49. Sobriety in old age with Lotta Dann

49. Sobriety in old age with Lotta Dann

From Learning How To Be Old by Rachel McAlpine

May 18, 2026 · 24 min · Season 5 · Episode 49

About this episode

Lotta Dann discusses the challenges and experiences of sobriety in old age with host Rachel McAlpine.

I was born in 1940 and I'm learning how to be old. So Lotta Dann talks here about sobriety in old age. Everything is different when you’re older, and that includes why we drink, how we drink, and the social environment in which we drink. Lotta Dann made a huge impression on New Zealand and abroad with her secret project to give up drinking: alcohol, that is. She wrote a daily diary as a blog describing her struggles, which became a best-seller book: Mrs D is going without. She now carries on with what is now her passion: helping others who want to change their drinking habits. With kindness! Lotta was only 40 when she gave up drinking. She speaks with compassion and understanding about people who might have a little voice in their heads that says, you need to rethink the way you drink, this is not right for you personally — for whatever reason. I have also transitioned into sobriety, but it was sobriety in old age (I was over 80) and for different reasons. Just because I'm old, alcohol was giving me less pleasure and bothering me physically. My taste buds, my brain and my digestive system were protesting. Even so, there were some challenges. I learned how even the loveliest…

People in this episode

Host: Rachel McAlpine

Guest: Lotta Dann

Topics covered

  • sobriety
  • old age
  • alcohol consumption
  • social environment
  • personal change

Keywords

  • sobriety
  • alcohol
  • old age
  • drinking habits
  • social pressure

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Mrs D is going without

Places: New Zealand

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