Sober Stories: Bailey*
How’d you decide to get sober? I knew that my drinking had gotten heavier in the pandemic. As I started getting better with my eating disorder, I didn’t have an outlet for anxiety. When COVID hit, I had recently started my business [as a therapist]. I had to change everything to telehealth and figure out […]
Sober Stories: Julia
What led you to get sober? I stopped drinking in January 2020. I don’t identify as an alcoholic, but I wasn’t comfortable with how I was drinking. There’s alcoholism in my family, so I know there’s some predisposition. I struggle with anxiety and depression, and I noticed that drinking would exacerbate them. Then in December […]
Sober Stories: Sam*
What led you to the decision to get sober? The first time I ever drank, I was 12. My cousin and I probably had 10 shots each. It’s maybe telling that in the context of my family, that struck me as normal. But in any other context, it was apparent that the way I drank […]
Match.com and O’Doul’s Partner for Sober Online Dating
Dating site Match.com and non-alcoholic beer O’Doul’s recently partnered to encourage sober virtual dates.[1] The Match app now includes an option to add your drinking preferences, such as “no drinks,” “anything in moderation,” and “let’s drink.” The two companies are also offering a chance to win a virtual dating kit; the kit includes limited-edition O’Doul’s […]
Sober Stories: Angie
Can you tell me about your path to sobriety? What led you to the decision? In the summer of 2013, I was coming out of hands-down the most destructive relationship I had ever been in. I had been drinking a lot for a long time, but this summer was different. I was blacking out when […]
Social Media and Sobriety
So much of our lives happen online, it would be silly to think our social media feeds don’t affect our thoughts. Like many other things in life, social media has both positive and negative effects. I’ve written on this blog about how after the first COVID-19 lockdown, a social media culture quickly cropped up around […]
Taking it One Day at a Time
When you first get sober, the future can feel overwhelming. I wanted to fast-forward time, so I could get to the part where I imagined sobriety would feel natural. But I also couldn’t fathom forever without alcohol or drugs. I’ve been sober almost five and a half years. But the first time I tried full […]
How to Move Past the Pink Cloud Experience
Have you experienced the pink cloud experience? You may have if you have reached sobriety from your drug or alcohol addiction. The pink cloud occurs when you find yourself excited and living your best life right after you have ended treatment. You are sober, and it feels terrific. The problem is, it can all come […]
Dry January: Assessing Your Relationship to Alcohol
While there is a lot of heavy drinking during the December holidays and New Year’s Eve, millions of people spend the following month abstaining from alcohol. Dry January is a campaign—begun in the UK in 2013—encouraging people to stay sober for the month of January. It normalizes sobriety. Dry January started with about 4,000 people; […]
You Can Stay Sober, Even During the Winter 2020 Holidays
Everyone celebrates different winter holidays, but during COVID-19 most people face similar questions about how to do so safely. This brings added stress to a time that many already find challenging. In a survey of over 1,000 people’s holiday drinking habits, the second-highest alcohol consumption occurred on New Year’s Eve. The December winter holidays were […]