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“I am afraid I’d lose my friendship if I stopped drinking.”

It’s a fear that I hear a lot when working with people who are considering leaving their old drinking days behind.

How would changing my drinking affect my relationships? This is a legitimate concern many of us have to navigate when trying to leave alcohol behind, especially when we're living in a culture where alcohol has so often become a central part of our social lives. It’s hard not to wonder what impact it would have on our relationships when we choose to no longer participate in the drinking culture. Sometimes, people feel like they have to continue to drink, not because they still love it, but because they are afraid of what they may lose if they stop.

How Major Life Changes Often Filter Our Relationships

So, could letting go of alcohol affect your relationships?

I wish I could tell you it was a myth, that changing our relationship with alcohol will never affect our relationships. But that wouldn't be entirely honest.

The truth is, major life changes often become an inadvertent filter for the relationships in our lives. Whether it is graduating from college, changing jobs, moving cities, or even starting a family,........

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