How to Tell Friends About Your Sobriety
If you’ve recently begun to pursue a sober lifestyle, you may find it difficult to tell those around you—especially your friends—about your sobriety. This can be especially hard during the holiday season when celebrations are more frequent, and you anticipate being one of the only people without a drink in your hand. However, we have a few helpful tips on how to tell your friends about your sobriety to ease this burden.
If you need a safe space to stay sober, our sober living environment at The Sanctuary Recovery Foundation may be right for you. Contact us and learn how we can help.
When Someone Asks, “Why Aren’t You Drinking?”
First of all, when someone asks why you’re not drinking, you should know that you really don’t owe them any sort of answer. It’s entirely up to you how you want to answer that question. If you want to avoid getting too detailed about your recovery, there are a number of responses that work wonders to answer the question and then help the conversation move on (more on that below).
If you choose to be straightforward and explain why you aren’t drinking, know that you might receive positive responses, but you might also get some negative feedback as well.
Those around you—especially if they’re the people you used to drink with—may also have drinking problems and will associate this with a judgment upon themselves. In other words, your decision to get sober will convict them. However, be aware that this has nothing to do with your decision. You aren’t responsible for how your decision to be sober makes other people feel.
Responses to “Why Aren’t You Drinking?”
If you don’t want to tell your friends about your sobriety and recovery, consider a few helpful responses when someone asks why you aren’t drinking:
- You’re the designated driver. This makes it clear that you won’t be drinking at all because you have the responsibility of bringing your friends home safely.
- You just took some medication. This could be as simple as ibuprofen or something else, but you don’t owe them specific details. Most of the time, people don’t want you to mix alcohol and medication anyway, so the topic will be dropped after you use this answer.
- You’re trying to eat and drink healthier. Most people can relate to this, so opting for something like water or tea will not look out of the ordinary.
But, if you do want to be open about your sobriety and recovery, don’t be afraid to be honest about why you’re not touching alcohol. It’s possible that you might lose a few friends who only stuck around because you had drinking in common, but real friends will stay by your side and support you in your sobriety.
Sobriety is Worth It
We hope these tips on how to tell your friends about your sobriety assist you during your road to recovery. However, regardless of how you choose to answer your friends’ probing questions, know that sobriety is worth the awkward social engagements. If you feel that you need help staying clean and sober, a sober living environment may be right for you. The Sanctuary Recovery Foundation offers men’s sober living residences in the beautiful coastal region of Charleston, SC.
Contact us today. We would love to talk to you about how we can help.
