Hi ...... I'm sober 23 years. Early sobriety (the first year) was very tough for me because all these feelings came up and I had no anesthesia for them. I felt loneliness, boredom, fear and had very low self-esteem. Maybe some people can get sober on their own but I'm not one of them. If it weren't for the support of the fellowship of AA I wouldn't be here today. Doing the 12 Steps and cognitive therapy changed me a great deal but it took a lot of time and hard work. But during this time I was growing, doing positive things for myself instead of the self-destructive action of daily drinking.
Good luck!