Welcome to 'The Sober Twenty-Something'

Welcome to a blog dedicated to understanding the world of sobriety and openly analyzing the alcohol filled world we exist in. Whether you are well into your sobriety journey, or just sober curious I am happy you are here to learn more.

To begin, I want to define some words that I will be using on the blog frequently...

Sober

Sober is defined as "1. Not drinking too much: Temperate, 2. Not drunk" by Miriam-Webster. For the purposes of this blog, I will be using sober defined as "not intoxicated." Some people have speculated that this could mean that an individual could say they are "sober" and continue to have an alcoholic beverage every night. This could be true and for that person, that strategy may work. However, if you have had any sort of counseling or guidance in the area of addiction or alcohol abuse, you know that abstaining from your vice is the best possible route.

Sobriety

"Sobriety is the state of not being intoxicated... typically referring to a person's decision to maintain abstinence from substance use." This definition is somewhat limiting, as identified by researchers with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Having this all or nothing approach makes the idea of sobriety very daunting and turn many people away from sobriety all together. In this blog, I will be referring to sobriety as "the decision to maintain abstinence from substances that you have identified as a problem in your life."

I believe the journey to sobriety is a very personal and individualized process. One person may benefit greatly from organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) while another finds greater success with individual counseling or self-help books. Regardless of the path you choose, research shows that when making a change in your life it is important to have support of others. So I am hoping this page can create a community that can support one another on their journey to and through sobriety.

I am looking forward to learning and growing with this community!

xx

References:

1. Mayo Clinic. (2018, July 11). Alcohol use disorder. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alcohol-use-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20369243

2. Peele, S. (2014, March 22). The hijacking of sobriety by the recovery movement. Retrieved from http://reason.com/archives/2014/03/22/alcoholics-recovery-and-sobriety-meaning

3. Sober. (2021). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sober

I want to be clear that I am not a trained physician nor an addiction specialist. I am just a young woman who wants to share information about sobriety and take a deeper look at how alcohol is infused in our culture.