Whether you're on it, off it, or somewhere in between
Early sobriety is tough for so many reasons. Not only did I have to adjust to a new life without alcohol, I also had to heal from two decades of heavy drinking. However, after my withdrawal from alcohol subsided, I was faced with an unexpected contingency I was not prepared for: boredom. Amongst other symptoms […]
Whether you drank last night to relieve stress, take the edge off, or “just because,” today you may feel worse than you did before thanks to hangxiety. What is hangxiety? If you have ever been hungover, chances are you have suffered from hangxiety. The term is a combination of the words “hangover” and “anxiety.” Hangxiety […]
The first time someone said I was acting like a dry drunk, I almost fell out of my chair. “How dare they, my recovery is perfect!” I thought. But then I realized that they weren’t insulting me — they were simply calling my attention to the fact that I was relying on old coping mechanisms and behaviors.
What’s worse than recalling an embarrassing thing you did while you were drinking? Not remembering anything at all. Coming to the realization that you were in a blackout can be a scary way to wake up. You may ask yourself a variety of horrifying questions, including, “What did I do? What happened? How did I […]
As a latchkey kid in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, I grew up in front of a television set. Sitcoms and after-school specials informed my understanding of many adult “real world” topics, including addiction. So when I first came to the realization that I might have a drinking problem (all the way back in […]
When I realized that I had a drinking problem, I immediately told myself I would moderate how much I drank. If I could just control my drinking, then I wouldn’t have to give it up. I told myself I would only drink on weekends, I would only go out for one beer after work, I […]
If you’ve been fortunate enough to catch a pink cloud, ride it as long as you can. It’s a phenomenon that happens to some people in early recovery that makes them feel exhilarated, euphoric, and full of optimism about their sobriety. There’s no real scientific study on the pink cloud, so we don’t know why […]
I genuinely believe I was born an alcoholic. I come from a large Irish Catholic family that has a history of alcoholism and I displayed classic alcoholic indicators from an early age. I was an extremely nervous kid and always felt like I didn’t quite belong.
I’m happy to say that as of the launch of this website (December 2023), I haven’t had a drink for three years and three months. That’s more than 1,175 days, which is astonishing to me when I think back to the times when going just a few hours without a shot of vodka felt impossible. […]