Because of you, I ended up doing things that I never in a million years thought I would be capable of doing. You turned me into what I hated more than anything else. You robbed me of my independence and freedom. This is a difficult letter to write, and I should have written it years ago. I’m as much to blame as you, and I’ve finally decided that we can’t go on like this any longer.

Binge drinking, blackouts, or out-of-control behavior written means no longer denying that drinking is hurting yourself and those you love. We are no longer taking on your name as we move away from you either. You don’t get to claim us as “Alcohol-ics,” anymore. We are changing our names during this divorce back to who we were before you moved in on our lives.

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Published kids and YA writer, now finishing a memoir called How To Avoid A Happy Life, and a dog-lover. I’m an avid adult student of cello, Indonesian, yoga. Kelley eventually commented that the supportive comments “have brought me to tears.”

They say it’s not something that consciously happens, and it really was out of my control. But with help from a lot of caring people, I’m taking control of my life again. As much as it hurts to walk away from you, I’ll always try to remember the good times of my life and put the bad times behind me. Alcohol Use Disorder affects 16.3 million adults in America. Yet only 1.5 million adults received treatment in a recovery center in 2014. Many people try to quit drinking on their own instead of seeking professional help.

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But I got into a lot of fights and I got into some legal stuff and a DUI, which definitely wasn’t fun at all. But the feeling I get looking back at using drugs and alcohol at that time wasn’t all bad, although a lot of bad stuff actually happened if I’m honest about it. “For me, the biggest word I’ve been holding on to is gratitude, not pride,” Kelley said via a news release.

When I wanted to change for the better, you told me I couldn’t live without you. You made me into the person I said I would never become. You made me do things I never thought I would be capable of doing.

A Goodbye Letter To My Addiction

The reality was that you caused those feelings within me in the first place. You have caused me to be a shadow of the person I was half a lifetime ago. I was not me when I used you, but a variation of somebody I thought I wanted to be. I abused you until you started to abuse me back.

• The choice was clear, I chose life over you — sobriety over suicide.
• One of the last things my How I Quit Alcohol group did before we graduated was to write a letter to alcohol.
• However, I also know that I have to do it.
• When you have decided it is time to part ways with alcohol, a good therapeutic way to announce your decision is by writing a Goodbye Letter to Alcohol.

The only thing is that I didn’t know exactly what rock bottom meant. How much more do I have to lose before I’m willing to leave you for good? No, I am making the decision to leave you now. I am deciding that I have had enough of you. I was too scared to leave you before.

With the help, love, and support of God, as well as my family and counselors, I crawled out of the dirt and fought back. I tried to leave you, but you just came back even stronger and harder than before. You physically and mentally made me sick, and yet I still kept you around. People thought I loved you more, but that was far from the truth. You told me everything would be just fine if I would let you control my life.

All you ever did was take and take, but you never gave. Actually, I take that back – you did give. You gave me heartaches and burned bridges.

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You had a way about you that made drinking seem like some kind of luxurious necessity. You preyed on my curiosity and then you sunk your teeth in with the hook that “all the cool kids” hang out with you so maybe I should too. Oh dear friend Alcohol, what a long, weary road we have traveled together. When I first met you at the ripe age https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/writing-a-goodbye-letter-to-alcohol/ of 15, I had no idea what an impact you would make on my life – and not the good kind, unfortunately. As is always the case with toxic relationships, I appeared to be fine on the outside, but inside you were slowly eating away at my soul. You broke me down throughout my adult life, leaving me physically and emotionally corrupted.