The One About... Escape: If You Want to Know Why You Drink, Stop Drinking.

"If you want to know why you drink, stop drinking." That's what a therapist told Sober Dave. And it's the most uncomfortable, honest thing in this whole episode.In 2026, three out of four suicides are still men. A lot of them involve a drink. But this episode isn't really about alcohol. It's about escape. The urge most men know but never name, to get away from how they're feeling, whatever it takes.Johnny and James sit down with David Wilson, aka Sober Dave, who drank from 14 to 54 and is now coming up to eight years without it. He's not preaching from the mountain top. He's a bloke who hid cans from the off-licence so no one would call him an alcoholic, who drank alone to Pink Floyd until the door of his "pod" clunked shut and reality could do one.Together they get into the stuff most men never say out loud: why the thing is never the thing (seven years sober and it was a joint on a beach that nearly got him, then trainers, then Greggs), why connection is the actual antidote to addiction, the "mistress" he had to dump, and the void that's so loud when you stop that you'll fill it with anything.They go underneath it too. The childhood needs that never got met. The note Dave's mum left when he was 14. Trauma as not what happened to you, but what should have and didn't. And the question Dave couldn't answer without going quiet: who are you with the labels off?Because addiction isn't really the problem. It's the solution you found to a problem you never got to talk about.For men, and for the people who love them.Men Behaving Honestly. The conversations most men are having in their heads. Now said out loud.--------------------------------🎧 Listen & follow: https://www.menbehavinghonestly.com📸 Instagram: @menbehavinghonestly📝 Free self-assessment check: https://www.menbehavinghonestly.com/free-self-assessment-check🎟️ September workshop (limited spaces): https://www.menbehavinghonestly.com/workshop-september--------------------------------Hosts: Johnny Lawrence (behavioural change expert, featured on BBC, The Telegraph, NHS) & James Shireby (qualified coach & counsellor).⚠️ This episode touches on addiction, alcohol, depression and suicide. If you're struggling, you're not alone. Samaritans are free, 24/7, on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.