I struggled with this a lot in the beginning of my sobriety, and like you, I didn't know how to tell people that I had decided to quit drinking because I am an alcoholic and drinking was ruining my life, or if I even wanted to. The truth is, most of the people close to me were very aware that my drinking was a problem, even those people that I tried to hide it from. And many of them noticed when that I wasn't drinking. I got questions about it, and how to answer caused me a lot of stress. I finally settled on telling people that I had decided to take a break from drinking because I was trying to lose some weight (which was true) or that I taking a break from drinking because I was having some health issues that were exacerbated by alcohol and my doctor had recommended I not drink for awhile (also true). Most people didn't pry, and were pretty supportive. There were still lots of times when I decided not to attend parties or barbecues because I felt like there was a giant neon sign over my head that screamed "dysfunctional alcoholic over here!" It's your decision on what you tell people, if you tell them anything at all. That being said, I realized about 2 months in that by not telling people the truth about why I had quit drinking, and my realization that I am an alcoholic, I was, in a way, leaving myself an escape hatch. If no one knew, then I could relapse and nobody would be the wiser. And so I started telling those closest to me, with the caveat that I wasn't ready to have a big, lengthy conversation about it. For the most part, people were incredibly supportive, and respected my boundaries. Like I said, it's your sobriety, and what you tell people, when you tell them, and who you tell are incredibly personal decisions. Just some thoughts.