Drinking alcohol is one of those things that most people do here and there. Some start early, others prefer to wait, and while some are fine with a couple of drinks here and there, others quickly find themselves unable to stop.

These people all used to drink but don’t anymore – and here are their reasons for stopping.

Lost relationships.

Because I lost contact with all my family, f**ked up all other relationships and work, punched my boss in the face.

10 years sober in 5 days 🥳

Three good reasons.

Saves a lot of money and feels much healthier/happier.

Also makes you look a lot better.

Cut out drinking for 2 months and take before and after pics and you’ll notice your face, cheeks, neck etc is all a lot slimmer.

It was a problem.

Because a 1.75l of bottom shelf whiskey every 1.5 days for years absolutely wrecked my liver and I ended up in the ER and then spent 8 days detoxing.

Without that medically assisted detox I absolutely would have died. I had a problem.

August 29 will be one year without a drop.

The morning after.

Because of the morning after. When you feel like a hollow and anxiety ridden puddle of a human.

I was a fun drunk. Not a fighter, not an angry person, not sloppy, etc.

So, making the transition out of alcohol use was a hard one for my friends and family to understand.

It seems people need a big messy explosion to justify sobriety, but my explosion was an implosion. A deep self-hatred that no one felt but my hungover zombie brain.

A loss of control.

Felt like I was drinking too much so I got an early jump on dry January.

Went through some mild withdrawal.

Wasn’t going to let some f**king drink control me so I stopped.

A tough realization.

When I realized I was a complete, full blown and hopeless alcoholic. I needed it to sleep and to function. Every single night. Multiple bottles of wine at minimum, and would panic if I didn’t have enough. Ruined every relationship I’ve ever had.

Woke up viciously hungover every day and would start drinking in the morning before work. When I stopped I had to be in hospital because of the seizures and hallucinations from withdrawal.

Even after all of that, my crazy mind told me I could figure out a way to drink like a normal person.

That’s^ how powerful alcohol is to certain people. I realize most stories aren’t like this but just wanted to share mine haha.

Sometimes you just know.

Because I was (am) an alcoholic. I was drinking from about 11am until I went to bed or passed out every day. I would get a pint of whiskey every day at lunch and continue drinking until I went to bed. Always kept a couple cases of beer at the house plus a couple half gallons of whiskey and vodka.

I watched a video I took of my kids with me talking in the background and could hear in my voice how drunk I was- I was “there” but I wasn’t there for my kids.

Stopped drinking that week.

It will been 5 years on the 24th of this month.

The kids.

I was too hungover to play with my son.

I stopped with my first kid. If there was an accident I wanted to be sober to handle thing. And you know, just be present in general.

Glad I had kids late in life. Also glad my partying days are behind me. Was time to level up.

A little too easy.

I didn’t stop drinking entirely, but I have recently stopped buying it to keep at home. I was finding it too easy to open up the liquor cabinet for a nightcap each night.

I still will drink when I go out sometimes, but I don’t go out that often and when I do go out the price keeps me from getting more than a couple of drinks anyway.

As simple as that.

I’m sad when I drink.

I rarely feel really in joy on this substance. Sometimes even makes the state worse.

Plus hangover and we have a man who doesn’t want to drink.

Violated standards.

I violated my standards quicker than I could lower them.

Blackout drinking led to multiple s*xual assaults while unconscious. Violent, painful, scary assaults.

Jail. F**king sucked.

Homeless. Slept outdoors. Hungry and sick.

Literally nothing, nothing good came from drinking. I saw this bearded lady who was mute (from a stroke booty bumping meth) suck dick for leftover onion rings behind a dumpster in Las Vegas. I knew that was my future, s*x work was the one thing I never did nor wanted to do and it was nearly forced on me via trafficking attempts.

Took 2 years and 5 rehab stays, but I got sober 7-1-2008 and live a dream life today. Home owner. Business owner. Wife. Mother. Currently in Europe visiting in laws, and couldn’t be more grateful for the gifts that came with sobriety.

So very true.

I heard this great quote somewhere:

“Not being hungover is a better feeling than being drunk”

Fat and sad.

