I’m only 25 years old and 7 years sober and self harm free! 🥰

I have an addictive personality, so when I started using, drinking, and abusing my own body, it was very hard to quit. I was always high and/or drunk, regardless of where I was or what I was doing. Whether I’d be working, at school, etc. I got myself into many situations that I’m surprised I made it out of alive.

I started cutting around 11 years old and my anorexia developed in my teens. I was extremely skinny, you could see my bones poking through my body. I attempted suicide twice in my life (thank God I’m alive 🙏🏻)

Everyone thinks I’m so strong for turning things around, but honestly? If it weren’t for my son I wouldn’t be here today. He gave me a reason to wake up every day. I grew up with parents who were always drunk or high and I didn’t NOT want him to have the same childhood I had. I love my son so much <333

🥹🥹🥹🥹

Today, I’m five years sober from drugs and alcohol! It’s bitter sweet honestly. I had a hard time this morning because I haven’t progressed in life like i wanted to. My family still sees me as a past issue and can’t see me in my new light. But I know that if I didn’t get sober I would have lost my wife and kids! So for everyone out there that’s pushing it, doing the work…. I see you and I’m proud of you! Five Years and forever more!

Ive spent well over a decade drinking beer every day. It has cause many issues in my life. My health is starting to slip and I want to turn my life around. Yesterday was my first full day with zero alcohol. My question is how do I un fuck my reward system? I know this will take time. It won't be easy. I just need some healthy pointers.

46, almost 47. I was a big pothead and casual drinker since high school. About 3 years ago, I quit smoking pot. It a was a beast and took many tries, and even though I felt better not smoking, I was still drinking 3-4 times a week and if there was a special occasion I was getting blasted. Anyway, a month ago (today) my family asked me to slow down after a few dicy get-togethers. I thought about their requests, and my relationship with beer and alcohol and even though I didn't feel like a drunk, so much of my social life revolved around getting a beer and/or drinking. I took a couple days to think about it, and then I agreed and here I am.

So far, I feel great, and hope that I can keep it going. Writing it down here makes me feel like there is a public record of me saying that and somehow more permanent. Anyway, thanks /sober.

edited for spelling/grammar

I don't really like to announce to myself, or to 'the void' that I am trying to be sober again. I feel like I've stumbled and failed too many times to try and seek encouragement from folks I've let down before. So I'm trying here.

I've had a very long relationship with weed. And for most of that time it's been good. But the last year, each and every time I've gotten high, I've hated it. The lack of cognitive ability, lack of full control of my own limbs. It sends me down a dark hole each time now.

I've been 'California Sober' since January. I had a shot of whiskey in my coffee four months ago, but pushed the date from my mind and haven't fell off again since.

Weed was my go-to to quit nicotine. Not a perfect step-down but it helped. Now I find myself looking at Snus or disposable nicotine vapes to quit getting high. I have no access to healthcare and a litany of mental health issues that I've medicated with drugs of varying degrees. But now, I'll act on vaping before I even give it a thought. Three days ago, I inhaled a deep lungful and had three hours of a waking nightmare while my partner had to care for me. I wished I had gotten a video to remind myself how much I need to stop.

I don't know if I'll return here for support, or to support others. But I know I have massive issues with addictions and a feeling that I need to knock my brain off-course with intoxicants. I want to stop. I want to learn to exist in my body and mind as it is, and work through whatever it is that makes me crave an altered state.

This is Day 1. I want to hold myself accountable, I want to be better. I want my laughter to be genuine and not from a drug. I know compared to many other addictions, this may seem silly. But if I can keep off alcohol, nicotine /and/ weed, that bodes very well for the future. :)

Thanks for hearing me out

I never post anything and I know this isn't much, but after years of drinking and having a health scare, id like to say today is day 12. Is it easy... no way- in some ways I feel so alone yet surrounded by people I love, Its hard really hard but my mind and will power are strong , just looking for some advice and hobbies to do after work and mindsets if anyone can help I'd appreciate that so much.

Hey y'all, I hope everyone has been doing well.

