hypochondriac

I totally forgot while writing this that my actual epiphany should have been when my neurologist told me that I would have to stop drinking completely in order for my nerve problems to recover. That was well over a year ago and I only quit drinking a month ago!

janiebluebird

I couldn't count the number of times I woke up and said "I'm never drinking again" whether half-joking or totally serious. Embarrassing nights, vomiting mornings/days. The most recent epiphany I had which lead me to this site in February was the morning after heavy drinking. I was out at a party and in my drunken fog decided to buy coke. I didn't head home till 8am the next morning and felt like I was going to have a heart attack and die at any moment, the whole way home on the train. Although it was the coke use that pushed me to the edge, it was the drunken stupidity that ever lead me to get coke in the first place.

InsertNameHere

For me I think it was a series of epiphanies, the first being that it was starting to negatively effect my work in a manner that I was no longer comfortable with. I had told myself that it hadn't effected my work before but that is a lie it just wasn't bad enough for me to justify at least slowing down or stopping drinking on certain nights. So once it did effect work in a manner I could no longer justify, I tried to stop.

I failed.

That was the second one because it got me to realize just how deep of a hole I had dug for myself and having seen where this road leads with a now decessed alcoholic parent, knowing what I had to look forward to if I continued. So I found SR and started telling my story and recieving advice, asking and answering questions. That was the time that I knew that I needed to stop because this was not going to have a pleasent outcome if I didn't so I started starting to quit.

I failed over and over again.

Three took me a while, because even though I knew that I should/needed to stop or things were going to get much worse eventually I now know that I didn't really want to. On top of that I didn't know how. I learned from the fantastic people here that took the time out of thier day to encourage and counsel a stubborn newbie such as myself, and took thier advice in albiet slowly. I read Rational Recovery and it introduced a few new ideas as well as destroying a few old ones. Then I read, learned asked questions and processed everything that I had learned over the last 4-5 months, and made a decision. I decided that Yes i actually did want to quit... I cannot stress that concept enough in my case. As I said before I knew I needed to or should quit. I knew all about the rammifications of continued drinking, but I didn't really think I could and or wanted to stop. The moment when after analyzing everything that had been told to me and putting the pieces together in my head I decided I truly wanted to quit completley without any caveats, I made my Big Plan, which is that I never drink, and I will never change my mind.

That was my third and finally sobering epiphany.

That was something around a month ago now. I know Monday was four weeks but haven't bothered to do the math beyond that.

eJoshua

I'm not sure I can point to a single event or realization that kept me sober. A series of events led me to make the decision to quit drinking, and for the year to year and a half after that I tortured myself through the quitting and relapsing cycle until I finally did the things I had to do to keep myself sober for good.

RevivingOphelia

I was so sick of obsessing about alcohol...(still am to a degree...early days)

So SO tired of hangovers

Realizing that stress and anxiety may be temporarily relieved but comes on triple time the day after

Zencat

Yes I did thankfully.

A short time before my birthday in 1996, sitting in jail, It struck me like a ton of concrete blocks, I have to make some serious changes in my life. Removing drugs/alcohol from my life was foremost important.

My dual-diagnosis treatment has been an up and down journey with plenty of trial and error experiences that is helping me find my way to greater wellness. The most important realization I have gathered so far is "If I will, I can change for the better". Knowing what to do and having the courage to do it, is life saving for me.

DryScotsman

My epiphany day was when I went into Edinburgh to look for work and was in the pub 10 mins after I came off the bus at 1030am drinking neat vodka with lager chasers. I eventually ended up standing opposite my old office, chugging cans of beer and crying whilst slumped on and occasionally p1ssing in a litter bin in the middle of the street. If any of my old colleagues were looking out the windows I must have looked a total mess (I was unfit to stand straight).

Thankfully my wife phoned me and I had to courage to slur out that I had a problem and needed help, she and my dad had to drive a 40 round trip to collect me and take me home to bed (she billed me for the petrol ) .

That was 43 days ago.

Woki

The disapointment in my childrens eyes.

I have 2 beautiful sons age 16 & 5. Both of them were so sad the last time I got drunk which was on April 1st, a sunday. Of course I only saw the sadness the next day, because I cant remember anything that happened on sunday night. Havnt had a drink since, but its very hard. I just think of them.I really dont want to see the sadness in their eyes again. They are just expecting me to get drunk again , and I truely don´t want that , ever again.

atimeofchoice

I think I had less of an epiphany and more of a slow, undeniable realization:

"Time to get your **** together, girl. That's that and the end."

IreLander

Was clean for 7 years off Alcohol and Meth , pot too. About 4 years ago I "lifted the ban" on drinking, which was incredibly stupid. Well it only took about 2 years after that to lift the ban on smoking pot... To say it was a downward spiral is an understatement. Spending time in bars was opening all the wrong doors. And I was smoking pot with a some really seedy dudes..dudes that probably had access to Meth. Meth is a door that MUST NEVER BE OPENED again. So basically I got scared, and here I am.

Im an addict and I cant choose what drug I want to do, and what drug I dont want to do. If I do one I will end up doing them all.

arbyz

Waking up with slashes all over my arms and having no recollection of it. Over night my thought process changed and has never gone back