Newbie!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 21
Newbie!
Hello everyone! I'm a 24 year old woman from New Jersey and I just decided to get sober today. I was looking for non-religious based recovery aids, and I came across this site. I look forward to being a part of the community! 
I'm a little nervous about starting my recovery, but I'm excited by the prospect of no longer having to be scared of getting out of hand and being ashamed of myself due to over-drinking. I finally realized that enough is enough. I'm in a wonderful relationship for the past year, and thankfully I've never gotten belligerent or too drunk around him. I don't want to jeopardize my happiness.
My problem is not that I have an uncontrollable desire to drink, but that when I drink there are times when I lose control and fail to regulate myself, getting drunk to the point that I put myself in danger and need to be cared for by my friends. I drink maybe twice a week, and 50% of the time I end up drinking more than I want to. All my friends have heard the "I need to drink less line" for long time now, but I've not been able to regulate myself. I finally decided enough is enough. There may come a time when I'm not with people I trust who will babysit me, and when that happens I will have wanted to rewind and make that decision.
Both my grandfathers and one grandmother were alcoholics, so it's in my genes. I figure might as well quit now before something horrible happens to me, or my problem becomes worse.
I'm a little nervous about starting my recovery, but I'm excited by the prospect of no longer having to be scared of getting out of hand and being ashamed of myself due to over-drinking. I finally realized that enough is enough. I'm in a wonderful relationship for the past year, and thankfully I've never gotten belligerent or too drunk around him. I don't want to jeopardize my happiness.
My problem is not that I have an uncontrollable desire to drink, but that when I drink there are times when I lose control and fail to regulate myself, getting drunk to the point that I put myself in danger and need to be cared for by my friends. I drink maybe twice a week, and 50% of the time I end up drinking more than I want to. All my friends have heard the "I need to drink less line" for long time now, but I've not been able to regulate myself. I finally decided enough is enough. There may come a time when I'm not with people I trust who will babysit me, and when that happens I will have wanted to rewind and make that decision.
Both my grandfathers and one grandmother were alcoholics, so it's in my genes. I figure might as well quit now before something horrible happens to me, or my problem becomes worse.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: New England
Posts: 1,067
Welcome! At 24 you have so much time left in your life to do whatever you want. I can tell you from experience that alcohol will really hinder your goals. I first tried to quit when I was about 27 and just couldn't get it right for nearly 10 years. I think that in the beginning I didn't really -want- to quit. I wanted to get rid of the bad sides of drinking but still drink whenever I wanted to? It took me a lot of pain and suffering to realize that it's just not worth it for me and that there are much better things out there in life than a bottle. You will find many non secular recovery methods that have worked for many people... I hope to hear more from you here in the future! Take care!
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,380
Welcome to SR Sleepy Kitty 
I know you'll find the kind of support and encouragement you're looking for here
Do check out our Secular Connections forum too
D
I know you'll find the kind of support and encouragement you're looking for here
Do check out our Secular Connections forum too
D
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 1,145
Welcome
I'm 25, though I quit when I was 24 too it's a good age to do it!
I was the same as you - I didn't drink every day. I drank once or twice a month when I quit (I had drank more frequently in the past but due to realising my problem had tried to 'cut it down'), but every time I drank I drank to excess and made terrible mistakes. My mental and physical health were both really bad and I was in a really awful place.
I have alcoholism in my genes, too.
I used AVRT lots in the beginning and when I'm having difficulties, I still use it now. You can find tons of information on it on this website in the secular connections forum or you can search for it in Google. It's very, very helpful in understanding why we want to drink when we know it isn't good for us.
Wishing you all the best on your sober journey. Keep posting - it really does help!
I'm 25, though I quit when I was 24 too
it's a good age to do it! I was the same as you - I didn't drink every day. I drank once or twice a month when I quit (I had drank more frequently in the past but due to realising my problem had tried to 'cut it down'), but every time I drank I drank to excess and made terrible mistakes. My mental and physical health were both really bad and I was in a really awful place.
I have alcoholism in my genes, too.
I used AVRT lots in the beginning and when I'm having difficulties, I still use it now. You can find tons of information on it on this website in the secular connections forum or you can search for it in Google. It's very, very helpful in understanding why we want to drink when we know it isn't good for us.
Wishing you all the best on your sober journey. Keep posting - it really does help!
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