Three years ago today, I had my last drink. Well…last eight drinks. My dad always said, “If you don’t know when your last drunk was, you haven’t had it yet.” He was right. And I knew June 25, 2013 was it. I was a year-and-a-half in to a serious, professionally-aided attempt at getting sober […]
Tag Archives: Alcoholism
February
10
Did the CDC just say that alcohol causes violence and STDs?
posted by Apryl Pooley
Media outlets and the public are conflicted over the CDC’s newest recommendation to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)—some say the recommendation that “young women should avoid alcohol unless using birth control” is “incredibly puritanical” , while others claim that’s not what the CDC recommended at all. The CDC study found that 3 out of 4 women who say […]
March
20
12 Steps of Grey
posted by Apryl Pooley
A recent episode of This American Life profiled Tina Dupuy, a girl who started going to AA at age 13. Even after 20 years of sobriety, Tina still went to meetings once a month, but she suddenly started to wonder if she really ever was an alcoholic. What if she could have just one drink? […]
March
11
This is my blog on drugs.
posted by Apryl Pooley
So what does this mean? Maybe instead of throwing people in jail for drug offenses—which inflicts more pain and trauma to deepen addiction, and then releasing them back into their dangerous, poverty-stricken, trauma-ridden lives—we should try to find them jobs, housing alternatives, counseling, medical care, and social support groups.
My World in Numbers
posted by Apryl Pooley
Eating disorders are serious medical illnesses that currently affect over 30 million people in the United States alone. There is still a high percentage of people who believe eating disorders are related to vanity—eating disorders are not about bitches wanting to be skinny to look good in a bikini. While the etiology of eating disorders […]
9 Years in 90 Seconds
posted by Apryl Pooley
There is life after addiction. One of the hardest parts about even wanting to attempt to get sober was that I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself without a drink in my hand. In no way was my last bloody mary the end of all my struggles—things actually got much harder for […]
July
19
The Girl Who Cried Sober
posted by Apryl Pooley
Mood: raw HOW TO SAY “no thanks” to the inevitable drink offer is something every recovering alcoholic has to navigate. And in a culture where “I just don’t drink” is rarely a socially acceptable answer–outside of pregnancy or organized religion–you have to be equipped with an answer to “why not?” when you decline a shot […]
The Sobering Truth…continued
posted by Apryl Pooley
Other people with addictions have said to me, “I can’t get better because I don’t have an amazing wife like you do, I don’t have anybody.” And my wife brought up a good point last night about my previous blog—the “letting love into your life part” is just as much (if not more) about loving […]
June
25
The Sobering Truth
posted by Apryl Pooley
Mood: sunny-side up OF ALL THE TRADITIONAL MILESTONES I’ve reached—leaving home, graduating from college, backpacking Europe, skydiving, getting married—today marks what is and will continue to be the most important milestone of my life: sobriety. I had my first drink when I was seventeen years old on July 4th, 2003. Watching the fireworks show at […]
The Egghead Agenda 