hypochondriac

This whole question drove me crazy, so I hope my experience will help prevent that with you

The one thing I learnt was don't explain! I went around armed with excuses/explanations as to why I wasn't drinking, and I felt like I needed that in the early days because I wasn't ready to say that I just quit, to myself more than to anyone else. That was the major factor in all this, how I felt about it. I can't tell you how good it felt to just say 'I gave it up' to someone who asked why I wasn't drinking. No explanation necessary, I just don't drink anymore.

My experience hasn't been that no one else cares or notices either. In the early days there was definitely an element of me being hyper sensitive and much more paranoid about it than was necessary, but there has been a number of people who have given me a hard time about it, and say things like 'you're still not drinking?'. I have had a lot of 'whys' and 'why don't you just drink less' comments too. Part of the solution to this is has been to prioritise my friendships. Those annoying people has slipped way down the list. But a couple of them are people I have to deal with on a regular basis and can't simply cut out of my life. The only way round that has been confidence in my sobriety. And there is something about that they just can't cut through. I have noticed that the less I let it bother me the less they bug me about it.

Time is a great healer with this I think. I used to feel like I was going to burst into tears if someone asked me why I wasn't drinking in the first 6 months. I remember after 8 months going to a party and not even feeling uneasy around all the booze and drunk people. I had suddenly become comfortable with my sobriety and didn't even notice. I also put myself in situations where I would have to explain myself far too much in the early days. Staying away from bars and office parties isn't a bad idea.