The New Math of Sobriety

 

Photo by Roman Mager on Unsplash

Since I have an actual recorded quit date for my latest round of sobriety, I decided to download a sobriety tracking app. With no work on my end, it can tell me how many days I've been sober. The app even gives me virtual chips for each month without alcohol.

Additionally, my sobriety app follows how much money I've saved and units of alcohol I've not consumed while sober. This last calculation delivered a surprise to me. I already knew that I was consuming insane amounts of hard alcohol. I was drunk 24/7, quite literally.

Check this out. Today I'm 2 months and 5 days sober, according to my app. Calculating at the rate I was drinking, I would have consumed 1558 units in that time. Divide that by the 14 units we're advised to not exceed in a week, and you get 111 weeks. Divide 111 weeks by 52 weeks in a year, and you'll see that the alcohol consumption I've saved in two months is equal to what is recommended I not exceed in two years. Two years! 

That means I was drinking a year's worth of alcohol every month! I know better than anyone that I was imbibing an extraordinary amount of poison (alcohol is designated a Group 1 Carcinogen). But framing my consumption in those terms is shocking.

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