I Was 11 the First Time I Drank—And No One Batted an Eyelid
Let me tell you something most people won’t admit—
I started drinking when I was 11.
Not 18.
Not 16.
Eleven.
And no, it wasn’t some one-off sip of wine at Christmas.
This was the late ’70s. Council estate life. Punk and skinhead era.
We were in the fucking trenches—boys club discos, chaos, fights, no guidance.
And booze? That was just part of it.
We got older kids to buy it for us. Or nicked it. Pinched our dads’ homebrew.
Cheap continental lager or rough red wine.
Didn’t matter. We drank it because that’s what you did.
No one warned us.
No one stopped us.
And no one saw anything wrong with it.
It Wasn’t Just a Drink—It Was the Beginning of a Trap
People think alcohol abuse starts in your twenties.
That you need trauma or rock bottom or a divorce to drink like that.
Nah. For me, it started before I even hit puberty.
By 15, we were regulars in the local pubs.
By 16 we were in nightclubs with fake IDs—acting older than we were, but clueless as f**k inside.
It was the culture.
Drink to be accepted.
Drink to be confident.
Drink to forget home, school, violence, boredom, fear, loneliness.
Drink to belong.
The Truth? Nobody Told Me It Was a Fucking Poison
You know what’s mad?
No teacher ever said, “Don’t drink—it’ll ruin your brain.”
No parent said, “You’re not ready for this.”
No adult stepped in and said, “What are you numbing?”
And that’s the problem.
We grow up in environments where alcohol is treated like a rite of passage.
Like it’s just part of becoming a man.
Get pissed. Laugh about it—black out. Fight someone. Wake up and go again.
But no one tells you that the addiction starts early.
The way it wires your brain—your dopamine, reward system, and emotional regulation—starts from the first sip.
And if you’re a kid already dealing with trauma, pressure, poverty, or pain?
Alcohol doesn’t feel like a threat. It feels like a fking solution.
By the Time I Hit My 40s, I’d Been Drinking for 30 Years Straight
You want to know how it plays out?
You blink, and suddenly you’ve been drinking for decades.
5 p.m. becomes the norm.
Weekends blur into Mondays.
Hangovers are just part of the routine.
You start drinking for every emotion—celebration, stress, grief, boredom.
But it started with a bottle at 11.
In a park.
On a cold night before the disco.
With a group of lads who didn’t know any better.
What I Wish Someone Had Said to Me Back Then
I wish someone had looked me in the eye and said:
“This shit is going to steal decades from you. It’s going to lie to you, break you, numb you, and convince you it’s your only escape. You deserve better. You are not weak for wanting to feel things without drinking.”
But no one said that.
So I learned the hard way.
Started drinking at 11 |Over 40 Years Drinking. Now Over 20 Weeks Sober.
I’m not here to preach.
I’m not here to shame.
I’m just here to tell you the truth.
I drank for four decades. Never went to rehab. Never touched AA.
I said f**k surrender. I rewired my mind.
I built a new life from the ground up using:
- Meditation
- Visualisation
- Cold water therapy
- Mindset work
- Journaling
- Movement
- Nutrition
- Sleep
And now?
I’ve got more clarity, peace, and self-respect in 150 days sober than I had in 40 years drunk.
You Don’t Need to Hit Rock Bottom. You Just Need to Wake Up.
If you’re even thinking about stopping, this is your sign.
You don’t need a label.
You don’t need shame.
You don’t need to surrender.
You just need the truth.
And the decision to say: “F**k this. I deserve better.”
Ready to Rewire Your Life Without Rehab?
Here’s what helped me—free, real, and built from everything I lived:
- Download the Sober Kickstart Guide (no fluff, just tools that work)
- Chat to my AI Coach (the one I built from my journey)
- Join the Sober Beyond Limits group (no shame, no steps, just real talk)
This isn’t about sobriety being easy.
It’s about sobriety being worth it.
