Living Sober is a community website designed to support people examining their relationship with alcohol.
Started by Mrs D with support from the NZ Drug Foundation and the Health Promotion Agency, Living Sober is not for profit, nor is it concerned with alcohol reform or public policy. It is about self-education and empowerment, based firmly around the concept of community.
Mrs D is the name Lotta Dann gave herself when she began anonymously blogging in 2011. Through her blog, ‘Mrs D Is Going Without’, Lotta discovered the incredible power of online support for people quitting drinking. Her best-selling memoir, telling the story of her recovery, was published in 2014, and later that same year Living Sober was launched. Living Sober takes all of the powerful aspects Lotta discovered about online recovery, and condenses it into one space, making it readily accessible for thousands of others so that they can also turn their lives around.
A short TV documentary on Lotta is available here (TVNZ).
An in-depth radio interview with Lotta is available here (RNZ).
Recovery podcast 'The Bubble Hour' did a one-hour feature with Lotta here.
For over 20 years the NZ Drug Foundation has been working to prevent and reduce the immense social, health and economic harms caused by drugs in our communities. They are at the forefront of major alcohol and other drug policy debates, advocating strongly for policies and practices based on the best evidence available.
The HPA is a Crown entity that leads and delivers programmes that: promote health, wellbeing and healthy lifestyles, prevent disease, illness and injury, and reduce personal, social and economic harm. The HPA provides advice and research on alcohol issues, aims to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm, and works to inspire New Zealanders to make better decisions about drinking alcohol.