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Alcohol support

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Alcoholic parents have motivated us to completely quit drinking

1 reply

townandcountrygirl · 04/01/2019 15:06

Hello folks! OH and I decided to quit drinking nearly 3 months ago (we are 27 and 29). We had a tendency to binge and were both known for being 'life and soul of the party', often resulting in 10/10 hangovers, lateness, anxiety, low levels of motivation and bad moods. Our friends are less than impressed with our choice to eradicate the dramas of drinking from our lives, although they are getting used to it.

The main motivation for quitting is the fact that both our fathers are alcoholics. They function, but they are each putting away the equivalent of 1.5 bottles of wine per night, on average. We have the alcohol gene on both sides throughout the paternal family tree. We want to inspire both dads to quit or at least considerably cut down and we are fearful of going down the same path ourselves if we go back to drinking.

My father has been in rehab twice and has seen two marriages break down due to alcohol-related incidents, but we've seen no change and the whole mission feels hopeless sometimes. I know OHs father's drinking is putting worry and strain on his family too.

We enjoy not drinking now and although OH is occasionally 'very bored', we're finding other ways to keep him occupied! Has anyone else successfully quit drinking? Or is there anyone out there worrying about their parents excessive drinking? Would love to know how others are coping with both / either.

OP posts:
HopeClearwater · 05/01/2019 00:57

Hi there. I totally get your thinking here. I’m a very infrequent drinker these days (and never more than one drink when I do drink) probably as a result of my dad’s alcoholism and my DH’s alcoholism. It killed them both.

Because so much crap has happened to me and my family as a result of alcoholism, I have no problem drinking little or nothing at any event no mater how much everyone else is putting away, and I never, ever justify it to people or get into any kind of discussion about how much is too much (which you will see in this topic on MN a lot). Much of the population appears to be drowning in prosecco on a nightly basis -well, I don’t feel the need to join them.

You carry on doing what you feel is right for you.

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