I am a regular poster in a different subreddit concerning cannabis abuse. Although I have been appreciative of their perspective; I realized my needs have changed past that scope of discussion. This subreddit has a lot of rules about posting and commenting, and those rules make it difficult for me to talk about my struggles with drugs outside of cannabis.

I was a stoner for about 6 years, been clean for about 8 months, I don't feel any urge to go back to smoking. But I realized recently I'm still pursuing substance usage the same way I would pursue cannabis.getting drunk after a particularly awful workday never does me any favors despite feeling like it would. Even saved for the weekend I end up feeling like I wasted all my time running away from reality. The same thing goes for mushrooms.

I feel like it's hard for me to control that compulsion, or impulsion, it feels like both. Running head first into a quick dopamine fix away from my woes and all the things that make me anxious. I'm tired of thinking this haphazard regulation is going to fix me presently, it almost never does.

It's been about 2 weeks since my last drink, one week since my last microdose.

I am struggling right now and just need to express myself and hopefully find some support. I apologize for the lengthy post.

TLDR- I am 10 months sober, moved to a new city in March 2026. Bad room mates in sober living community and stressful job, I feel alone.

My journey into sobriety started three and a half years ago when my life partner suddenly passed from alcoholic hepatitis. I knew something needed to change because I was heading in the same direction so I went to treatment for the first time. I did pretty good for six months and thought I could drink like a normal person because I had been doing so good. That was a mistake.

I relapsed in November 2025 and lost everything so I moved in with my family and quickly went back to the same treatment facility. While in this facility a family friend that was temporarily housing my cat (most important thing in my life) put her down without contacting me or my family, so when I got out of treatment and got the news I had a full breakdown. I checked myself into the hospital for supervision as my thoughts were very dangerous. Then I went back to treatment to explore other options to strengthen my sobriety and rebuild my life.

I decided to move to a new city and try a sober living community back in March of 2026. We are required to work a 12 step program and go to three meetings a week which has been going well for me. I go to therapy weekly and see my psychiatrist once a month while we get a good med regimen figured out. Things have been going well and I am focused on myself for the first time in my life.

However right now things are really difficult and I don't like the way I am feeling. My roommates are making things very difficult and I feel like they are not committed to working on their mental health and sobriety like they should be. I know I shouldn't focus on their journey but being forced to be around them constantly makes that hard. On top of the bad home situation work has become extremely stressful as well, so I feel like I can't escape the constant stress and frustration. I love what I do for work and am finding a lot of success with this company but I have little control over my assistant and no matter what I do things are not getting better. I will be moving departments very soon and won't have to deal with that for much longer so right now I am just doing what I have to to kill time.

I don't have cravings and I am not worried about relapse but I feel my depression slowly coming back and taking hold of me. That worries me a lot and I don't want to go back to such a dark place. I really wish I had a friend that could relate or be supportive because I really don't have anyone but my sisters who live 2+ hours away.

I just want to maintain the growth I've had in the last 10 months and continue rebuilding my life and finding joy and purpose every day.

One day at a time...

I’m currently 64 days sober (I had a good 40 day streak before, but had a “eh one drink won’t hurt” night at the bar with some friends and surprise surprise, I took it too far. Clock reset). I’ve done a lot of internal work, found a hobby that wasn’t drinking (running), tried starting to build healthier relationships with friends and family, gotten back into counseling, but emotions are running so high these days. I went out with some friends and was their DD Friday night and it made me realize a few things. 1) drunk people are annoying when you’re sober. 2) yea I think I really am done drinking. But then 3) I am having an identity crisis because the backbone of my life was hanging out with my friends at bars or restaurants or breweries having “fun” and catching up with a few drinks. That part of life feels miserable now. I have been having waves of uncontrollable crying ever since. Spent 90% of the day yesterday sleeping and crying. Today I went out for a run, had to come home early because I kept crying mid run. Is this normal? It could be partially hormone related because I have the pleasure of being a female, but f**k this sucks.

I’m coming up for 4 years sober and something I’ve been struggling with lately is finding the FUN side of life in recovery! I have plenty people I can catch up with and have meaningful conversations with but it feels like so much of my social life revolves around talking about life’s difficulties, how everyone’s doing and all the serious stuff. I really miss having friendships that are just about having a laugh, being silly, doing spontaneous things and making memories together. I want to do things because they’re fun, not because they’re good for my wellbeing or part of some self-improvement journey !! I want to laugh until my face hurts !!

Being in my early 30s, queer and AuDHD, finding people and spaces that feel like the right fit can be a bit of a challenge. I feel like most people over 30 who are looking for friends are looking for friends to drink with. The queer scene is very alcohol centred (I also live in Scotland where alcohol is a huge part of the culture) and being auDHD adds a whole other layer to my difficulties with socialising. I often think the reason I’m against bars etc in recovery is more about my sensory sensitivities in those environments (which previously led me to alcohol to cope) rather than it being about the actual presence of alcohol if that makes sense? I’ve tried various things over the years and have made new connections but I haven’t quite found what I’m looking for yet.

For those of you in recovery, where have you found your fun people? Have you found social groups, activities or friendships that have helped you rediscover that lighter, more carefree side of life?

I’m especially interested in hearing about actual experiences rather than the usual advice to join a club or take up a hobby!

Can you believe I went to Ibiza for a bachelor party surrounded by alcohol and drugs – did not consume anything and still had fun. I would not believe a few months ago it was possible…
I have thoughts that after 1 year sober I could try to drink in moderation.
I don’t want to put my guard down, any advice from those of you who walked my path and lessons learned?

Checking in tomorrow morning. Really scared.

Feels really good. Best thing I've done for myself hands down.

Numerous attempts at sobriety, longest lasting 140 days. Relapsed hard for a month and lost everything. Today I watched the Travis Barker documentary and I am inspired to give it another go. Nothing to lose, I’m sick of drinking poison. Day one let’s go

If anyone is thinking about sobriety, I hope this is helpful for you. 7 years ago I decided to stop drinking. My daughter was 5. I was / am successful with work and friendships, but loved wine and having people over for wine and doing all things that involved cocktails and champagne. I also got terrible hangovers but those were pretty normalized since I always had them. I created a life structured around the thrill of a glass of red wine in the winter and a rose in the summer and champagne at brunch. Then in January of 2019 I decided to try dry Jan and that was great, loved the no hangovers, clarity, energy. I kept off it for 5 months and then went to Spain for vacation and decided to “moderately” add it back. I realized within a few months that moderation was a problem because (1) I couldn’t seem to do it and (2) the reason I couldn’t seem to do it was because one glass of whatever just made me sleepy and didn’t bring the vibes I had been counting on - unlimited drinks and a night dedicated to the constant refill of wine glasses among friends. Right before my 39th birthday I found myself in the yard, at the picnic table, 3 bottles of red wine in and the last one standing. I couldn’t remember putting my daughter to bed (she was fine, but that is still a very shitty feeling). The next morning I decided I needed to stop again. That was 7 years ago. What I’ve lost - the thrill of opening a bottle with friends and the anticipation of a nights drinking. That’s a bigger loss than it sounds. You have to be honest about it. But what I’ve gained is a totally different path in life. I realized that drinking was my shortcut to problem resolution, and without it I was forced to actually resolve a whole bunch of logistical and life challenges that needed to be addressed. Serious things, like deciding to relocate across the country to be closer to my family. A change like that requires a thousand small moments and decisions that are almost impossible to make when you can just pour a glass of red and dismiss things for the evening. The jewel in my sobriety crown is the relationship I have with my now 13 year old daughter. I was always a good and attentive mom, but happy hour doesn’t make for good bedtimes or a lot of bonding, even when it’s just wine on the couch at home. I realized by stopping drinking it made me way more available to her in general, and able to watch a show or take a walk or drive to target at 8 pm. For those who aren’t big drinkers, this may sound like nonsense. But for those of you who have to basically cut the day off at 6 pm because that’s when the wine / beer / champagne/ etc starts, you’ll understand. My life looks completely different than it did 7 years ago, in big ways and small. It scares the daylight out of me to think of where I’d be if I was still drinking - and where my daughter would be. Maybe it would be mostly the same. Or maybe I would have driven us somewhere after a night of drinking and caused an accident. Or not listened when she needed me to hear her. Or frankly, just fucked around and missed out on 7 years worth of chats and hugs and bonding moments. I have never been fundamentally prouder and happier with a decision in all my life. If you are considering giving it up, please step into this moment and do whatever it takes. I’m cheering for you!

Hey guys, after 8 months of addiction I finally decided to quit. nobody in my life knew I was battling addiction, so I have nobody to tell, but I feel so proud of myself even though it’s only 5 days.

Today I woke up without hangover and I’m trying something new early in the morning and I feel so grateful for not being high or drunk. There’s so much to do with our time. I’m sorry I’ve wasted my youth with this but I want to reinvent myself now and it’s never later for that

Wishing you all a good weekend

I (M19) have typically done 1-3g per week, but I have slowly been trying to quit. Tried to quit 3 weeks ago, relapsed 2 weeks ago, but went sober morning after and haven’t gone back.

Ever since then, I’ve been trying to focus on school. I never let my grades get bad, but I feel like I was a little withdrawn. I am now studying almost 30-40 hours per week on top of 16 hours of courses a week. I feel like I’m so burnt out. My classes start at 8am, so I try to go bed around a reasonable hour (10pm-11pm), but I find myself waking up at 4:00 and can’t fall asleep. I have tried to fix it, but I can’t. I’m waking up before all of my alarms, I’m having nightmares, I’m constantly feeling irritated and almost paranoid.

I was wondering if these were symptoms of withdrawal and how long I might expect to have to deal with these?

Since going sober, my parents have taken my car, put tracking on my bank and phone, and I get weekly drug tests. I’m not allowed to leave campus. I feel like I’m almost trapped and am not able to get any relief or anything because I have this constant anxiety that they might be watching. I know I can be sober as these drug tests are enough to keep me accountable, but the additional steps feel overkill to me. I know it’s coming from a place of concern and care, but it makes me feel like I am an untrustworthy person. Additionally, my roommates who I consider my best friends are extremely mad at me. They dismiss every thing I’m proud of, they are constantly upset with me, but I feel like I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m trying to move in the right direction for once, but it feels like I just get pushed back by everything in my life.

How long will I feel like this

I am a prescription stimulant addict. I am drowning in the cravings. They are all consuming and I have absolutely no idea how to deal with them. I feel like they have complete and utter control over me. Every other substance I’ve stopped in my 10 years of using has been PISS EASY in comparison to this. It is, genuinely, one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced in my life. I am at a complete loss and have no idea how to beat this thing. I’m worried if I can’t get a handle on the cravings I won’t be able to escape this hell.

Edit: I am doing steps, with eating disorders anonymous w a sponsors who’s also an addict and recovering from eating disorders

On Sunday, I was half a year clean from self harm. It is now 186 days though, but I haven’t told many people I’m half a year clean. :)

Restless

Nervous

Anxious

Depressed

Dry skin

Dull hair

Stomach problems

Poor sleep

Drowsiness

Nausea

General feeling of illness

Headaches

Insecurity

I’ve taken a few breaks before (longest stretch was like 10 months.) My relationship with alcohol was going places that was becoming quite concerning.

Besides myself, the person I really did it for is my daughter. One of the best feelings is being able to drive her anywhere at a moment’s notice. Lately, that’s the mall or the bookstore. Simple pleasures. I’m just happy to be a person she can rely on.

When I decided to take a break from drinking I wasn’t sure if it would be a forever thing but sitting here one year later…I have no desire to go back. I have no delusions that maybe I can moderate now, enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, have a couple happy hour cocktails. So I’m just gonna let it ride and enjoy my freedom.

Haven't had a drink in 15 months. Haven't smoked dope in 10 days.

I definitely used pot as a crutch when I stopped drinking. I see that now.

I also see that I am using chocolate and other treats as a crutch for quitting smoking.

How do I get comfortable with the nothingness of it all?

Hi there, I just wanted to let everyone know that I have created an online place for us sober people to find meetings of different flavors, meet and coordinate local drug and alcohol free events and groups of shared interests.

Check it out and spread the word
https://www.soberlivingevents.com

It's brand new so any feedback is welcome, the site is 100% free