I have gone as long as 2.5 years sober and then gone back to drinking. I think for me, I felt like I was being punished or something. I used to think "I was living in a world of 'no.'" Does that make any sense? I wanted to be free to drink and I thought if I could go that long without drinking, then surely I could learn to moderate it. Then I'd go back to making rules. "I'll only drink when I'm out of the house, at a restaurant or something." Or "I'll only drink when I'm not around my family." (That was a good one.)
All the boundary setting is a joke cause therein lies the whole reason I had to stop drinking in the first place. I think the longer we abstain, the more we forget just how bad it really got before we quit. We don't see the harm in rewarding ourselves with a little of what society is continually cramming down our throats to be "merry-making stuff." Just look at all those people in the commercials! Young, happy, successful and at the top of their game.
Well, that's my take and 2 cents on the subject anyway. Praying this is the time I never fall into that trap again, cause it's so hard to get sober again once you give in.