Featured Image Credit: Instagram / mentalhealthpt
For those of us who've been to university, you'll know it's a little too easy to slip into that stereotypical lifestyle of working hard and partying harder.
Whether it's an unhealthy diet of avoiding the gym and indulging in 3 am pizzas as we party the night away, many of us have been lured into the binge-drinking culture.
For some, it's not that easy to shake.
Dan Hancock has made a name for himself as The Mental Health PT, amassing thousands of followers on social media and sharing his story.
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He's now revisited a viral video that he posted back in 2024, explaining why he came off the wagon after 332 days of being sober.
After leaving university and deciding the boozing lifestyle wasn't for him anymore, Hancock quit drinking in 2023. Although he managed just under a year of sobriety, an August 2024 video explains how he hit the booze again after some good weather lured him into having a drink.
In the OG clip, the personal trainer from Scotland explained: "I was feeling great, happy, very healthy. [But] the sun was starting to come out, there was a change in seasons... That was such a deeply conditioned relationship in my head with picking up a drink."
In the honest video, Hancock admitted he was 'forcing himself to not drink' for around eight weeks.
Opening up about how he felt, Hancock said, "The thoughts started to creep into my head." Hankering for 'just one' drink. I've developed so many skills, I have proven to myself that I have an on/off switch, I now can go and enjoy nights out sober.
"So therefore, I should be able to go out and have one drink or two drinks, because I can do the extremes. So, surely I could do something in the middle."
Even though Hancock thought he could only have one, he started to question whether he ever had a 'problem' with alcohol in the first place.
These were famous last words, as Hancock continued: "I had a drink and it was like a switch, honestly. It was like an on/off switch. That moment, as soon as I'd had that one drink, I knew where that night was going.
"Next thing I know, it's six in the morning the next day and I'm sitting there with my mates on this couch. And I transported back into the person that I was six years ago.
"I didn't even transport back into who I was 12 months ago when I decided to go sober - I literally went back in time to the worst version of myself from six years before.
"I became that person again. Like that. That just shows you how quickly it happened."
Issuing a warning to anyone else who has quit and thought about picking up a bottle again, Hancock reiterated: "The positive was that [I decided] I'm not going to do this again.
Now, I know that I can't stop. It's not for me, I should not drink, end of."
Jump forward to September 2025, and Hancock made a post saying how he thought about sharing the August 2024 video again to celebrate another year of sobriety.
The original video got nearly a million views, and while Hancock says he didn't think anyone would listen to what he had to say, the outpouring of support has been good for him.
Saying he's now "the healthiest and happiest I've ever been," the PT concluded, "Post the f**king post. You've no idea who's watching and who you're helping ❤️."
