Friends? You still have friends? (just kidding)
I'm fortunate enough to have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, some of whom drink heavily and some of whom don't drink at all. I don't feel compelled on any level to wear a banner on my sleeve that says to the world, "I'm an alcoholic...yippee!"
However..and this is purely my own personal "thing"...I have decided to open up about my alcoholism to a few of my closer friends as a sort of self-purification process. The only significant lie that I have ever told my friends was about the extent of my drinking. I'm trying to set that straight now.
Just out of interest, my admission has been met with mixed responses, albeit with 100% support. One of my favourite responses was from one of my closest friends who kept up with my drinking at the best (well, worst) of times. It went something like this:
Her: "Wow! It's great that you can admit that to yourself. *I* don't have a drinking problem, I just like to drink."
Me: "I didn't say that YOU had a drinking problem, I said that I'm an alcoholic and doubt I can ever drink again."
Her: "We can still do non-drinking things together. I know I'm a binge drinker but I don't drink EVERY day."
Me: "I don't want you to change your behaviour for me. I'm the last person in the world to judge you or anyone else for their behaviours. I was referring to the fact that I'm an out-of-control addict."
Her: "Remember last year? I quit drinking for a month."
Me: "Yes I remember. I'm not accusing YOU of being a drunk, I'm just owning up to my own problem."
etc...
The humour for me was the way that she took my addmission to be an accusation. But I digress...
Back to topic....a typical conversaton might be:
Friend: "Huh?! YOU?!? Not drinking???"
Me: "Nah, I think I need a little break."
That's all.
I have extracted myself from drinking situations (I'm an amateur musician who jams a lot and occasionally plays in bars) because I don't feel strong enough to be around a room full of booze and drunks yet. If I can NEVER return to those situations, so be it. Sober folk are a helluva lot wittier than drunks, not to mention they are better musicians.
Hope that helps.
Earl