The Year I Quit Drinking Was the Worst of My Life

Sobriety was nothing like I expected.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

The title of today’s newsletter is no exaggeration.

I wrote the headline a few months ago and thought that it was catchy, but I was reluctant to use it. Sure, the year I quit drinking was bad, but was it really the worst of my entire life? I wasn’t positive, so I didn’t end up using the title.

Instead, for the past few months, I’ve kept the empty article in my drafts folder. The title was too catchy to delete, but I didn’t want to turn to hyperbole just to make a point.

Finally, this afternoon, I did something a little strange: I went through every year of my life, one by one, thinking about whether they were better or worse than the year I got sober.

Now, I can say with absolute certainty, that it really is true: The year I quit drinking was the worst of my life.

Just what made it so terrible?