This is the # 1 question I get asked via direct messages so I feel it’s important to share with everyone!
After 19 long years of extensive alcohol and drug abuse, I experienced spontaneous sobriety (meaning I had no formal treatment such as rehab, AA, or outpatient care).
Keep in mind that I’m not opposed to any of those methods—they’re just not the route I took.
I didn’t know my last drink/drug would be my last. I was lying in bed on a Saturday evening and out of nowhere was just like, “I can’t live like this anymore; I’m done with it all.”
At that moment, I was more determined to get/stay sober than I had ever been about anything in my entire life.
Up to that point I had listened to a couple of sobriety books but only in an attempt to cut back/slow down. (I wasn’t ready to give it up for good though.)
Immediately I got the Kindle version of The Sober Diaries by @clare_pooley (highly recommend) and read it in just a couple of days.
After that I bought at least a dozen more sobriety books and diligently read/listened daily.
A little over 2 weeks into sobriety I started this account...which for a high-functioning addict was like social suicide because my ego/pride hid my addictions from EVERYONE besides my drug dealers.
I knew I needed the public accountability or else the sobriety wouldn’t last past a couple of months, max.
I knew it would be way harder to say YES to a drink invite knowing I had put it out there for the world to see that I was set out for a life of total sobriety. (Once again, I knew my pride/ego wouldn’t allow me to fail!)
So in a nutshell: tons of sobriety books and public accountability got me sober.
What’s keeping me sober is the continued reading of alcohol-related material & helping/inspiring all of you!
I binge drank and did drugs every single day for several months until my tipping point, so don’t think I “didn’t have a problem” and that’s how I experienced spontaneous sobriety.
I was a total wreck and on the verge of losing my license/job/life.
There isn’t only ONE way to get sober and don’t allow anyone to tell you there is only one way.
Follow Tara on Instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/sobrietyisthenewdrunk/
and