World news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Euan McColm reflects on 25 years since giving up alcohol
Euan McColm reflects on reaching 25 years without alcohol, describing how heavy drinking shaped his life and left him believing he could never be a father or sustain a relationship. He says a sudden moment in a pub in October 2001, when he handed back the pint he had ordered, became the turning point that made recovery possible.
McColm began drinking heavily at 13 and stopped at 31, after 18 years of using alcohol to cope with his feelings. He says shame kept him from discussing his alcoholism for years, while noting that one in five Scottish adults now abstains from alcohol, almost twice the proportion of 20 years ago. Yet alcohol harm remains widespread: around a fifth of adults drink to excess, nearly 21,000 Scots were hospitalised with alcohol-related problems in 2023-24, and alcohol was linked to 1,152 deaths in Scotland in 2025.
In short
- McColm marks 25 years since he stopped drinking.
- He says one moment in a pub changed his life.
- Alcohol harm remains a serious problem in Scotland.
Explained simply
Alcohol dependence is a pattern of drinking that becomes difficult to control and can affect health, relationships and daily life. In Scotland, drinking is shaped by changing social attitudes: more adults now abstain than two decades ago, while harmful drinking remains common.
Euan McColm is a Scottish journalist who has spoken about his experience of heavy drinking and recovery. His account sits within a wider public health issue, as alcohol-related illness and deaths continue to affect people across Scotland.
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “EUAN McCOLM: For 18 years I blurred the world and my feelings with booze. But in one flick-of-a-switch moment that changed – and I glimpsed what was possible”.