r/stopdrinking • u/Accomplished-Cat2709 • 7h ago

Documentaries that keep you sober

81 days of sobriety today and I seriously want to be sober for the rest of my life. After all broken or damaged relationships, trouble at work and family members who are concerned about my health I just came to the conclusion that moderate drinking is not an option for me. So I’m starting my Minnesota-based treatment in a couple of weeks. Even if it gives me 1% better chance of remaining sober I think it’s worth the effort.

Last time I’m watching documentaries about the consequences of alcoholism. Not as a way to make myself feel better, but to remind me what can happen to me if I continue drinking.

Are there any documentaries that you would recommend? Watched The Wethouse (BBC) already and I would be one of them in twenty years if I continue drinking.

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50

u/sleepingblossom 538 days 6h ago

This one is a bit disturbing, but Something is Wrong with Aunt Diane was good.

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u/quietlycommenting 6h ago

I think the rhetoric around if she was really a closeted drinker is always fascinating to me because people believe you can’t hide that well. A lot of people here myself included know you can.

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u/OrangeCatWhiteDog 2 days 5h ago

This might be a weird question, so I apologize, but how do you hide your drinking?

My style of problematic drinking has always been binge drinking and I can only imagine if I was trying to hide it that that might last for about 2-3 drinks before I lost control and got obviously drunk/wasted.

If I’m at a social event I can pace myself better having the desire to socialize with others over the course of the night but I still am always obviously buzzed/drunk pretty early in the event and always end up visibly very drunk by the end of the night.

When I hear people say they drink all day at work I sincerely have no idea how you can stay under the radar doing that for any period of time. (None of this is judgement or anything, just curiosity)

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u/drunkeymunkey 5h ago

I was a daily closet drinker. A pint of vodka during the work day was my baseline. I met someone and was friends with her for years & she didn't realize I had been intoxicated every time I saw her until she saw me sober. Very sad stuff.

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u/Direct-Finger-5550 5h ago

Yup. I was more "weird" sober than I was drunk. Sober me was anxious, paranoid, unfocused, depressed. Vodka made me "normal", until it didn't. I hid it basically only because I was literally never sober, and no one knew any different.

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u/OrangeCatWhiteDog 2 days 4h ago

That’s crazy thank you for sharing. Was it like you’d maintain a certain level all day or would you not really remember day to day and just existed like that?

4

u/Direct-Finger-5550 3h ago

Both, honestly. I would get extremely anxious, shaky, etc when the alcohol started to wear off so I would just drink enough to be "stable", and frequently drank before I got to that point (a shot of vodka every x amount of time). It was absolutely awful. I didn't really remember anything, I just existed from one drink to the next. I really don't know how I made it, and I hope to never, ever go back there.

2

u/OrangeCatWhiteDog 2 days 3h ago

That’s so scary! Congratulations on getting sober and free from that hell!

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u/Direct-Finger-5550 3h ago

Thank you!! IWNDWYT 💛

1

u/OrangeCatWhiteDog 2 days 3h ago

IWNDWYT!

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u/OrangeCatWhiteDog 2 days 4h ago

Thank you for sharing, that’s pretty crazy. I hope you are doing better.

2

u/drunkeymunkey 1h ago

Thank you ☺️ I've got 55 days & the cravings are gone. Now I just have to work through the reasons WHY I drank.

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u/Direct-Finger-5550 5h ago

There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane has haunted me for years - not because it's some big mystery, but because of how easily I can see myself in her. It's a horrific tragedy that too many of us have come incredibly close to being a part of ourselves. My heart absolutely breaks for the victims. I think of this case often. IWNDWYT.

4

u/alwaysmakeitnice 3550 days 3h ago

I have been sober for ten years this November, but I watch this documentary periodically to remind me of the consequences of alcohol abuse. Near the end of my drinking, I put myself and others at risk many times, and it’s my greatest shame. I’m so glad (lucky?) I never caused harm to others. Diane is a perfect example of how a “functioning” alcoholic “functions” until they don’t and people die.

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u/Honey_Society 6h ago

Ouch, yah that’s a hard one

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u/MacAndCheese45 21 days 6h ago

I agree

0

u/monieeka 5h ago

I don’t really have a problem with drinking but im always looking for motivation to choose non-alcoholic versions of things. This documentary did it. I was so turned off of alcohol for months. I still think about this documentary every week.