How long before you can say "I don't drink" rather than "I don't drink anymore"?
 

I've been thinking about this lately, I know the end result is the same. I just wondered what peoples thoughts were.

I just say no thanks. No explains- no their business. To say I do not drink anymore invites people to want to know why- because they all care so much.

IMO you can say whatever you like. It is always your choice and simply declining a drink or just not saying more than "I don't drink" is always ok.

Now I pretty much say I don't drink or no thanks, and have recently gone completely public with being in recovery because I am involved in leading a restaurant industry recovery group (I am a server- the industry is rampant with alcohol and drug problems and those of us working in it successfully sober can be of impact to those struggling, IMO and IME).

Do what feels comfortable.

I say I don't drink but I know I'm fully capable of drinking again. For me alcoholism will be a life long struggle that I treat on a daily basis. As long as I work an active program of recovery I will not drink but alcohol is always telling me I'm fixed and can just go one with my life. While this my be true I'm not willing to take the risk. There are many things I do to maintain my sobriety and so far they have worked very well. Not only am I sober but my life is pretty darn good.

I don't drink anymore is informative i don't drink is formal

I just say i don't drink

Better to stay in the here & now ?

If you're up to it, grab the bull by horns right now by saying, "I don't drink". Make a vow to yourself (and others, if you prefer) that you'll never have to walk back those words.

I think what we do is a lot more important than what we say.

any time you know it's true.

I had been sober a couple of months when I checked into a hotel that offered me a coupon for two free drinks at their lobby cocktail hour. I handed it back with a smile and said, "I don't drink" without even thinking about it.

It was a great moment and I've used that phrase and it alone ever since.

It's a complete sentence, yes?

Actions are definitely more important than words, but words can also be quite powerful.

For instance, I think there is great power in saying, "I don't drink/I don't drink anymore" vs simply saying, "I'm taking a break", or some other non-committal declaration.

Great story!

Very well put, amigo.

It's the daily working of the steps, prayer and trying to learn and do God's will which help me stay sober one day at a time.

The rest of the world doesn't know that we live under a life and death choice everyday.

I say either "no thanks", "I don't drink" or "I will have a sparkling water or diet soft drink".

On the rare occasion someone is pushy in trying to get me to have a drink, I tell them that I'm a recovering alcoholic and they generally steer a pretty wide path around me thereafter.

Not to be flip, but to whom would you /do you think you'll be addressing? And in what context?
The only time I've been asked is in a medical information gathering/questions setting. And even then it was asked in the present tense " Do you use alcohol?"

I've been offered drinks in social and restaurant settings, but "No thanks"or " I'd like a Pepsi " are answers I've given and never a batted eye my way.

Even performing hosting tasks, if I ask someone if they'd like wine or whatever and they ask for a soft drink, there are no follow up questions.

Do you mean with friends, acquaintances , associates that knew you as a previous drinker ?

Do you mean , when can you trust yourself that you have Quit?

I think you are splitting hairs but I'll play

If I said I don't see him anymore, what does that tell you?
That I once was seeing him, and I stopped.

I never see him.
That implies less of a choice, it is just that it never happens.

Of course, when I say I never see him any more. That could mean exactly the same thing as I never see him, full stop.

The interpretation depends on the listener's understanding of the situation. Was it someone I was dating and the person I'm talking to knows that? Or was it just a stranger I always saw at the bus stop and now I don't see him any more.

Same difference if I say I don't drink, then the person who knows I've always drank before is going to know that I once did but then I stopped. A brand new coworker asks me out for a drink and I say I don't drink, they are not going to read any more in to it.

What does it mean to YOU? What does it matter to you which one you say?

You can say anything you want anytime you want! As long as we don't drink and keep moving forward, it's all good.

Depends who I'm talking to, I guess. To just about everyone including myself, I just don't drink. To an old friend who knows me from my drinking days, but doesn't know the story, it might be, I don't drink anymore. I don't really spend any time worrying about the distinction, but "anymore" obviously implies that I used to drink, and I normally have no reason to add that bit of information that very few people care about.

This is a tough question.

I still can't bring myself to say that I'm a "recovered" alcoholic.

I say "recovering" alcoholic when I'm referring to myself.

You can use the term "recovered alcoholic" when they're lowering me into the earth (at least I hope you can), but for now I'm "recovering".

But I do feel comfortable enough to say that I don't drink.

I kinda thought you meant thinking about it in your own head.

From about three months on the way I defined myself started to shift - and it's never gone back :)

As far as other people go - no thanks is all anyone needs to know.
It's really only old drinking buds that seem to want to push past that point.
D

I don't drink, because one day I decided to be -ed, an ex, former. To quit I did it all in one fell swoop.
Thought that wasn't what I was commenting to or about. I was wondering what the OP had in mind with the question. And to relate that aside from a 'recovery' setting , I don't feel the need or have a reason to add 'anymore' or really answer the question , simply because it doesn't come up, aside from me nobody( john q wise) cares.

I don't explain anything: just "No thanks". Non-alcoholics really don't care or even notice.