The “Grandma sober” project succeeded with the help of the “Get rid of wine easily and with joy” course

Liisa’s Text on the Support Group Page of the Soberist – Online Course (Permission to Publish Obtained):

YEARS BEHIND SOBERITY

I STARTED the “Soberist” – online course on December 1, 2020, with hope: “If only this course would help me succeed.”

I had been living for years as a prisoner of alcohol. After I retired, my alcohol consumption spiraled out of control. Without the need to think about going to work in the morning, drinking became an everyday occurrence. Sometimes, I even started during the day.

I constantly felt sick and depressed. I had initially turned to alcohol to cope with my depression and anxiety, but it only made me feel worse and increased my desire to drink. This created a self-feeding spiral.

I HAD read Ira’s book, Free from Wine, many times, but just reading it was not enough.

The course, along with the exercises and weekly Zoom meetings, helped immensely. Whenever the urge to drink came, I thought, “How dare I go on a Zoom call and tell people that I’ve relapsed?” This thought stopped me from falling apart.

I WAS living from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting. The peer support was incredibly important to me, allowing me to talk openly about something I had always felt ashamed of.

One key lesson I learned from this online course is that once an addiction forms, there’s no delete key to erase it. As long as I stay away from alcohol, I am free. However, if I start to imagine that I can drink in moderation and actually start drinking again, the slide back to my old self would be faster than a child sliding down a slide. This is a decision I will carry for the rest of my life.