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How many years of alchol sobriety do you have?

April 7th, 2009

Every once in awhile someone asks me, “How many years of alchol sobriety do you have?” These days I usually say, “I don’t know, but I suppose it must be getting up around 60.” That usually elicits a stare and a long pause (though one groggy individual did once say, “Damn! You musta started awful young!”) It’s called reframing and if you want to leave your alcohol problems behind you’ll find the process a lot easier if you phrase and interpret things accurately.  ”Years of sobriety” is one of those loaded terms 12-Step programs use to keep you trapped and feeling bad about yourself while also pretending that everyone ‘s situation is the same. It’s not.  There is a world of difference between:someone who started drinking abusively a year or two ago in response to some personal disaster; someone who hasn’t really been sober since they took that first drink at 14; a person whose alcohol abuse has been creeping up over the years due to loneliness, boredom, anxiety, or other common – and fixable – conditions that tend to lead to misusing alcohol. Where are you? It’s easy enough to find out – just add up all of the years you’ve lived when alcohol wasn’t a problem. And, yes, you get to include all the years when you drank “normally.” You’re probably going to start feeling a lot better about yourself when you see that you have managed alcohol just fine for many years, and gotten along without for many more. Remember, they all count, and they all matter. And obviously, you aren’t powerless and you aren’t diseased and you do have the power to end your alcohol abuse today by getting help.

Entry Filed under: Health