A psychotherapist and mental health advocate is advising New Zealanders to keep an eye on how much alcohol they're drinking over the lockdown period.
Kyle MacDonald told The Project that the best way to avoid going silly while in isolation is to maintain your normal level of alcohol consumption - whether that's having something to drink or nothing at all.
"If you're someone who normally abstains, it's a very good idea to stick to that theme," he said.
"But for the rest of us, I think it's very important to try and maintain whatever level of alcohol use, and however we drink alcohol, as normal as possible."
He said the next four weeks is going to be a "trigger time" for people who struggle with addiction.
"It's really important to keep an extra eye on yourself. It's very easy for that alcoholic brain to start whispering in your ear that now's the perfect time to have an excuse to drink."
One way to monitor how and why you're drinking is to tune into yourself to see how you feel, he said.
Often people can overdrink because they're struggling with emotions or tensions they need to pay attention.
"It's about checking in with ourselves and recognising that actually it's okay to just feel the feelings at the moment. And if you can reach out and talk to somebody about it, do."
Watch the full interview from The Project above.
