Usually the 20-somethings come in spurts, then there isnt much in that age group for a while. I think it is smart that the 20-somethings are realizing that hey maybe alcohol isnt exactly what all the commercials lead them to believe. Drinking is hammered home in that college age group and supposedly nothing is wrong going out and getting blasted.

I kind of feel stuck in the middle. I'm in my mid-thirties, so past the acceptable partying of my 20s (which I did without drinking alcoholically), yet a bit on the young side for the baby boomers and older Gen X-ers.

For me, it has been about 3 years of heavy binge drinking, but the sad thing is it coincided with me starting a family (had severe postpartum depression on top of my decade-old clinical/chronic depression and coped the wrong way), and that is a whole other level of guilt to deal with.

I had mostly young kids in my IOP groups. Funny thing I learned more from them than some people twice their age. It will always stay with me that they truly made me realize how much we had in common. Just because they hadn't use as long didn't make the horror of addiction any less for them. An addict is an addict is an addict.

Do not feel in the middle. It was 32 when I realized I had a problem and now turning 34 sober :)

Anytime you quit drinking is good! No worries!

You wanted feedback, I gave it.

Every day I see people talk themselves out of recovery and decide that they are not like other addicts. Then I watch these people use, suffer, and die. I don't mince words.

This disease wants us alone and isolated, and convinces us that we are somehow unique. When I came into NA, I compared myself with other addicts. They used different drugs, they were older, younger, not as smart as I was, they had different experiences, etc.

When I stopped comparing and started to look past the surface issues, I learned to relate at the level of feelings and emotions that all addicts have in common. It was only then that I was able to identify with the very people that would save my life.

Sure, my sponsor is a bit older than me and has similar life experiences, but that's just one relationship in recovery. When I am able to be open minded I hear the message from people I never expected to have anything in common with.

When I find myself feeling different from "those people" in the rooms of NA, I know that I need to check my attitude in a hurry.

Hi MovingForward, I'm 52, female and have been a heavy drinker for over 20 yrs. I quit last October with the help of inpatient rehab. I also wish I would have stopped years ago, but I'm not drinking now and life is good. Even though I'm going through a difficult divorce that I didn't want, being sober gives me a positive mindset and self confidence that I never had when I was drinking.

Yes!!!!!
 

Can we do that? --start the over 40 thread, I mean. I am 52 and have been drinking off and on since I was 17 years old. The "off" portions were only when I was pregnant and/or breastfeeding so the "on" sections were much longer :)

I think the differences are that I work a full time-demanding job as does my husband. We have two kids who have lived with an alcoholic mother all of their lives and it has definitely strained our relationships. My husband has put up with an alcoholic wife for 27 years. These are situations that someone in their 20's or maybe even 30's cannot relate to only because they haven't lived it. I think it would be beneficial to lean on and offer support to folks who have had similar experiences that can only be had by living longer. That's my 2 cents!

Thank you so much for this! I'm 25, started at 14 and alcoholicly from the very beggining, always binge drinking on hard liquor like vodka. All the time before I was going out...I was hiding my booze everywhere even in the bathroom to hide....I did not start at parties etc...almost no one of people I know drank at that time and age, I started hiding, and alone....
Reading all replays gives me a lot of hope...I already felt like I wasted my life and feel forever lock in that addiction, since my longest sober time is maybe a month....
I was always blackout drunk...many many regrets, and shame that is so har to forgive myself now. But now for the first time I feel like my life is in front of me and I'm still young, no matter that I feel twice my age....
I'm still at the very beggining of my recovery and I realize I had a problem many years ago...but finally I found some strenght in me to fight for me and my life...And your experience is priceless. I mostly just visit to read here since it gives me a lot of comfort....and I can relate to mostly everyone. For the first time I'm happy that I'm not a unique case (but in some perspevtive everyone is) and I'm not alone. It is not that special, and people overcomes it... Almost half of my short life is wasted, I feel old, but thank you of reminding me to not be that hard on myself, I'm not hopeless, and I still have a lot of live to live! :grouphug::You_Rock_

It's human nature, I think, how we can all read different things into our world on SR.

I didn't join the first time I encountered SR. I saw posts about broken teeth, jail, marriages threatened by alcohol. I thought "I couldn't be that bad."

