Hello. I am a 25 year-old man who very recently stopped drinking alcohol. I was using it as a consequence of being raised by an alcoholic mother, and since confronting that trauma, I've realised that I need to quit.
I've gone cold turkey after years of depending on alcohol, every single day. I've got an upcoming appointment with my GP, but due to COVID, seeing her is tricky. I can't move the appointment any earlier. I feel very isolated, and the support service I've been referred onto hasn't called me back. I've called a few times to try and talk to someone, but they're always busy.
I'm trying really hard not to drink again. It's only been 5 days, but every passing hour feels like hell. I want a drink so badly. One of my friends contacted me, asking if I knew someone who could supply him with drugs. He sent me an emotional message saying he "needed" a substance to get through his own mental health issues, and this made me very angry. He knows I'm newly sober, yet he's triggering me by talking about his own substance use. I told him that I can't help him right now, and don't want to hear about substance use to handle mental health problems, but I'm still angry.
I feel like nobody's taking my struggle seriously. I'm feel that I'm all on my own. Now that I'm not drinking, my emotions are heightened, and I'm experiencing everything so intensely. I'm having dreams about my mother's alcohol use. I thought I was over my PTSD, but I'm obviously not.
I'd just like to know I'm not alone, and whether you have any advice for a newly-sober man. I'd appreciate support.
