” When I started my first sober year I did “come out” to my family and my closest friends. They all knew that I enjoyed drinking but I needed to be honest with them about how seriously I had lost control if I was going to have any chance of success at sobriety. For most of us who are very high functioning heavy drinkers our loss of control is a secret but it is a secret that we have to expose if we are going to have the support we need to stop. I needed to know that the people who were closest to me would really understand that I absolutely could not have “ just one” drink ever again.

The problem is that if I’m at a party or a work event and say “ Oh no Thank You I don’t drink…period” then every stigma that goes along with the word alcoholic attaches to me like flies on paper. People suddenly see me a fragile, unreliable and somehow diseased, or worse yet , they think that I’m exaggerating and going through some sort of menopausal rebellion against the status quo. The reaction is either “ Oh my are you an ALCOHOLIC!? “ or “ Oh Come On your NOT an ALCOHOLIC.”

For me sobriety is the most empowering experience of my adult life. I have not been brainwashed or hypnotized and I don’t think that alcohol is demons poison. I just know that my long and illustrious drinking career is over and I am thrilled with the result. Rather than waking up blurry, hung over and grumpy I’m up at six ready to rock. It turns out that every occasion that I once thought required a drink is actually more fun, less stressful, easier and more genuine with a clear sober head. “

from Coming Out Sober

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