JakeDennert
Bronze Member
My name is Jake, and I've changed quite a bit over the last 5 years.
I've gone from functioning alcoholic to recovering alcoholic, with almost four and a half years of complete sobriety.
I used to have alcohol coursing through my body from the minute I woke up in the morning to the minute I went to sleep at night. Why drink so much? To hide from my real issues.
I have PTSD from the things I saw, did, and experienced during my combat tour in Fallujah... and (though I didn't know it until just a couple years ago) I have social anxiety on top of that, stemming all the way back to middle school / high school.
Almost immediately after taking the booze away, these deeper issues rose to the surface.
What was the turning point? What made me sober up?
A near-death-experience car accident in October, 2008. Changed everything. Been sober ever since.
I've made a lot of personal progress since then. I no longer see myself as a sufferer... I'm a survivor.
With combat PTSD, with social anxiety, with the challenges of staying completely sober.
That's why I'm here.
To meet, connect with, and hopefully help anyone who is going through what I used to struggle so much with:
-- Social Anxiety
-- Combat PTSD
-- Alcoholism
I feel like I'm as close to "normal" as I've ever been, and I haven't had a drop of alcohol in more than 4 years. It hasn't been easy. I have my ups and downs -- good days, bad days -- but I'm never going back to what I was.
Anyway, that's a very brief version of my story. I'm glad to be here... and I'm excited to help others along their path to recovery... so they can live healthy, fulfilling lives free of debilitating combat PTSD symptoms, social anxiety, and a dependence on alcohol.
Thanks for reading! :)
Jake D.
I've gone from functioning alcoholic to recovering alcoholic, with almost four and a half years of complete sobriety.
I used to have alcohol coursing through my body from the minute I woke up in the morning to the minute I went to sleep at night. Why drink so much? To hide from my real issues.
I have PTSD from the things I saw, did, and experienced during my combat tour in Fallujah... and (though I didn't know it until just a couple years ago) I have social anxiety on top of that, stemming all the way back to middle school / high school.
Almost immediately after taking the booze away, these deeper issues rose to the surface.
What was the turning point? What made me sober up?
A near-death-experience car accident in October, 2008. Changed everything. Been sober ever since.
I've made a lot of personal progress since then. I no longer see myself as a sufferer... I'm a survivor.
With combat PTSD, with social anxiety, with the challenges of staying completely sober.
That's why I'm here.
To meet, connect with, and hopefully help anyone who is going through what I used to struggle so much with:
-- Social Anxiety
-- Combat PTSD
-- Alcoholism
I feel like I'm as close to "normal" as I've ever been, and I haven't had a drop of alcohol in more than 4 years. It hasn't been easy. I have my ups and downs -- good days, bad days -- but I'm never going back to what I was.
Anyway, that's a very brief version of my story. I'm glad to be here... and I'm excited to help others along their path to recovery... so they can live healthy, fulfilling lives free of debilitating combat PTSD symptoms, social anxiety, and a dependence on alcohol.
Thanks for reading! :)
Jake D.
