Reducing your alcohol intake

How alcohol can affect you

Alcohol can impact on your:

  • mood
  • energy levels
  • motivation

We often drink because we want to change the way we feel.

Growing evidence suggests that alcohol can have a negative effect on our mental health and physical health.

Guidelines suggest that we shouldn't drink more than 14 units a week. This is around 6 pints of lager, or 7 glasses of wine.

We should always have a couple of days away from alcohol a week, and shouldn't drink for at least 48 hours after binge drinking.

If you have concerns look out for the following patterns:

  • using alcohol to block how you feel
  • using alcohol to help you to sleep
  • using alcohol to fill time
  • drinking alcohol more regularly
  • drinking more and more alcohol

For facts about alcohol, visit NHS: Alcohol.

For facts about alcohol and a useful quiz to help you know your risk, visit Balance.

Support

If you are concerned about your alcohol intake, contact your GP for support.

To find your local GP visit NHS: Find your local GP.

Or, contact the South Tyneside Adult Recovery Service, which is specifically for adults affected by alcohol misuse who live in South Tyneside.

Local and national services

For a list of local and national services that can help with alcohol misuse, see:

Drug, alcohol, substance misuse services

South Tyneside Council's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy

'Getting the Measure Right' is South Tyneside's refreshed Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

The strategy has been developed as a result of extensive consultation with local people, stakeholders and partners including:

  • the Council
  • South Tyneside NHS Clinical Commissioning Group
  • Northumbria Police
  • South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust
  • Balance, the North East Alcohol office

This consultation centred on the question: What would South Tyneside look like if we drank less alcohol?

A question time panel was held which saw experts talk about the harms associated with alcohol misuse and how alcohol can impact on various people's lives.

Many local people are unknowingly drinking at levels that increase their risk to being involved in accidents, becoming victims or perpetrators of crime, experience family-break ups or develop long-term health conditions such as cancer or liver disease.

South Tyneside has high rates of alcohol-related illness and alcohol-attributable hospital admissions which means a significant cost to all of us. Alcohol is one of the biggest public health challenges of the century.

Aims of the strategy 

The ambitions of the strategy are to:

  • Promote an alcohol free pregnancy
  • Promote an alcohol free childhood
  • Create a culture where people drink less alcohol
  • Reduce availability of cheap alcohol
  • Promote the responsible sale of alcohol
  • Reduce the harms that alcohol currently causes in South Tyneside

Read the strategy

See:

Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy