It truly is one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I've spent the last seven years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. Additionally, I examine the way mental and physical health as well as our relationships with others impact the reasons people drink and their role in maintaining sobriety long-term. I took my last drink on December 19, 2016. But, inevitably, a bad day would sneak in there. I translated bad days into personal failures.

More Questions about Treatment?

You’re probably not going to hear this anyplace else, so I should get some points for candor, even though being sober sucks it is certainly controversial to talk about the negative aspects of something so overwhelmingly positive.

Feeling Like Being Sober Sucks? 12 Tips for Feeling Better

You’re not going back to your old life, so get serious about the future. It’s going to be tough at first, but what isn’t? Anything worth having you have to work for, so get to work. If you’re lonely, it’s time to meet people. Not surprising you hate being sober at one time or another, especially in early sobriety, so you are not alone.

Drunk people become experts—and want you to know it.

Or the newcomer has unrealistic expectations and judges others unfairly. Perhaps some just prefer to behave like jerks. Acceptance of one another and each individual's right to walk her own path is the solution.

The Reality of Your Life Without Sobriety

People have strong reactions to that during this season of toasting. I wrote about some of my difficulties in sobriety last year, in a post called The Worst Parts of Sobriety. I was inspired to revisit the topic after reading a recent post by Heather Lowe, called Sober is Boring and I Have Lost Friends. Three months ago I hit the benchmark called “Advanced Recovery” and suddenly things began to fall into place like they did not do in the early days of my sobriety. I do not mean to say it takes that long for everyone (I have always been a late bloomer), but for me the two year point marked the end of my resistance and the beginning of my overwhelming gratefulness.

Yes, asking for help was already listed, but it is so important that it is worth repeating. Getting through recovery’s ups and downs requires you to do more than just occasionally show up and interact with people who may be able to support you. You have to motivate yourself, schedule it in, and consistently do the things that will help you improve your life in recovery. Instead of isolating and giving into feeling bad, reach out and connect with others who might be going through the same thing.

• I think that anyone who is considering getting sober should know the full truth — not to be discouraged, but to be prepared.
• Shame is having negative beliefs about yourself and your self-worth.
• Baked into a lot of these programs and therapy sessions are things that will push you to accept full responsibility for your past and then provide you with the tools you need to move forward from them.
• Choose to recognize that the choices you make directly impact your experience.

That doesn’t mean you won’t see some improvements immediately, just be realistic. It takes time to rebuild a life filled with satisfying things and people. Some people won’t work out, some activities won’t work out.

• And when we self-medicate with alcohol, we enter into a vicious cycle of drinking to avoid our problems and then causing new ones because, well, we drink.
• Get coffee with a friend to take your mind off relationship problems.
• How you deal with this one is you use it and you own it and you live it, because there is nothing more beautiful than a human who has no other choice but to be themself.

Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional. Becoming sober isn’t just about abstaining from alcohol. If you haven’t felt what sobriety feels like, you can. It’s never too late to start feeling better, by stepping into that happier future and discovering and falling in love with the happy, whole, successful, more connected person you are when sober. The promise of sobriety is that “the way I feel stone-cold sober, even on my worst days ever … I would never trade to feel the effects of a drug and drink again,” our alumna said. She said anyone can have the same experience being sober.

How do you get better in sobriety if you have no idea where to start?

• 65% of all those in recovery gain weight, and if you struggle with an alcohol problem, there’s a strong chance you may also be fighting anxiety, depression, mood swings or compulsive behavior.
• But you don’t know until you try, and you have to genuinely try.
• If there is an alternative program to those that interest you, go for it.
• If any area of your life is out of control, it will not help you maintain lasting sobriety.