Rhys said when I mentioned these statistics, “best to never start drinking and avoid it altogether.”
“I wish I hadn’t drunk as much as I did.”
After spending an extra year completing his A levels, Rhys was more than ready to get away from his home in Birmingham and branch out somewhere new. “Watching my friends go to university a year before I did and seeing all their freshers pictures on Facebook made me almost desperate to get there.”
Once he passed his A levels and was accepted into Sheffield Hallam University he got straight into the party scene, going to as many events as possible. He spent his first year living opposite Leadmill, a club and music venue, where he said he spent at least 3 nights a week. Despite already having a high alcohol tolerance before moving to Sheffield, it only got worse as he drank large amounts to even feel tipsy.
“My party trick was downing 70cl of vodka in 15 seconds, not diluted, straight out of the bottle.”
This level of drinking was normal for Rhys for the whole year, only calming it down when he was home for the summer. However as second year started he began to feel different. “I was going out a lot still, but it wasn’t as fun any more, and I was drinking way more in hopes I could get drunk enough to enjoy myself.”
His university work began to slip, he began to get mood swings, he felt constantly ill and soon alcohol became a part of a coping mechanism for his undiagnosed depression. His breaking point was when he drank so much he couldn’t remember the whole night and realised that he had a problem. “I went to the doctors that morning and was told I had depression and that I had to stop my alcohol habit.”
“Looking back I can’t believe what I put my body through. There could have been lasting damage.”
Since that doctors visit Rhys has not had an alcoholic drink, and instead focuses his time on getting fit and healthy. While it was difficult to quit ‘cold turkey’ he doesn’t feel the need to have alcohol even if people around him are drinking. “There is no peer pressure on me to drink, and when we go to the pub and I order a pint of coke I’m not even tempted by the ciders and beers.”
“I feel better about my health and my life, and hope some people will read this and might consider changing their drinking habits too.”
For help quitting or cutting down on drinking, please visit NHS Livewell