emilycrystal

OP, I'm in the same boat. When I quit doing cocaine, pot, and x no one ever questioned it. When I quit drinking alcohol I had to explain myself to friends, family, waiters, bartenders, co workers, .... Ive been sober 14 months and still get asked if im pregnant or on antibodics or super religious all the time. Its really annoying how obsessed with alcohol our society is. Work is the only place I'm not pressured to drink. I think quitting drugs was much easier bc they're not shoved down your throat 24/7 and you're not treated like a leper bc you chose not to do them.

thomas11

I tend to agree with this 100%. If they seem to care just a little too much about you not drinking, they might subconsciously be a bit concerned about their own drinking habits.

littlefish

I've read this kind of thread so many times before on SR, and it is a really valid point. My reaction today was interesting, I wondered about my social circle and how it was when I quit.
I realize now that I had a lot of very moderate to non-drinker friends! I remember being nervous about going to a bar with a group of ladies after a comedy club and they all ordered coffee! Only one person in that first year made a comment about me not drinking.
This makes me think, maybe you really do have a group of heavy drinking friends and relatives.

And that means the need to develop some planning. Maybe for a period the avoidance of social events will be necessary until you are ready for the questions? Maybe having a water-tight excuse to discourage the intrusive questions. I resorted more than once to saying I was on a medication.
Sometimes I was driving and didn't need to make excuses: I was driving. Sometimes I had a solid exit plan and simply left.

But the bottom line, whatever your strategy is, is that your sobriety is far more important that someone else s curiosity, outright meddling or intruding.

VDGS

For most folks, I'm fine to make up excuses: "I am on a cleanse." "I am super tired." "I'm going to hydrate first." Etc. It only gets really difficult with the heavy drinkers/alcoholics in my life. Unfortunately, many of those are in laws and family members, so it's harder to create distance. For those people in particular, I've learned that the drunker they get, the more they try to push the booze. Being sober in a space full of drunk people really feels like you're watching a scene from something hellish, doesn't it? Anyway, I agree 100% with the reality that the folks who most notice are the most self-conscious. On some level, perhaps some of them would like to stop as well.

Tang

Everyone I work with drinks. There is alcohol at events 1-2 times a week. I'm told to take customers drinking. Management will ask why am I not drinking. The only thing that has saved me is training for a marathon (true). These type A Jerks will only back down if the drinking is replaced with some equivalent macho activity.

So in my circles I have had people literally shove drinks in my hand. I know other people on here say nobody cares if you don't drink. Not in my life! I have to have CIA level alibi or the bastards chip away at my sober armor.

jazzfish

I have found that there are a lot less people pressuring me to drink since I deleted my Facebook account. :-D

BringingBackB

Oh, that really made me laugh! My family do the same. It probably winds me up more than if they just had a glass of wine with their meal in front of me. They see it as kryptonite to me!