I still make mistakes, but I don’t make the same ones over and over again. Today, I have 17 years sober, and I’m actually pretty good at this life thing. I got sober with the help of other recovering alcoholics, and I still surround myself with other ex-drunks today, though I also have tons of buds who drink. I had no clue how to live life sober, and I couldn’t survive on my own drunk. My parents-who I lived with and who paid my car insurance-threatened to yank the carpet out from under me. Days before I turned 25, I was suddenly expected to get a “real” job and become a functioning human being. I couldn’t face being around people who drank rationally or didn’t drink, because that would force me to look at myself in a way I wasn’t prepared to.Īfter seven years spent dropping in and out of college and destroying relationships with my family, two visits to my local drug and alcohol detox facility, and one failed rehab stint, I somehow graduated from college with a sub-2.0 GPA. When I used during my late teens and early 20s, I felt as if everyone drank, but that was because I surrounded myself with folks whose lives were seemingly bigger messes than mine. Some people stopped bar-hopping during the pandemic and realized they didn’t actually miss it. Others do it for financial or health reasons. Some folks stop because they don’t like the taste. But not everyone who quits does it because they fell on their faces. Some picked up again in February, but tons decided to keep the ball rolling.Īccording to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, over 14 million Americans struggle with alcohol use disorder, the fancy-schmancy term for alcoholism, or a pattern of excessive drinking that’s hard to stop despite the negative impact it has on your life. According to the food and drink research firm CGA, in 2022, 35% of Americans over 21 took January off from drinking. Dry January and Sober October aren’t just popular hashtags-they’re alcohol-free streaks that an increasing number of people really do. But others decided to cut back or stop drinking completely. Cloistered away during the pandemic, lots of folks turned to booze. The past few years drove many of us bonkers.
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