Hi!
 

So, I'm new, hello. I've come to the conclusion that I've got a problem with drinking, and I need to stop. I'm a bit too nervous to go to meetings, or really to tell anyone. I'm pretty ashamed about it, and I'm kind of scared too. Drinking is such a big part of my life and the idea of cutting it out completely, at the moment is unimaginable. I'm going to lose a lot of friends, and I'm gonna be pretty ******* lonely. But I'm also really hurting myself if I continue abusing alcohol like I have been doing. I'm a bit lost at the moment and I suppose I wanted some help or advice or just to speak to an actual human about it. Or maybe just being on here, reading everyone else's tales is enough. I'm not sure.

Anyway, cheers! To day one of not drinking. I should probably throw away all the bottles of vodka I've surrounded myself in?

Hello Puffincat, welcome!

I am relatively new here too, so here is what I have found helpful
1) Peruse the posts at your leisure
2) There are some great links in the threads - namely building a recovery plan
3) It can be easy to stay on this site for hours and lose track of time, so I now dip in and out, so to speak, as and when
4) I keep a journal. Sometimes it's better to get it out of your head and on to paper if thoughts get out of control.

Hope this helps :-)

Best of luck x

You’ve come to a great place to talk this stuff through. Drinking was such a big part of my life. Cutting it out was unimaginable. Until I realized I didn’t want to have to live the way I was living. I think what you will hear over time is that quitting booze doesn’t fix everything but drinking doesn’t really fix anything. In contrast to being lonely, if you open yourself up to the possibilities I think you’ll find the chance to be quite the opposite. It just might be with different people. Which I know seems terrifying when you first think about it. I Am very early in the process (a little under 6 months), and I will say that what I’ve found, similar to many, is that life is still life and there will be times you are lonely, sad, mad, etc. But it’s no different when you are dinking. Only without the booze you can miss out on some of the drama, the hangovers, the needless shame. Some people avoid social situations but for the most part I tend to enjoy being in social settings because instead of being preoccupied with booze (and let’s be honest myself, and whether I’m bein judged, whether I’m being funny, whether I”m having fun, whether I’m saying the right or wrong thing, whether I’m slurring my words, whether I hurt someone’s feelings) I can listen to people, be a sober driver, and go to bed as early a f.

Good luck to you. Please keep posting and reading! And post before you drink again.

Welcome to SR,
Trust me your not alone in many of your feelings. For me I had to make a plan, spend each evening planning out every hour of the next day and sticking to it with all my might. I had to avoid situations that I thought I couldn’t handle. Most importantly interact here at SR every evening when I would normally be drinking. Many use AA with great success. Don’t be ashamed there are so many like us. Hope you stay around

Welcome to the family! :)

Welcome Puffincat - great to have you onboard :)
Yeah I'd get rid of the bottles :)

D

Great to meet you, Puffincat.

I was in the same state when I joined SR. I couldn't imagine my life without it, but I knew it was slowly destroying me. I was completely dependent on it & drank every day. Being here, I never felt alone again. No one in my life understood what I was going through like my friends on SR. I found the courage to change my life. We know you can do it. Welcome!