In retrospect, it's pretty clear that my addiction was calling the shots. I'm sure I was mentally cherry-picking what resonated with me as a way of avoiding doing anything about my alcoholism.

I got sober on my own about three months later. Two months after that, I was struggling mightily and decided to revisit "that" website. Turns out, I saw a lot of me in the posts I read that night.

I've reached an age where I'm sensitive about my age. Suffice to say, it takes more than five fingers to count the number of presidents elected in my lifetime. And I spent too much of my life either drinking (and more than a "normie") or transitioning to alcoholism, the latter lasting somewhere between 12 and 15 years.

And while I still feel we all have more that unites us than categorizes us, I've actually felt differently about what needs arise at certain ages as I've read the posts from the younger alcoholics among us. Those at a time in their lives when bars and parties are what young people *should* be able to enjoy. Those for whom the emphasis on alcohol in colleges, which I'm convinced is worse than ever, has resulted in addiction.

While I continue to believe we all have more in common than not, I've occasionally wished there was a thread, perhaps something similar to the Weekenders, for the young alcoholics.

Go for it STG. Sounds like there'd be a lot of interest.

Girl, you can't be THAT old then. I'm 35 and I have 5 presidents under my belt now too. From what I hear, we are the new 20? (Well, 40 is but no way am I expecting that.) Sorry, just had to have fun with ya.

Honestly, I hope a thread for the "older" crowd isn't created. Should we create a thread for the "younger" crowd too? Where do I fall? I'm exactly mid-thirties and relate on more than one spectrum. And a lot of us fell into alcoholism at different points in our lives.

Say a 50 year-old just became an unexpected widow. Descent into alcoholism for 2 years. Seeks help here. Where should this person turn? To the 20s age group because they, too, are new to sobriety, or at least looking at its benefits? Or maybe they want to connect with others their age, despite the amount of time they have had in sobriety or the years they were an alcoholic before beginning sobriety?

I think this is useless. We are all here for a common goal. It is our life experiences, different ages, cultural differences and multi-opinions that makes this place a community. We form a common bond through this disease. We might differ and even not like each other in real life if we met and this wasn't a grasp that held us clenched together. But I don't want that. This shows me how none of are different from one another. Our experiences/feelings/choices/questions, despite the path taken to get there, are at the same sticking point. We are alcoholics. Period.

Well, honey, I *did* say that it takes more than five fingers to count the presidents. Didn't say how many more than five!

I read a lot of threads and have enjoyed this one. I like reading posts from those around my age and older. I wouldn't want to exclude anyone from posting any where. I don't have experience getting sober at 20 or 30 and never will. I quit 6 months ago at 53. It's just nice to know there are others like me, i'm not alone. :)

I totally agree.
Will we next have a black and white thread?

Hello Fellow Forty Something! I am 45, and have five and a half months sober. Like you I drank for well over 20 years, actually closer to 30. I remained sober during my pregnancies, and while nursing my kids, and had sporadic periods of sobriety, but this is my longest.

There are many of us on here who stopped at this age. I am currently sitting at the airport with my kids waiting for a red eye flight to NY. Last year we were sitting in a bar/restaurant at the airport so Mommy could have a glass or two of wine before boarding. This year is much better. We all have books, coloring, and of course technology, and it will make the flight, and the time change much better.

It isn't always easy, but it does get easier, and I promise it is worth it!!

Welcome to SR! We old folks rock!!! :You_Rock_

I've had no internet due to storms and am just now catching up. So thankful for all the responses. There is a lot of good feedback here, and it's giving me some things to think over. By no means am I considering that my age difference with many is a reason to go back to drinking, and it's great to see the responses that I'm not alone in my thoughts. Hearing from people different than you has its benefits. As does hearing from people in the same genre.

Day 4 is going well. I can't change my current state in life so I'll move forward with it and keep working.

Congratulations on day 4

Keep working it MF1. I am almost 54 and drank heavy since 18. Wake up sober everyday. You won't regret it.......Jimmy

48,11 years sober after 23 years of drinking here

and very dam glad to see people of any age getting sober,.
plus if I readf and listen I can relate to the 20 somethings,too.