Hi,

Admitting that you have a problem and asking for help is the first step in getting well, so congratulations. That's huge and it takes a great deal of courage. It's normal to be scared. I was terrified of what life would be like without drinking, but it's turned out to be great. I still have my ups and downs and suffer from depression and anxiety. And to be honest the first year was really hard.

Since you suffer from a concurrent disorder (mental illness & addiction) it's really important to treat both simultaneously or at least fairly closely together, it will greatly improve your chances of remaining sober.

My own story is, I had a huge drinking problem for years. Went to a residential treatment facility in summer 06. It was at a nationally known institution but was totally 12 step based and didn't deal at all with concurrent disorders. Without alcohol my depression and psychosis got worse (normal) and I spiralled down really fast. Lost my job and landed in the hospital due to drinking. As a result I got into a really wonderful day treatment program that was a concurrent disorders program. they helped me get sober. I'm also very active in AA and love the support that I get through them, and feel like I've met some incredible people who are now closer than family through AA.

I'm just over a year sober now and my life is better than ever. my meds have me stabilized, after an IP stay in a psych hospital in early recovery. I'm doing more activities than I ever thought possible when I was drinking - I finally have a life. I'm back working in a decent job with ok benefits that lets me work flex hours so that I can go once a week to a support group in the hospital that I got sober at.

It's really hard work, getting sober, but it's totally worth it. You're worth it.

Good luck.

--splitimage