Who to tell?

Who do you open up to about your addiction?
Work?
Family?
Friends?

Anyone or nobody, why, and how?

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This forum :wink:
Everybody i know, knows i drank. They dony know the extent though. I just had a co-worker ask when i was going to start again. I just shrugged knowing the answer is never . So i guess it depends on you. I really havent told anybody how bad i was, my wife doesn’t even know.

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My girlfriend and 3 close friends know I’m an alcoholic and in AA.
My mother knows I no longer drink, but doesn’t know I’m in AA.
My coworkers and other family members have not been explicitly informed that I no longer drink and I’m kind of dodging that conversation so I don’t have to answer the inevitable ā€œwhyā€ (it gets tiresome).
When I meet someone new, I just tell them I don’t drink, plain and simple. If further down the road I end up closer with them as a person I’ll tell them about my addiction and past, but I don’t lead with it.

I do this less out of shame per se and more out of
a) a desire to preserve my professional reputation (I work in a sector of human services where any history or hint of alcoholism is very frowned upon), and
b) a conscious effort to remain humble and act in before I act out (I don’t go telling everyone what a great job I’m doing with my sobriety because I know with my alcoholic mind that’s a slippery slope to making others responsible for MY sobriety–i.e. ā€œI was happily sober when you were praising me for my sobriety; therefore, if I relapse, it’s your fault for not praising me enoughā€).

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I haven’t told anyone as yet. I have in the past and the ā€œhere we go againā€ and eye rolling really put a negative spin on things.

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same here… well, I told some people that I’m not drinking… but I don’t think anyone thought I had a problem (?at least I don’t think so). I have been more present in people’s lives, I’ve only forgotten one school function (doh!) and becoming more confident and productive. Actions speak louder than words… We don’t have to tell anyone anything about us, just show them who we really are:)

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Being Irish and a bar manager in Portugal it’s difficult to keep a secret. 80% of my customers are Irish on holidays for a cheap drinking holiday. I get offered by every customer all day everyday to buy me a drink I just have to say I don’t drink. Then comes the same response every time ā€˜your Irish and you don’t drink,what’s wrong with you’. I realised it’s easier to tell the truth. I always say ’ it’s suits some it doesn’t suit others. I’m a messy drunk. I will however take the price of that drink and put in my tip jar.

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Told nobody how bad it was. I tell people - if asked- I don’t drink for now cause I want to (health)and not specific I cannot drink just the one beer/wine.

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When I got off booze, I told pretty much everybody. A lot of folks were surprised, but I was a very high-functioning alcoholic.

With porn, I’ve told nobody but this forum. I’m not sure I could breach the topic with my SO, and certainly don’t want my daughter to have that image in her head. I think that’s why this one is so hard for me. I lack the in-person support network I had with booze.

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If it helps any, I found porn on my husbands phone and confronted him about it. He told me that he hates looking at it but can’t stop. It was awkward for us and embarrassing for him, but I respect him so much more now for being open and honest about it. He hasn’t looked at it in months after that. Hopefully your SO can show you the same respect and love to help you through it. If so, tell!

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I have to tell my 2 best friends too, but we all have families so its a different situation, but i don’t think either will have a negative reaction. Im pretty confident theyll be very supportive.
I wouldnt worry about telling your best friend, they usually dont get the title of best friend on accident.

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I tell everyone. Lol, but really. I lost a bunch of weight since getting sober. People notice that and ask if I lost weight and how did I do it. All I did was quit drinking and the weight fell off so that’s what I tell them. And I’ll tell ya, in almost 8 months I have not had one person say anything that wasn’t positive. Most people don’t care one way or the other.

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I told family and friends first. Its very important you let the closest people to you know about your addiction and your decision to live a clean and sober life. You need to know who will support your decision so you wont get into bad situations or situations that might pressure you.
NA always helps me as well :smiling_face:

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How do your family support you? What ways? I think this app has been my biggest support.

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This app definitely supports me. But getting support from my family is really important to me. My family supports me by not bringing alcohol or drugs around me. They don’t pressure me at all to drink or go out to the bar with them. They always ask how my NA meetings are going and encourage me to get more invovled in activities that don’t involve any drugs or alcohol :smiling_face:

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Keep on strong!!! :folded_hands::folded_hands::flexed_biceps::flexed_biceps:

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That’s really nice. I remember when my sister left rehab, going home was not an option because my mom was unwilling to make her home alcohol free. She ended up going to a friends parents house, whom she barely knew. Sometimes family systems highly contribute to how people get to where they are.

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Other recovering addicts.

You are lucky.

Very true. My family all drink at functions. My family always have alcohol in their hand. Great at telling me not to drink. But always seem to be doing it right in front of me. I find it really hard in the early days. Maybe it’s part of my frequent lapses. I find it confusing. I feel hurt by it. I have mentioned it to my family. But time and time again it’s the same thing. I’d feel guilty if I told them not to drink in front of me. It’s not my choice. But if it was my daughter who was struggling with addiction I wouldn’t drink in front of her. But that’s just me.

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So confused as to how to tell my husband that I want to quit drinking forever. A couple of years ago I quit for 3 months. Then we took a weekend trip and I relapsed. Now , in the past month, I’ve only drank 2 times and only had a couple drinks each time. Going on 2 weeks with no drink and feel really good about it. But I don’t know how to tell my husband. He’s witnessed me in some bad drinking related situations for sure. I’m afraid to tell him I want to quit. I am a very health conscious person and am thinking that I will say it’s for health reasons that I want to quit. Don’t want him to think differently of me. Thoughts please?

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