I relate to so much of this. I also recently went to a party where no alcohol was served, and it was weird and painful. Weird because without the veil of alcohol, I felt awkward and deeply uncomfortable every single minute and kept fighting the urge to bolt. (Ultimately it got the better of me, and I did bolt.) Is part of sobriety learning to sit with those feelings and socialize anyway?
HI Julie! That is a good question, and perhaps I have the same question. This is where autism I think complicates the sobriety picture. It does somehow reassure me that so many people I've met in the sobriety community feel similarly (most of them not having any kind of neurodivergent diagnosis). For now, I do think it is somehow helping me to socialize, but I have to do it in small doses and set some pretty tight guardrails. I have found that everybody is cool with that, and even if I just hang out for a few minutes and then bolt it feels good to have gone.
Thanks, this resonates. Not the alcohol part. I suffered through many parties without alcohol, as I'm a control freak, and refuse to be out of control in public. But the celebrations? I'm low key on all of it.
I relate to so much of this. I also recently went to a party where no alcohol was served, and it was weird and painful. Weird because without the veil of alcohol, I felt awkward and deeply uncomfortable every single minute and kept fighting the urge to bolt. (Ultimately it got the better of me, and I did bolt.) Is part of sobriety learning to sit with those feelings and socialize anyway?
HI Julie! That is a good question, and perhaps I have the same question. This is where autism I think complicates the sobriety picture. It does somehow reassure me that so many people I've met in the sobriety community feel similarly (most of them not having any kind of neurodivergent diagnosis). For now, I do think it is somehow helping me to socialize, but I have to do it in small doses and set some pretty tight guardrails. I have found that everybody is cool with that, and even if I just hang out for a few minutes and then bolt it feels good to have gone.
That is a great approach, and I'm glad it seems to be working for you!
Thanks, this resonates. Not the alcohol part. I suffered through many parties without alcohol, as I'm a control freak, and refuse to be out of control in public. But the celebrations? I'm low key on all of it.
Thank you for sharing - I appreciate it.