Thank you for this beautifully written piece that hit me right in the chest.  I am still in the throes of dependency, and want so badly to be free.  You’ve given me a lot to think about, thank you.

I related to your article in so many ways. I am 71 years old and have battled alcoholism and depression as far back as I can remember. Your words gave me the hope that just maybe I can break the mold. I have tried every treatment there is out there and nothing has stuck. Like you, I basically think of myself as a…

Since ive been working remote its been so much easier for me to drink. I was drunk most of 2020 and 2021. But after 2 years of this, and then getting covid, i think im finally done with it. Ive never wanted to just be healthy so bad in my life.

Hey! I’m SO happy for you. Open-heartedly, glad-you-have-selfless-friends-who-are-team-you kind of people. So happy you didn’t die when you were putting yourself in maybe-I’ll-die situations.

I loved this piece. Please keep writing, whether or not you become that Very Successful Writer. I for one will keep reading.

Thanks so much for this beautiful and powerful piece, Danielle. I’m newly sober and this is just what I needed to read today. I think you’re already well on your way to being phenomenal.

2.5 years sober and I relate to so much of this. Especially the shame and the bit about learning to see the strength in the struggle. I’ve been thinking similar things lately. I almost forget now that I used to be so gone, and that forgetting has triggered a revisiting of all those old shames. I try to remind myself…

Articles like this are why I started reading Jezebel. Thank you for your authentic voice and for taking the time to find it again. 

I laughed and teared up reading this. What a beautiful gift you’ve given by writing and sharing this essay. Thank you. With gratitude and community, onward!

It’s not your fault. That’s what alcohol does to the brain. Stopping feels terrifying because of how alcohol affects the brain. Annie Grace’s work helped me tremendously—figure out why I drank more than I wanted, why I both desperately wanted to get out of the alcohol trap, while it also felt so impossible to break…

Thank you so much for this. I’m 6 months in and I’m at the phase where I feel every single thing. Painfully. I know I can’t drink it away, so I just live through it. I really want to re-wire my thinking. I need to. I’m a black man in a country that seems more and more not to want my type around. So I feel myself…

Thank you. 

I quit drinking during the pandemic for a year and a half. At first it was great but then it turned out I have had undiagnosed bipolar at 38 years old. Without booze regulating my mood I went into a scary, unpleasant manic episode for more than a month and then months of deep depression. I will quit again but rn I’m…

I really loved reading this, Danielle! Thank you for sharing it with the world. I got sober 5.5 years ago, after moving from a metro area to a small mountain town to work at a community newspaper. It wasn’t what I had planned, but it ended up being the greatest thing I have ever done with my life. I really enjoyed…

Danielle, this was very powerful to me as I navigate being married to a long time functioning alcoholic who turned into a raging alcoholic when the pandemic hit and his work dried up. It took a serious medical event for him to try to sober up, and....it’s been a struggle. He’s trying so hard and I’m proud of every…

This is such a lovely thing to read, from someone looking on the outside of things. My father has been an alcoholic for as long as I can remember. For as long as I’ve been alive, really. In 2018 and 2019 it got to a point where his body started to cave in. His balance was shot, his memory was gone, he could barely…

Great write up, thank you for putting it out there for all of us to see. I’ve been sober for about a year and a half and I’m still learning how to enjoy myself around friends and, well, myself. It has been especially challenging with friends and family who hold drinking as an important part of their leisure time. One…

That was really powerful and so uplifting. I could see every situation so clearly. I’m so happy for you and I know this will be a very important piece to people new to sobriety.

This was a wonderful read, and congratulations! I think that most of us wish we were more. I certainly have had fantasies about having a talent, or being exceptional at something, but the truth is, I’m a rather ordinary person. I think the difference is that the desire is not controlling of who I am. Once you fully…

This was really helpful for me to read today. I relate to a lot of your internal experience and ways of seeing yourself and use alcohol and marijuana to numb and disassociate from my emotions every day. I want to stop, but have so much fear about facing the person I am without those crutches, crutches that cripple me…

I wish you the best and really enjoyed reading your essay.  That’s it.  Best of luck to you as you continue moving forward in your sobriety.  I look forward to hearing more from you...particularly the small town and your cat.  More about the cat.