As Robin Williams’ story shows, giving up drink and going sober for 20 years is not always a guarantee that a return to the bottle won’t happen. Sadly for Robin Williams, this shows how easy it is to return to old ways. He states that after 20 years he thought that it wouldn’t hurt to have a drink. He quickly realised that the brain only remembers too well the rush that alcohol gives it, and soon he was back on for more.
Many others,not all in such high profile cases have found exactly the same. It is as if that long period of abstinence just never happened. For me I’ve been dry for 5 years. this summer I was at a wedding and the pudding was a champagne fruit jelly. I don’t know how much champagne was in there, but I could feel the glow of alcohol. luckily I was able to stop then and there as the memory is still too recent for me to fall into that trap. But had I been sober 20 years I might have fallen head first into it.
Keeping on your guard is something that all of us who are trying their best to keep off alcohol, have to continue doing long into the future. the human brain is just too clever enough to remember the rush of abandon that is alcohol. We have to watch out for the pitfalls everywhere and ensure that we don’t fall into them.
Giving Up Drink 