Hello Matt and welcome to BE. You are among friends here we are all in the same boat so no judgement. We would all give you a hundred different reasons why we drank, and why we justified it to ourselves. But ultimately we all have to acknowledge that we drink because we choose to, it is an addiction, we can't control it but we can try to do something about it. Coming on here is a brilliant first step. Some folk go to AA or other face to face encounter groups, others go via the detox and rehab route, others with help from doctors but what we all on BE have is a determination to keep on keeping on trying to give up. If we try 100 times we will come back for the 101st time and give it our best shot and who knows that may be the one that cracks it!
Please take a look around the sites, post where and when you feel comfortable, maybe try a 7 day challenge or look for a tapering off site, you will find them all on BE. If you have been drinking a lot you might need to taper off or seek medical help but others will tell you more about that. I have tried numerous times to stop drinking in the past, this time I am 2.5 years sober, and believe me they have been the happiest times I have had in decades. It is possible to stop and to enjoy being stopped.
You are quite right in saying drinking seems to be so tolerated everywhere, but increasingly you will find people who choose not to drink at all, you certainly won't be the odd one out. As for people being rude, we all have to face difficult people in our lives, we sometimes sound off on here and get the support to laugh it off. I wish you all the very best in your journey. Sue
