Member-only story
You Don’t Have to Like What I Write About My Struggles with Alcohol
But that doesn’t mean you get to call me an “attention-seeking narcissist”
Photo by Solal Ohayon on Unsplash
One of the best things about writing on Medium is the ability to receive feedback from other members.
I have been blown away by the encouraging and heartfelt messages I have received from readers, especially when writing about my struggles to stop drinking. The messages have mostly been of 2 types: 1. Encouragement and constructive advice, which I am extremely grateful for. God knows I don’t have all (or even many) answers; or 2. Gratitude for articulating the same worries that other people suffer from, but have been too afraid to verbalise. Just admitting you have a problem is scary enough. Realising you are not alone is incredibly comforting.
In writing about my struggles to be sober, I have been honest about the fact that I have been pretty bad at abstaining. I go straight for a while and feel great, and then I sabotage it. I admit this. I write about this. Mainly to help myself — to try and figure out what I am doing and why — hoping that seeing words on a screen will bring me more clarity than just thinking, thinking, thinking until I feel like my head is going to explode.
