I stopped drinking on the 18th of March 2023. Because of where I live and how my culture socialises, this was a huge step. But to be honest, in hindsight it was just something I’d been putting off for a long time. The hangovers did just become a nightmare to deal with, plus I didn’t feel like I was doing well with my personal relationships because of it. I’m glad to have all that time back, although I miss part of the social aspect. I’m working on creating a sober social life but it’s very early days.

How has your sobriety journey been for you?

I absolutely loved using r/stopdrinking as a resource. Now that I’m not on reddit so much I’d love to find a new community here! Has anyone created a sobriety community on the fediverse yet?

  • PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I stopped! I grew up around heavy drinkers and for most of my childhood and early adulthood, I just didn’t know anybody who wasn’t one. I don’t really feel like it was a conscious decision to start drinking as much as I did as a teen, it was just expected and part of everyday life. I had a lot of fun at points when I was young, but, the fun ratio had pretty much gone down to zero by my mid 20s and it was just something that felt exhausting and anxious. Around the pandemic I started to come to terms with some memories, and realized I didn’t want to be around it anymore, and more importantly, that I didn’t have to if I didn’t want to. There was no obligation. It was the right choice for me, and the pandemic/some unrelated health issues I developed made it easy for me to just bounce and not interact with those people or environments anymore. It has been a bit tough to try to find or meet new people (for lots of reasons, not just alcohol ) but I do know that the friendships I had which were only propped up by alcohol weren’t real friendships, and I’m glad it’s out of my life. I feel a lot more emotionally even, calm and just better about myself. I feel like drinking was just assumed from so early in my life, that I never got the chance to decide for myself about whether or not I wanted to drink. I’m really glad I got to finally think about it and make a real choice that’s actually mine.