I'm going to take a deep breath here and just answer your excellent question BTSO, SOLELY from my own lived experience.
A disclaimer first: I have gone back (again) to drinking, these past few days. So, I hope this won't entirely skew readers' understanding / acceptance of what is simply a description. I also 'get' what Robby is talking about re the whole 'quality of life' dilemma - which is not now a dilemma for him, but is very much for some of us :-)
The main parts of my life, if you look at them from the outside, are exactly as they were before I went to my first full month rehab, back in early 2012. By this, I mean, that although I moved house - a big deal, given how much stuff I have, including a large library - all the way from the country to the city, my personal life is the same.
I still live alone, with just a dog. I still can't work, or even think about working, even if I were to try restarting my tiny home business; I'm on a disability pension due to several chronic medical conditions. I have some other money, but - whilst I'm grateful for it - it's a dwindling pool, and will certainly not last very long.
So, whilst I'm not 'poor' completely NOW, I will be (again) in a few years' time, right about the time I'm really ageing, getting into my 60s. Not a nice prospect.
On the family n friends score: I have virtually no-one now. I am not exaggerating, just stating the truth. People ('they', whoever they are) routinely say to those of us living in genuine isolation, 'oh, just go volunteer / do service work / join a group / etc etc'.
For me, though, I've realised with a degree of certainty - and a sinking feeling too - that I simply AM NOT a joiner of things. I never have been, regardless of my status as a drinker or non-drinker. I won't go into my internal thoughts about my relationships with other human beings, except to say that there's a lot within me which simply doesn't 'mesh' with others.
Try as I might, and after YEARS of practising all manner of communication skills, personal / social development stuff, compassion, non-judging, etc etc etc.... something deep within me has shut off. It sounds harsh, but it's all I can think of as an image of how it is currently...and has been, I see, for many years now.
Does this kind of stuff as above, affect my quality of life? Too right it does! Absolutely! Yet, all these things, described above, are that way, whether I'm sober or not. I know many will protest: but you don't have to feel this way! It's at that very point where I say: 'well, yes I do. For this is my reality, externally and internally, now.'
Hence, quite often, my 'best' quality of life these days can be measured and experienced by me as mere moments: when I'm at the park or bayside beach with my dog, and I open myself up to the vistas around me; when I manage to actually clear the dishwasher / vacuum the house / wash the car / clear some paperwork / do the washing / ring back someone who left me a message....; when I stop wrangling with Life in Existential Angst (I do a good EA) and just lie down for meditation / relaxation; when I face the truth of being here, right now, with my life as it is.
And..........moments / an hour later: I'm a mess again! It's almost laughable, in the way that Zen masters sometimes just laugh when earnest students ask for enlightenment.