Issy Hawkins
Nominee Profile
Location: London
Issy Hawkins uses her platform on social media consisting of over 150,000 followers to challenge misconceptions around addiction, mental health, and neurodivergence.
Issy navigated most of her twenties sober after being treated for alcohol addiction in rehabilitation at the age of 21, but found that before she went into treatment she was repeatedly told she was “too young” to have an addiction, rhetoric that stopped her asking for help sooner.
Recognising that this stigma stops people from seeking support, Issy decided to focus on her advocacy after graduating from drama school into the pandemic, as a means of encouraging other young people with addiction issues to ask for help, or making those that wanted to explore a sober way of life in their twenties feel like it was possible despite the societal challenges that exist.
After her diagnosis with ADHD in 2024, Issy also began to create content and bring visibility to how neurodivergence intersects with addiction and mental health, particularly in young women (a group that has been forgotten in the conversation in years gone by).
Issy's work has featured on BBC Radio 1 and in LadBible, The Telegraph, Newsweek, and The Independent to name a few. She's been invited to speak on several leading podcasts in the addiction and mental health space including ‘They Think It’s All Sober’, 'School of Rock Bottom' and ‘Should I Delete That’.
Issy is also a proud ambassador for Alcohol Change UK and has been to Parliament on multiple occasions with the charity to discuss the issues around alcohol harm in the United Kingdom.
Issy navigated most of her twenties sober after being treated for alcohol addiction in rehabilitation at the age of 21, but found that before she went into treatment she was repeatedly told she was “too young” to have an addiction, rhetoric that stopped her asking for help sooner.
Recognising that this stigma stops people from seeking support, Issy decided to focus on her advocacy after graduating from drama school into the pandemic, as a means of encouraging other young people with addiction issues to ask for help, or making those that wanted to explore a sober way of life in their twenties feel like it was possible despite the societal challenges that exist.
After her diagnosis with ADHD in 2024, Issy also began to create content and bring visibility to how neurodivergence intersects with addiction and mental health, particularly in young women (a group that has been forgotten in the conversation in years gone by).
Issy's work has featured on BBC Radio 1 and in LadBible, The Telegraph, Newsweek, and The Independent to name a few. She's been invited to speak on several leading podcasts in the addiction and mental health space including ‘They Think It’s All Sober’, 'School of Rock Bottom' and ‘Should I Delete That’.
Issy is also a proud ambassador for Alcohol Change UK and has been to Parliament on multiple occasions with the charity to discuss the issues around alcohol harm in the United Kingdom.