My drinking habits have transformed since leaving university. In those days, there would be at least three nights a week I drank so much that, if I managed to stand up, I would fall straight over again. I began limiting my drinking before my finals and then slowed right down once I came out into the real world and had to start really managing my money.

Now I get hammered on a regular basis, but only about once every three weeks. In addition, I get mildly drunk a good few times a week and just have a comfortable few glasses on most other nights. I would say I'm similar to many of my friends.

I had my first drink at 13. At that point, and during my university years, alcohol was all about escapism; it bought down the barriers in the quickest, most effective way. But now it's about relaxation and taste. It's a very English thing to need to drink to relax and I'm a completely typical product of that.

Aisling Murphy, 30, works for an NHS Teaching Primary Care Trust

I would consider myself a very light drinker. Sometimes it's hard to convince my friends that I'm having a good time when they're all drinking and I'm not, but, by the end of a night out, they're glad I drank so little because they would be incapable of getting home without me.

I know why they drink so much: their jobs are very stressful and it's a quick way to unwind, but I can find their drinking habits quite scary.

Not drinking much has an interesting effect on people: some find it challenging, as though it's a criticism of them. Sometimes I'll order a drink simply to avoid having that sort of conversation, but I'm always slightly irritated with myself if I give in like that. My lack of interest in drinking has become less of an issue among my friends as we get older. Our culture makes it almost impossible for young people to go out without drinking, but as we grow up we go to places where drinking is less central to the time we're spending together.

Martin Bishop, 40, director of Dancewise studios

When I was 22, I would regularly drink 12 pints a week, but now I've cut it down to about eight at most. My changing drinking habits have to do with being busier and older; I need my mornings now. Also, my social group has moved on: we've got wives and families and have other things to do with our money and time. Having said that, I can't imagine not drinking at all. If I don't have to get up in the morning, I will still drink so much that I can't stand up: it's a quick and socially acceptable way of breaking through the barriers.

I came late to drinking because I was so involved in dancing. As soon as I started socialising, at 17, I started drinking. I think 40 is quite a turning point: there are two camps of drinkers among people younger than me: those who drink to excess and those who drink to moderation. As we get older, those groups merge: I don't know a single person of my age who drinks heavily any more. There would be something slightly odd about anyone who did, to be honest.