This is the Guardian.

My name is William Leith. I'm a writer.

And this is about a piece I wrote for the Guardian called,

How I Let Drink Take Over My Life.

I wrote it because it had been five years since I had become a tea toteler,

five years of drinking no alcohol at all.

And the reason that I had to stop was that I had a terrible drink problem,

and it got worse and worse. You drink to escape your problems and then drink

becomes one of your problems and so you drink more.

And then drink becomes your main problem.

So you're now accelerating the reasons for yourself,

for you to try and escape. Now you're trying to escape your drinking by drinking,

and that's a nightmare. And I kind of thought, there's no future in this.

The only future that's worth having for me is a sober one.

Stopping drinking has a, I wouldn't say exactly an addictive quality, certainly not like starting drinking.

But it is surprisingly catchy being sober. It gives you benefits.

You know, you don't ever have to worry about, are you going to drive?

Because you're always sober. Your decision making process is much easier.

You don't have to wake up feeling ill every day, but of course you realize that

waking up feeling ill every day. In a funny sort of way, has it's benefits?

Because you wake up and you have a task set before you, which is that you have to get rid of your hangover.

So you don't have to really think about anything else. I.e. the existential worries you've got,

...