It made me fat and sad. Now I’m skinny and sad lol.

Not really though, I like not drinking a whole lot more than drinking every day and I’m generally happy.

Their health.

It has too many calories and was leading to binge eating for me.

I would drink a bottle of vodka five days a week. at least three of those would involve a whole pizza and 10 chicken wings. Then add in five bottles of 1.5 Sprite.

I’m surprised I haven’t had a heart attack . Just truly awful food combinations sometimes when I drank.

A literal demon.

I turn into a demon.

Fights. Cops. Apologies. I just wasn’t ever a good drinker. So stopped starting drinking closing on 30 years.

Still have to apologize at times, but now always know why.

It was an escape.

Because I was escaping small moments of discomfort with a 3-5 beer a day habit, and drinking more than that on weekends. Essentially a highly functioning alcoholic, with a good job and a great relationship, but if I kept doing the things that I was doing, I was going to melt my life to the ground.

Alcohol was keeping me from fully engaging in the relationships that were important to me. And so I decided to fundamentally change the relationship that I had with alcohol.

That breakup really sucked, but we won’t be seeing each other that way any more.

She was sick.

I was an alcoholic.

The last time I drank, I passed out on my kitchen floor while my 4 year old son tried in vain to wake me up. My parents were there (thankfully) and they told me that he was completely panicked and very upset. Understandably so. My dad had to take him to a park to calm him down and get him away from seeing me like that.

The next day my mom and explained what happened and I was so guilt ridden. I felt terrible. I didn’t remember any of it. Up until that previous night my son hadn’t been affected by my drinking. But now he was noticing.

When he was a baby my biggest fear was being that alcoholic mom who neglects my kid and passes out drunk all the time. But here I was, becoming what I feared the most.

I picked up my son from preschool later that day and he brought it up. “Mommy why didn’t you wake up?” With tears in my eyes and a gut punch feeling in the pit of my stomach I just told him I was sick. He then said “don’t do that again!” And I promised him right then and there that I wouldn’t.

I’m on year 5 of keeping that promise and it’s a promise that I will keep until the day I die.

Entirely true.

Got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last October. Quit drinking and the diabetes went away.

It’s a little known fact but entirely true. Type 2 diabetes is curable – sort of. The cure is simple – a healthy lifestyle with the biggest components being a healthy diet and exercise. This isn’t conspiracy nonsense. It’s the “one simple trick” that your doctor wants you to know.

The American Diabetes Association puts considerable money and effort in promoting healthy lifestyle not just for prevention but as an essential part of treatment.

Doctors will always prescribe insulin with a diabetes diagnosis because rates of compliance with taking insulin is high while compliance with diet and exercise changes is exceptionally low.

This is a deadly disease, so the only ethical thing to do is to always prescribe insulin for diabetes and also encourage the patient to change their lifestyle. If the patient makes the right lifestyle changes, coming off of insulin can be an option.

To save a life.

I tend to be an ‘all or nothing’ sort of person. Give me a drink, or 2, and I’m fine. Give me 3? I’m shutting the bar down…

I’d like to say spending upwards of $10K on a first DWI – and only – certainly did it for me. I’m still on probation for it.

But it was actually when I was sitting in my attorney’s office during evidence discovery, before I spent half of that money, and seeing that my thinking that I was OK to drive but I was absolutely f**king hammered.

To say I was embarrassed was an understatement. I didn’t want to look my attorney in the eyes, I was so embarrassed. I feel it daily. I feel it every time my interlock beeps for a random retest while I’m driving down the highway and I’m breathing into something the size of a f**king tablet for the world to see as if it’s a scarlet letter.

I have to pay $12/month to have someone watch me piss into a cup for a drug test every month. And you know what? I f**king deserve it. I f**ked around, and I found out.

I could have killed somebody. I could have wrecked my car. I could have gone broke with my habit, or maybe even f**ked my liver to the point where it’s unf**kable – that remains yet to be seen. Instead a concerned person (turns out they were an off-duty cop from a neighboring city) called me in to 911 and got my ass in line.

I wish I could meet that person that called me in and thank them. They saved my life, and possibly the life of others.

These are all very good reasons.

Not that you need one.