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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 6
New
Hello,
My name is Ben and used to drink heavily for about 5 years. 2-3 bottles of wine a day. On August 14th 2017 I woke up in the ICU after an accident caused by my drinking. It was the trigger that caused me to never want to drink again and I haven't since.
Sometimes, rarely, the desire comes up, but at the same time I feel a strong aversion towards alcohol. I feel no desire to give in to the urge. And it fades within seconds anyway.
I wanted to join this group because I feel alone. Not in life, I have friends and family, but alone as an alcoholic. I don't know anyone else with this problem and going to meetings is not an option for me. It's not anonymous enough for me in my small town and I want to keep it a secret. Plus, I'm not in a position where I need help staying sober.
I just want a place to interact and on a forum is perfect.
This is my introduction. Feel free to ask anything.
Ben
My name is Ben and used to drink heavily for about 5 years. 2-3 bottles of wine a day. On August 14th 2017 I woke up in the ICU after an accident caused by my drinking. It was the trigger that caused me to never want to drink again and I haven't since.
Sometimes, rarely, the desire comes up, but at the same time I feel a strong aversion towards alcohol. I feel no desire to give in to the urge. And it fades within seconds anyway.
I wanted to join this group because I feel alone. Not in life, I have friends and family, but alone as an alcoholic. I don't know anyone else with this problem and going to meetings is not an option for me. It's not anonymous enough for me in my small town and I want to keep it a secret. Plus, I'm not in a position where I need help staying sober.
I just want a place to interact and on a forum is perfect.
This is my introduction. Feel free to ask anything.
Ben
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 6
Originally Posted by Suzieq17 
Congrats on almost 6 months sober! Welcome to SR. Thanks for sharing your story. You are not alone—this site is a great place with lots of support. Read, share, and post often!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 8,637
Originally Posted by ben85
Hello,
My name is Ben and used to drink heavily for about 5 years. 2-3 bottles of wine a day. On August 14th 2017 I woke up in the ICU after an accident caused by my drinking. It was the trigger that caused me to never want to drink again and I haven't since.
Sometimes, rarely, the desire comes up, but at the same time I feel a strong aversion towards alcohol. I feel no desire to give in to the urge. And it fades within seconds anyway.
I wanted to join this group because I feel alone. Not in life, I have friends and family, but alone as an alcoholic. I don't know anyone else with this problem and going to meetings is not an option for me. It's not anonymous enough for me in my small town and I want to keep it a secret. Plus, I'm not in a position where I need help staying sober.
I just want a place to interact and on a forum is perfect.
This is my introduction. Feel free to ask anything.
Ben
My name is Ben and used to drink heavily for about 5 years. 2-3 bottles of wine a day. On August 14th 2017 I woke up in the ICU after an accident caused by my drinking. It was the trigger that caused me to never want to drink again and I haven't since.
Sometimes, rarely, the desire comes up, but at the same time I feel a strong aversion towards alcohol. I feel no desire to give in to the urge. And it fades within seconds anyway.
I wanted to join this group because I feel alone. Not in life, I have friends and family, but alone as an alcoholic. I don't know anyone else with this problem and going to meetings is not an option for me. It's not anonymous enough for me in my small town and I want to keep it a secret. Plus, I'm not in a position where I need help staying sober.
I just want a place to interact and on a forum is perfect.
This is my introduction. Feel free to ask anything.
Ben
Welcome to the family, Ben.
I'm glad you're here.
You're not alone!
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,574
Hi Ben! We're so glad you joined us.
I say it all the time - you never have to feel alone. I felt the same as you - all my friends & family were social drinkers. I didn't know one single alcoholic. When my drinking was out of control & my life was threatened with my dangerous behavior, people would say,'Just have one or two'. They simply did not understand - and I didn't now how to explain it to them. Joining SR took a huge weight from me. I was able to get sober & stay that way, thanks to the courage I found by being here.
Congratulations on your sober time.
I say it all the time - you never have to feel alone. I felt the same as you - all my friends & family were social drinkers. I didn't know one single alcoholic. When my drinking was out of control & my life was threatened with my dangerous behavior, people would say,'Just have one or two'. They simply did not understand - and I didn't now how to explain it to them. Joining SR took a huge weight from me. I was able to get sober & stay that way, thanks to the courage I found by being here.
Congratulations on your sober time.
You've found a great place for support. 
Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 3,027
Hello Ben. I quit shortly after you did, so we have a similar amount of sober time.
There are several of us in the second year and beyond who post on the Alcoholism forum as well.
It can be a different set of challenges when the booze cravings are gone but life still looms large around us. Welcome.
There are several of us in the second year and beyond who post on the Alcoholism forum as well.
It can be a different set of challenges when the booze cravings are gone but life still looms large around us. Welcome.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 64
Hi Ben,
I'm sorry that your reason to stop had to happen the way it did. I hope you've healed fully from your accident? Waking up in a hospital would probably scare a lot of us sober, but then again - a lot of us would go right back to drinking too. Congrats on your 1.5 years!
You're not alone. You may not see us walking the streets in a small town, but I have no doubt you're the only alcoholic in that small town either. I can understand though why you might not want to out yourself in front of others in the small town where everyone knows each others business.
Out here in cyber world, there are a ton of us. I found the podcasts to be helpful in my first few weeks, besides this forum it really hit home with me on just how many other people were out there that were just like me with my drinking habits. Recovery happy hour is one of my favorites. A little more searching and there are others that have facebook groups and groups that do travel trips together. I don't have the energy for all that, this forum and some podcasts are enough for me, but if you need more friends that have similar issues, there are plenty of online groups around. It's actually too bad that there are, it just shows how evil alcohol can be and how many lives it has impacted. Anyway, welcome to this forum
I'm sorry that your reason to stop had to happen the way it did. I hope you've healed fully from your accident? Waking up in a hospital would probably scare a lot of us sober, but then again - a lot of us would go right back to drinking too. Congrats on your 1.5 years!
You're not alone. You may not see us walking the streets in a small town, but I have no doubt you're the only alcoholic in that small town either. I can understand though why you might not want to out yourself in front of others in the small town where everyone knows each others business.
Out here in cyber world, there are a ton of us. I found the podcasts to be helpful in my first few weeks, besides this forum it really hit home with me on just how many other people were out there that were just like me with my drinking habits. Recovery happy hour is one of my favorites. A little more searching and there are others that have facebook groups and groups that do travel trips together. I don't have the energy for all that, this forum and some podcasts are enough for me, but if you need more friends that have similar issues, there are plenty of online groups around. It's actually too bad that there are, it just shows how evil alcohol can be and how many lives it has impacted. Anyway, welcome to this forum
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