The sliding doors moment that led Natalie to ditch booze

“I also realise alcohol makes me quite anxious and I’m prone to anxiety anyway, and it increases depression and the last year has been hard enough without that. I shudder to think what the lockdowns would have looked like for me if I’d continued drinking.”

Battaglia has now joined a growing number of people who’ve quit alcohol either during the worst of COVID-19 or just as Australia is coming out of it. For many, this comes after bouts of heavier-than usual drinking to get through the darkest days of the pandemic, followed by a period of realisation that it perhaps wasn’t the best tactic.

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Latest research into alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 lockdowns conducted by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) found 20 per cent of Australian households bought more alcohol than they normally would. Of those, 70 per cent reported drinking more, over a third said they were now drinking every day, 20 per cent admitted starting drinking earlier in the day and 32 per cent confessed to feeling concerned about how much they – or someone else in their family – were drinking.

ADF cheif executive officer Dr Erin Lalor says, “The ADF acknowledges that it has been an extremely challenging time. But what we don’t want to see on top of current challenges, is an increase in alcohol-related harms.”

“We are urging Australians to prioritise their health and wellbeing at this time, including taking steps to reduce alcohol-related harms.”

New national guidelines on alcohol were released late last year – the first time in over 10 years they have been updated – to say healthy men and women should have no more than 10 standard drinks a week.

But a number of people are now taking it on themselves to do something about how much – and how often – they’ve been drinking. In Sydney’s eastern suburbs, for instance, Melissa Lionnet, 32, had a successful high-octane career in the events industry, and would often have drinks with clients at lunchtime and get home at 6am after a big night out.

“I was a big drinker but I was pretty high-functioning and in that lifestyle, you’ve got to drink to be successful,” she says.

But it was, again, at the start of COVID-19 that things began to unravel. “I started getting in the regular habit of drinking to break up the day, and I was drinking Tequila straight on the weekend. I realised I couldn’t stop at one, two or three drinks, so I decided I’d better give it up completely.”

A month into the pandemic, Lionnet quit both alcohol and her job. The results have been astonishing. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “I feel so much more motivated, I have more hours in the day and no hangovers, I’ve lost weight and I’ve never been happier, and I’ve learnt new habits so I don’t give in to the triggers that would make me drink.

“Before, my moods would be up and down, and alcohol exacerbated everything. I’ve been with my partner for eight years but, before, he was like my care-giver. But he doesn’t have to worry about me anymore, so now we’re a team. And he proposed to me last year when I got sober. Now we’re getting married in January in Tasmania. I think it’ll be the first wedding I’ve ever been sober for.”

While Dr Lalor is happy to hear of more people giving up alcohol, she warns that it’s a good idea to talk to a doctor first. “If you’re a heavy drinker who has been drinking for some time, quitting or reducing alcohol without professional help can be dangerous,” she says. “It can sometimes involve symptoms such as seizures and, in rare cases, even death.”

Another woman who gave up alcohol because she was concerned about how much she was drinking has now set up a community of like-minded ex-drinkers. Brisbane’s Sarah Connelly, 47, was inspired by the ‘sober curious’ movement overseas, started by British writer Ruby Warrington, and runs the website soberupside.com.au for people to find help, advice, support and a like-minded community.

“I now live my life at 150 per cent as opposed to 70 per cent,” she says. “I’m 100 times more creative and productive and all my relationships are extraordinary, compared to how they were when I was drinking.

“And I think the mood is shifting in Australia towards alcohol. Not drinking is becoming more of a positive thing, rather than just struggling with drinking.”

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Battaglia is also determined to help others thinking of making the change, with a hobby coming up with recipes for delicious mocktails , while Lionnet is now embarking on a new career coaching both mental health and giving up alcohol with the Instagram handle @itsnotmeitsbooze.

“If anyone told me a year ago I’d be doing this, I would have told them, ‘Bullshit!’,” says Lionnet. “But I find that once people stop drinking, they decide never to go back.“

Take a free, anonymous test online to find out how your drinking is impacting you via Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s drinking calculator.