April 2026 Yon Hardisty

Issue #22: Cheers to What, Exactly?

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Celebrating Honesty

Hello friends,

Spring is here. The season of renewal, fresh starts, and, let’s be honest...of barbecues, ball games, and backyard gatherings where the coolers are stocked and the drinks are flowing. There is nothing wrong with community and celebration. But this May, I want to invite us all to pause and reflect on the invisible hand that has shaped many of those celebrations: a deeply embedded culture that ties pleasure, belonging, and even identity to alcohol.

I say this not from a place of judgment, but from personal experience. I know firsthand the quiet tension of standing at a party with a glass of sparkling water while everyone else holds a cold beer. I know the feeling of wondering, “Am I missing out?” And I also know the undeniable truth that I feel healthier, clearer, and more like myself when I’m not drinking. Recently, I started a program called 75 Hard, which made me pause any and all drinking for 75 days. To say the least, I feel much healthier. At functions now, I reach for a non-alcoholic beverage and guess what? Nobody cares.

This month, I want to talk about two interconnected issues that deserve more honest conversation: the culture of alcohol that surrounds us, and the very real crisis of substance use among our teenagers. These two things are not unrelated. The world our teens are growing up in is one where drinking has been marketed, celebrated, and normalized at nearly every major cultural moment. If we want to help them make healthier choices, we first have to understand the current we’re all swimming in.

Most of all, we need to recognize how often we influence our children and their friends, even when we don't know it.

With warmth,
Yon Hardisty

In this issue:

The Culture We Live In: Sports, Spectacle, and the Drink in Your Hand But Is This What We Were Built For? Brain Tumors Explained: From Diagnosis to Support What We Can Do: Practical Steps for Parents, Friends, and Communities

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The Culture We Live In:

Sports, Spectacle, and the Drink in Your Hand

Think about the last major sporting event you watched or attended. Maybe it was a Super Bowl party, an NBA playoff game at the arena, a lazy Sunday afternoon watching baseball, or a backyard gathering around a screen. Now think about what was on the table. If the answer includes alcohol, cold beers, spiked seltzers, or cocktails, you are not alone. And you are also not experiencing something accidental.

The NFL, NBA, MLB, and virtually every major professional sports league in the United States have deeply intertwined their brand with alcohol advertising. Beer brands have been official sponsors of major leagues for decades. Stadium naming rights, jumbotron ads, television commercials during game breaks, and jersey-level sponsorships have made the association between watching sports and drinking beer feel as natural as peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

It does not stop at professional sports. Backyard parties, tailgates, neighborhood cookouts, and family reunions all carry the same cultural script. There is the host who circulates with the beer, the neighbor who brings the bottle of wine, the social lubricant that supposedly makes conversation easier and laughter louder. For many of us, drinking was something we learned not from a formal lesson but from watching the adults around us at these very gatherings.

So this week, I challenge you to think about everywhere you visually see alcohol. Count the number of times you view it in a week and make a mental note of how that's impacting our kids.

Maybe it's time to pump the brakes and take a pause from drinking or limit your alcohol to once a week.

Join a Wellness Challenge

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Brain Tumors Explained:

From Diagnosis to Support

Brain tumor awareness is a year-round necessity, as each year hundreds of thousands of people will be diagnosed with a primary brain tumor. This life-changing diagnosis impacts not only the person diagnosed, but also their loved ones. Brain tumor awareness means learning about the causes of brain tumors, understanding how to support someone diagnosed with a tumor, recognizing the impacts on individuals and families, and supporting further research. Even the smallest actions can help save a life.

Read More →

But Is This

What We Were Built For?

Our Human Body

Here is a question worth sitting with: just because something is normal, does that make it healthy? Just because the stadium sells it, the commercials glamorize it, and the crowd expects it, does that mean it is what our bodies and minds actually need

The answer, with compassion and without shame, is no.

The human body was not designed for regular alcohol consumption. Even moderate drinking has been linked to disrupted sleep, increased anxiety, liver strain, and a measurable impact on mood regulation. For many people, myself included, the clarity that comes from stepping back from alcohol reveals just how subtly it was affecting our energy, our mental sharpness, and our emotional baseline.

That does not mean abstinence is the only right answer for every person. Balance is a deeply personal journey. But it does mean that we deserve to make that choice freely and consciously. Not because a marketing campaign told us that real fans drink during the game. Not because we feared social exclusion if we said no thank you.

The Positive Reality

The positive reality here is real and growing. There is an expanding movement of people choosing alcohol-free lifestyles without sacrificing community or joy. Sober-curious gatherings, mocktail menus at high-end restaurants, non-alcoholic craft beverages that actually taste incredible. The cultural conversation is shifting. You can be fully present at the tailgate with your sparkling water and your genuine laughter. The game is just as good. The people are just as fun. And the next morning? Much clearer.

At Healthtek, we're committed to taking positive steps to creating healthier populations. You can see this in our approach to both physical and mental health. To learn about our entire suite of healthy solutions, visit our products and services.​

What We Can Do: Practical Steps for Parents, Friends, and Communities

Talk Early and Often

Conversations about alcohol, substance use, and mental health should not be one-time lectures. They should be woven into the everyday fabric of family life. Share your own journey honestly. The pressures you have felt, the choices you have made, the things you have learned. Teens are much more receptive to real stories than to warnings.

Seek Professional Support When Needed

Mental health professionals are trained to identify and treat co-occurring conditions, the combination of substance use and underlying mental health challenges like depression or anxiety. If your teenager is struggling, connecting them with a therapist or counselor who specializes in adolescent wellness is one of the most impactful things you can do. Early intervention changes outcomes. Notably, recent national data found that among adolescents receiving treatment, 73.6% received only mental health care, with their substance use disorder left untreated. Integrated care addresses both at once.

Build Community Beyond the Bottle

Actively create and seek out social environments where fun and belonging are not centered around drinking. Model the behavior yourself. When you host a gathering, make sure there are equally appealing non-alcoholic options available, without comment or explanation. Make sobriety as normalized as the alternative.

Recognize That Asking for Help Is Strength

We live in a culture that does not always reward vulnerability. Help the teens in your life understand that reaching out, to a parent, a counselor, a trusted adult, or a crisis line, is a courageous act. Not a shameful one. That message, delivered repeatedly and with genuine warmth, saves lives.

Resources

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out immediately:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988

• LivWell Partners Mental Health Solutions

• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

• SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7)

• Talk to your teen’s pediatrician, school counselor, or a licensed therapist

Further Reading (via Healthtek):

• The Link Between Substance Abuse and Suicide Risk​

Let's all do our part in getting healthier by creating more balance in our lifestyle.

Take care friends,

Yon