THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK

101 Essays For Those Who Have Had Enough

You don't need a rock bottom to know something isn't right.

You still show up. You still function. You still look fine from the outside. But somewhere underneath the routine — the Friday pour, the after-work beer, the wine that "takes the edge off" — you've started asking the question you've been avoiding: Is this making my life smaller?

A drink can be just a drink, for some people. For others, it becomes a hiding place.

Written By Someone Who Was There

Ian Bates spent years defending his own drinking before he finally stopped. Think Before You Drink is the book he wished someone had handed him — one honest page at a time. It strips away the polish, the marketing, and the social permission that keep alcohol hiding in plain sight, and asks you to look at what it actually does: to your brain, your body, your relationships, and your sense of self.

This isn't a rulebook. It isn't a lecture. It's 101 essays, each one standing on its own.

Inside, You'll Find Essays That Explore

• The lie behind the label — how marketing, culture, and ritual convinced you alcohol was relief, reward, and connection
• What alcohol is really costing you — not just your health, but your time, your relationships, and your peace of mind
• Why willpower was never the problem — and what actually keeps people stuck in the cycle
• The pull behind the pour — trauma, grief, anxiety, loneliness, and the feelings alcohol was never built to fix
• What comes after "enough" — practical tools for the moment the craving hits, and for the life you build once you stop reaching for a drink to get through it
• What to do when someone you love is the one drinking

Read One. See If You Can Stop There.

Each essay is short enough for a single sitting — a coffee break, a commute, the ten minutes before bed — and honest enough to sit with long after you close the book. You don't have to read it in order. You don't have to read all 101 at once. You just have to start.

You Don't Have to Have Lost Everything

You don't have to have lost everything to decide you're done losing anything else. This book is for the person who already suspects the truth, and is finally ready to stop looking away.

Because the pause between the urge and the drink is where everything changes.