New and 7 Days Sober
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1
New and 7 Days Sober
Hello, I'm Briana. I'm a 35 year old graduate student. And I'm an alcoholic. Alcoholism runs in my family. My alcohol consumption would have been considered "normal" for our culture until about 6 months ago, when I began drinking a bottle of wine or more a night, or half a bottle of whiskey. The last few years have been emotionally difficult, and I finally gave in and started self-medicating to mask the pain. I've been trying to quit for a few months, and finally did one week ago. I've been crying a lot without my "friend" (my only friend) to comfort me, but it feels right. This is something I need to do to finally grow up. I'm concerned about slipping, but I'm also concerned about how to explain my abstinence from alcohol to others. I'm hoping I will be able to come here for comfort and advice.
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Scotland
Posts: 1,506
Originally Posted by Briana79 
Hello, I'm Briana. I'm a 35 year old graduate student. And I'm an alcoholic. Alcoholism runs in my family. My alcohol consumption would have been considered "normal" for our culture until about 6 months ago, when I began drinking a bottle of wine or more a night, or half a bottle of whiskey. The last few years have been emotionally difficult, and I finally gave in and started self-medicating to mask the pain. I've been trying to quit for a few months, and finally did one week ago. I've been crying a lot without my "friend" (my only friend) to comfort me, but it feels right. This is something I need to do to finally grow up. I'm concerned about slipping, but I'm also concerned about how to explain my abstinence from alcohol to others. I'm hoping I will be able to come here for comfort and advice.
Hi and welcome to a great forum, this place is full of knowledgable and wonderful people sharing life stories, and all we strive is for a happy life free of addiction.
You will feel very comfortable here.
Wishing you well.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
First things first. Congrats o. 7 days and welcome. You'll get plenty of support and advice here.
Just start out by saying you need a break for now. Then exclaim I like how I feel and want tostay that way. I don't want to drink again. That's it. Good luck.
Just start out by saying you need a break for now. Then exclaim I like how I feel and want tostay that way. I don't want to drink again. That's it. Good luck.
You've made a great start by joining here on Day 7. I'm approaching 15 months now and have found the support on here to be crucial. It's good to have you aboard 
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 87
Welcome Briana as you can see you have come to a great place for support! I used to worry about explaining why I don't drink to people. I try to be honest and say well I used to drink to much so I stopped! You will be surprised how positively people respond. You gain a lot of respect from people when they see you succeeding with sobriety. All the best of luck to you : )
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,569
It's so good to meet you Briana. 
We all understand how you're feeling & we're here to help.
I used alcohol to help me cope with pain and anxiety - but I found out it only made things much worse. In the end I was completely dependent on it - it hadn't comforted me, it had destroyed me. You are wise to reclaim your life - you don't need it. We're glad you're here with us.
We all understand how you're feeling & we're here to help.I used alcohol to help me cope with pain and anxiety - but I found out it only made things much worse. In the end I was completely dependent on it - it hadn't comforted me, it had destroyed me. You are wise to reclaim your life - you don't need it. We're glad you're here with us.
Sick doctor
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: UK, via Ireland
Posts: 52
Hi Briana - grad school can be an incubator for alcohol problems... often lonely and alienating, corroding the self esteem of the sunniest people, making it seem impossibly scary to reach out a hand of friendship to the outwardly confident people around you (many of whom are similarly hard on themselves, feeling friendless and seeking an outlet in self-destructive thoughts and behavior). It's great that you are seeing the problem with alcohol - I hope you can stay the course in sobriety and get all that you can from school. Keep checking in here!
painless
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: somerset
Posts: 138
HOORAY FOR YOU!!!! God that was some good stuff and even though u only got a week clean and sober thats 7 awesome precious days that you earned and I know just how hard those 1st 7 days are... pat yourself on the back and fight the good fight... your worth saving and only u can save u... dont worry about what others wll think and say about your not wanting to drink. fugg em if they give u the slightest poop on it. find ne friends that dont drink and wont judge u on what u do. im proud of u and you gave me hope so be proud your damn self!!! keep posting so we all know your doing great. please keep coming back...
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