On the Road to Damascus? A Qualitative Study of Life Events and Decreased Drinking

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative exploration of the relationship between life events and reduction in drinking. The 17 participants were all heavy drinkers who had experienced a life event in the previous two years and who had decreased their alcohol consumption. They were selected from a cohort of 500 untreated heavy drinkers in the English West Midlands. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews and subjected to thematic analysis. Participants discussed the decision to decrease in terms of: “needing to” decrease in order to prevent harm, “having to” decrease because of responsibilities, and “being able to” cut down as a by-product of other changes. It is argued that drinking change may occur for diverse reasons, and needs to be seen, not only as an individual decision-making process, but in relation to the discursive, social and environmental context in which drinking is embedded.