EP 407: Grey Area Drinking Expert Sarah Rusbatch

EP 407: Grey Area Drinking Expert Sarah Rusbatch

Curious about how others manage that blurry line between "normal" drinking and something more worrying? This conversation on Sobertown Podcast introduces grey area drinking expert and best-selling author Sarah Rusbatch, who talks frankly about the space between casual drinking and physical dependence. Sarah explains grey area drinking as the "4 to 8" on a 1–10 scale: you’re functioning, holding down a job, raising kids, hitting the gym, yet quietly leaning on alcohol as an emotional crutch.

As she puts it, it’s when "we are using alcohol to change our feelings, to numb our feelings, to escape our feelings" even though, on the outside, everything looks fine. You’ll hear Sarah’s story from her first drinks at 14 in the north of England, through heavy drinking in London’s recruitment scene (where the final interview stage was tequila shots), fertility struggles, moving to Perth, motherhood, loneliness, and finally deciding in 2019 that "enough is enough".

Her experience speaks especially to women in midlife who feel stuck in stress, boredom, or isolation. The chat takes a clear look at how alcohol hits women’s bodies harder—reduced alcohol metabolism, hormone changes in perimenopause and menopause, higher risks of stroke, liver disease and breast cancer—while big alcohol marketing has been pushing mums’ wine culture and girl-power cocktails for decades.

Sarah also shares practical ideas: working out why you drink (stress, boredom, loneliness?), adding movement, building connection, regulating the nervous system, and creating what she calls a "fun plan" so life actually feels worth staying present for.

As she says, "When we have a life we love, we don't need to escape it with alcohol anymore." If you’ve ever wondered whether your drinking is "bad enough" to change, this honest, no-drama chat offers plenty to think about and a lot of reassurance that you’re not the only one asking those questions.