Maire is a mum of two and programme manager from Dublin in Ireland. In this episode Maire talks about how her relationship with alcohol started as a teenager and then escalated during her 20s when she was working in a pubs, bars, restaurants and as a flight attendant. She recognised that working in these types of environments wasn’t helping her alcohol consumption so she changed her career to work in a job that wasn’t surrounded by alcohol. But after having her first child Maire found that she started drinking wine at home as a way of dealing with negative emotions and it wasn’t long before drinking became a crutch that was getting out of control. Alcohol was breaking her spirit and breaking her soul and she knew she had to do sometime about it once and for all.

Maire explains how she has stopped drinking by changing her mindset and joining an online community. It wasn’t easy but the effort has definitely been worth it! Now that she has been alcohol-free for almost three months her mental health has improved dramatically which is enabling her to live a happy and successful life. She’s also noticed a big difference to her memory, her confidence and her self-esteem. She say’s it’s like she’s escaped from a prison and broken free from the shackles that had been put in place by alcohol over the years. It’s a really inspiring and uplifting story, and it’s a perfect advert for others to stop drinking too.