I had an issue with binge drinking from being a young girl, I would say 13/14. At the time I didn’t see this as an issue because it seemed everybody did this at 14…. I realised as I got older, I started drinking young because I suffered massively with anxiety, and that seemed to (well I thought) melt it all away. During my 20’s I was a complete party girl… spending my years masking mental health issues, traumatic experiences, and all of life’s other woes behind a seemingly happy face. I’m now almost 32 and I have realised that since my later twenties… I have had a few bottles of wine a night, almost every night. It was only recently t that I have realised that this is not just a bad habit. It’s an addiction. Planning things that didn’t involve having a drink became “boring” for me. If I really felt I didn’t fancy a drink I would ensure not to get one (probably to convince myself this wasn’t an issue). And I would feel agitated, bad tempered and down for the rest of the night unless I happened to cave and get a drink.
My heavy alcohol misuse has caused some major issues for me in life, and left me in some regrettable and even embarrassing situations. Almost every regret I’ve had in life, has derived from alcohol and enough is enough.
I want to get as much support and like minded people around me as I possibly can, because I am thoroughly enjoying the short time I have achieved without alcohol so far.
the feeling of waking up hungover or still tipsy, I do not miss! I want to enjoy life and feel life through the person that I am, not the version of me that views everything through tipsy or hungover lenses.