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Sobriety Made Me Grow Up
How alcohol kept me from really being myself.
For someone struggling with alcohol addiction like myself, there are a lot more reasons to give up drinking than there are to do it. Besides the better sleep, better bowel movements, and less anxiety, I noticed that when I quit drinking, I was met with all sorts of new feelings and experiences. Some of these feelings were overwhelming and it took time to sit with my emotions and understand where they were coming from. Emotional dysregulation is common among people who have experienced trauma and it was definitely felt by me. When I was sad, I wasn’t sure why I was sad until I gave myself time to really think about it and learn from it. It was an act of maturity to really feel out these new emotions I had and it’s been rewarding but tough work.
I started drinking when I was 16–17 years old and drank until I quit a few years ago. Then after a breakup a couple of years ago, I started drinking again, and just recently went sober, all for myself. This means that most of my adult life was through the rose colored glasses that alcohol provides. Life was great when you were having fun and I wasn’t having fun unless there was alcohol. Boredom was never an issue because I would just drink through it, and if I was stressed or upset about something, I would drink my cares away. Anytime I would feel something that overwhelmed me, I would use…
