Did you know that alcohol killed more under-65 Americans than COVID in 2020. In the United States and Canada alcohol was deemed an essential item during the COVID lockdowns and that appears to have been deadly effective! The rate of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rose 30% in the first year of COVID.
We live in a culture where drinking is normal and non-drinkers are questioned why they do not drink. Most adults drink but how do you know if you are in danger of becoming a statistic? How do you know if you’re addicted to alcohol? The question can be a hard one to answer when you live in a world where everyone seems to be drinking just like you do. Maybe a bit less. Maybe a bit more. There is a drink for every occasion and every occasion requires a drink.
For teens, it seems to be a right of passage to drink alcohol.
We start drinking young and then there seem to be so many reasons to keep drinking.
We drink to lower inhibitions or anxiety in stressful situations, like a first date, stage fright, or attending a large party.
We drink to drown our sorrows, misery, or pain.
We drink to celebrate happy events.
We drink to relax or to get high.
We drink to fit in because everyone else is doing it.
We drink because we can’t stop.
We have stress and anxiety, so we drink to calm our nerves, but end up feeling shame, guilt, and hungover.
We are sad and depressed, so we drink to drown our sorrows.
We’re happy and we want to celebrate so we drink to be happier but blackout and can’t remember the event.
We can’t sleep so we take a nightcap of a drug that interferes with sleep quality.
We drink to have fun and the next morning we find ourselves clinging to a cold porcelain bowl with a headache and the shakes.
We drink because all of our friends drink, and we are surprised to find that we are drinking every day and realize it might be too much, but we are unable to quit.
We drink because we have been sold a bill of goods.
It’s all a lie.
How do you know if you’re addicted to alcohol? If you think you have a problem with alcohol, you probably do.
Today I am 60 days sober! For too long, making it to day 6 alcohol-free was only happening once every few months. I had real trouble getting to day 3 most of the time. My life routines had cemented themselves for daily drinking, and I was “getting away with it”. Was I addicted to alcohol?
I knew that I would drink, even when I said I wouldn’t. If I did have 2 days sober, I knew that I would “drink eventually” which made me drink that day. My work schedule was supporting my daily drinking and I would find ways to isolate myself from my husband so that I could drink.
How do you know if your addicted to alcohol?
I knew that I was because my week looked like this:
Sunday: Day off, drink all day. Husband home? Make an excuse to go to the grocery store so that you can be gone for 3 hours and drink. Maybe when I get home, he’ll be taking his Sunday nap and I will be able to drink a lot during that. Drink while doing laundry. Go outside and drink.
Monday: HARD day at work – it’s Monday after all. Drink when I get home, plus I have the day off tomorrow so no biggie.
Tuesday: Day off – DRINK! Sometimes starting before my husband even left for work in the morning. The prospect of having the entire day to drink ahead of me was exciting. The problem is that I would be wasted by 11am and not get anything done. Husband comes home, I pretend not to be drunk. Maybe I pretend to be sick so that I can go to bed. Or better yet, I pretend that I’d just started drinking and maybe he’ll drink with me!
Wednesday: Work is torture. I am so so so hungover. I up most of the night crying/ dreading the day ahead. I need some greasy food at lunch. It is all I can do to make it through the day. I stop on the way home to drink and then I come home, tell my husband how “bad” work was so he won’t blame me for drinking.
Thursday: Repeat Tuesday!
Friday: Repeat Wednesday!
Saturday: Just me and 2 of my employees at work. I’m a little hungover but not bad. But it’s Saturday – I can start drinking AT WORK around 4pm!
Oh, well it’s Sunday again!
Almost always by myself. Never getting much done.
So now, I’ve moved my schedule around a little and I now work on Thursdays so as not to have too much time off to myself.
The thing about getting to 60 days sober today is that I am DOING IT! I said I would do it and I did. I started the project and I am working on it. I am not letting myself down. I am not letting my husband or my employees down.
I told my husband this morning that it is day 60 sober and I said next goal: 100. He asked: 100 months? I laughed and said “Well yeah, but I’ll start with 100 days first”.
We’re celebrating today by getting a really good take-out lunch for everybody at work (they don’t all know why, but I do and that’s enough).
WHY DID I DRINK?
There where a lot of reasons I thought I needed to drink and wanted to drink …. I just couldn’t find a good reason one to keep drinking. But every day that I stay alcohol-free I find more great reasons to be sober.
How do you know if you’re addicted to alcohol and need to stop listening to your reasons to drink? Maybe start with these great comparisons of my experience of addiction and it’s counterpart.
The ABC’s of addiction – and it’s counterpart
Anxiety – Accountability
Blame – Boom
Crabby – Commit
Danger – Dry
Ego – Energy
Futile – Fabulous
Grumpy – Growth
Hangover. – Health
Inadequate – Imitable
Justify – Joy
Kerosine – Knowledge
Loser – Limitless
Macabre – Memory
Notice – Nature
Ominous – Options
Penalties – Priorities
Questioning – Quintessential
Reflex – Renewed
Stagnant – Self Care
Tanked. – Truth/Transition
Undoing. – Unique
Vile – Valued
Wild – Wonderful
X-treme – X-cellent
Yappy – Yoga
Zero. – Zest
We are all here in our Boom Rethink the Drink Community, because we’ve discovered the big lie, and either want to quit drinking, or we want to stop being controlled by the substance we thought was so wonderful. We cannot undo the past, but we re-define who we are for our future.
We do this by learning how others have done it, from daily posts and archives, from reading sobriety literature (quit-lit) from our library, from comments of members, and by writing out your story, making comments, and asking questions. Grab the sober rope, hop on the wagon, board the train, as you figure out how to defeat that alcohol voice. You start by writing something like, “Hi, I’m sick of alcohol and I need help.” And see what happens.
WHO ARE WE?
Online Community Support to Stop Drinking – BOOM!
If you’re “sober curious” …If you are drinking too much too often and want to stop or take a break… Talk to Us.
We are an independent, anonymous and private community who share resources, support and talk it through every day. It helps to have a community behind you in a world where alcohol is the only addictive drug that people will question you for NOT using
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