For a while i have been drinking mostly to fit in, to be social, talk confidently to girls or be out of comfort zone which has grown into an addiction. I am working towards ending it starting this year. Any advice/support is appreciated.
Just don’t drink today. Don’t go around alcohol if you can avoid it. Stay sober today and tomorrow will sort itself out. A couple of links for you to read if you choose. Best wishes
My advice beside what Dan already has mentioned would be: be her as much as you can. For me that was every day the first year of my recovery.
I checked in every day into this thread:
Checking in daily to maintain focus #73 - #134 by tailee17 When I had difficult days I checked in twice and shared my thoughts.
It really helps to be amongst people who understand what you are going through.
So join! You will be welcomed!
Welcome, Bran. I found it easiest, and I still do, to not drink just today. I began to get used to the idea that tomorrow will take care of itself, if I just get to the end of today without taking the first drink.
Hi Bran, welcome to Talking Sober You are not alone - the “alcohol illusion” (of confidence) has trapped many people before you. Good for you for recognizing the problem and taking action
For me, learning from wise people before me has been helpful. I have learned a lot from the members of my addiction recovery group. There’s a list of groups here: Resources for our recovery. There’s also many good podcasts and books.
Don’t give up. It is possible to get free from these chains.
Thank you a lot
Welcome. I hope you can find some good help here for the first and foremost: Not drinking.
This may sound odd, but there was a lot of being willing to be uncomfortable in early recovery. I thought maybe I drank partly for similar reasons. Drunk I wasn’t really “me” though.
Sure, I was louder. But I wasn’t really genuine.
Something that helped me connect with that was really stupid… Karaoke!
I had been at a party of sober people and they had karaoke available. No one was really doing it and it was really awkward. Someone had told me to do things that make me uncomfortable, so… I got up and sang.
At first I was so nervous. It was a song I knew though, and within a few bars I started belting it out. And it was liberating! Like something inside me cracked wide open. Then a few others got up too and it was a blast!
After the party a small group of us would meet a few times for karaoke nights. We’d get one of those karaoke rooms and sing. All sober folks, all working our recovery.
And really, something about learning how to sing with a group of people I hardly knew broke down so many walls I had always imagined. I even did some dance lessons with another friend in recovery.
Now I realize all that fear was imagined. There’s so much fun to be had sober if we can let ourselves for even a moment. And we can be there, truly in the moment and fully ourselves.
I think this is exactly why I started drinking as well.
It wasn’t ever something I cared about until I started to care more about socializing.
I’m introverted by nature but alcohol made me feel and act “cool, sexy, funny, charming” or so I thought.
It’s not worth compromising your health, your mental health and your relationships for.
All of those drunken nights and the people I partied with are mostly long gone. We were all there for the same shallow reasons and now struggling with the price of what alcohol costs.
It catches up with everyone and the sooner you can eliminate it from your life, the better off you’ll be.
My advice is to surround yourself with as much support as you can and distance yourself from anyone who doesn’t support your new and BETTER lifestyle.
Checking in here daily is a good place to start.
I’m almost 7 months sober and it’s the best 7 months I’ve had in the past 15 years. And that includes all those “fun” nights of drinking.
It only continues to get better in ways I can’t describe. You won’t regret it.
That’s exactly what happens with me. I don’t have the urge to drink or feel like can’t live without drinks but i end up drinking to feel cool, be out of my comfort zone and end up over consuming.
I don’t have the limit. I can go days without drinking but mess up after taking some alcohol. I chance completely to a different person. Over spend, make some stupid decisions, act unprofessional, assume there’s no tomorrow, sometimes i get too emotional.
I tend to write a lot a lot have the emotions come out quickly as soon as i am drunk. I also sometimes become aggressive which is totally different from who i am not drunk