Originally Posted by
DisplacedGRITS 
This seems drastic to many who aren't aware of how alcoholism works. But we are brave (or really, desperate) and we change. Many of our loved ones are overjoyed because they see how we have suffered but our drinking buddies, even our casual friends, are confused. It seems that we are overreacting and perhaps being melodramatic.
One of the hardest things is to stick to your sobriety when people around you don't understand what's going on. They think it's an issue of morality or self control. We just need to have enough willpower to drink like gentlemen/ladies.
Displaced - You hit the nail on the head again. I made the choice to not go into much detail with how I was behaving with alcohol to even my closest friends and I even left out quite a few details when "I shared everything" with my husband. It is harder when the people who love me didn't see how destructively I was behaving and how miserable I was. I was hiding so much of what I was doing. They would see me drink only 2 or 3 glasses of wine at a get together - but they didn't know that I would always make sure I drank a bottle of wine before I came to their house. So of course, they think it is a bit extreme for me to quit drinking.
This thread has reminded me of how it felt to be so deceptive. My whole life felt like a lie. If I could only just take away some gratitude that my bottom didn't have to involve the people i love most clearly seeing the degeneration...instead of using that fact as a reason to going back to drinking.