What an important story! Thank you for being vulnerable and daring enough to write your truth so vividly.

I spent my early to mid-20s drinking too heavily as well. In the Air Force of the time that was almost inevitable. Periodic drinks after work at the club were actually (though informally) mandatory. I was used to it, anyway.

I didn't drink in high school, but I sure made up for lost time once university started. College, especially ROTC, had been ridiculously alcohol soaked. I should say dangerously, actually. We had some episodes where students became so ill they had to be hospitalized. At a party one night, a senior almost called an ambulance for me.

After I left the Air Force, I mostly stopped getting drunk. With some notable exceptions like in the weeks after my partner in New York City died, and then the weeks after my second partner and I broke up. I'm also remembering the time that I had a particular business triumph that was going to set me up for an early retirement, and I happen to be going out with friends that night. I drank way too much.

Aside from that exceptional incident, I had used alcohol to cover up grief,
delaying my healing.

For the past couple decades, I haven't drunk too excess except almost accidentally a couple of times at social gatherings where I was bored. And since the end of June, I'm a tee-totaler. I had an acute pancreatitis attack, and my doctor tells me that even a moderate intake of alcohol could trigger a recurrence. It's not something I can flirt with.

It's interesting. Going from choosing not to drink too much to not being able to drink anything (without risking a life-threatening illness) produces quite a different mindset.

For now, things are great. We'll see how that progresses.

Again, thanks very much for sharing this. I'm really glad to be able to help share your story with Prism & Pen readers and Medium readers in general.