I wanted to start a general thread about alcoholism, similar to the one on ‘quitting drinking,’ where people share their (war) stories.
I am a physician in my early 30s who quit residency 3 years ago to have more time to drink. I didn’t get into any trouble, and I excelled at my beloved profession. The day I quit, I came home from work and drank a bottle of Macallan in my bathtub. I proceeded to text people about my lack of desire to live and was hospitalized for suicidality. My program director found out, and I was too ashamed to contact him, so I didn’t respond to calls, e-mails, and texts for a year. I finally went to rehab this year and got sober, but it doesn’t look like I have any useful residency prospects at this point. My program director/chairman has not replied to an email recently for us to talk. In summary, I’m an alcoholic in my mid-thirties who lost a profession he loved, and now I grieve about it, not knowing what to do.
Share your stories.