Madridista93

I stopped drinking alcohol a year ago (I'm 23), I had serious anxiety and used alcohol as a relief for my anxiety, it worked for a year or two but then it got out of control and I started having serious negative effects. I had many close friends and group of friends with who I used to go out and of course at this age have a drink. However; when I stopped drinking on a personal matter things got much better but in regards to my friends I have lost a lot of contacts and friendships because I would find an excuse to not go out to the bar or club, I kept on giving excuses so they thought I was actually ignoring them, so most stopped contacting me. If I do go out I always stress on what I should say for not drinking alcohol, it is quite sad that I have to give an "excuse", what has happened to our world? Because I stress on my excuse I tend to avoid going out with friends, it is hard to find people in their twenties not drinking when going out even though I would love to go for a nice dinner or do other activities that do not have to involve drinking. The problem is everything involves drinking nowadays and I don't want to lose friends as well but I do not want to be open about my past problems. What would you do in a similar situation? I would love to hear your advice