“Coming out” at Work and Using Previct Care
I don’t know how many times I’ve dreaded going to work and actually not made it there because I didn’t dare face what happened at the party or the evening before. Summer parties, Christmas parties, after-work events, or sometimes for no special reason other than I had actually drunk too much.
It’s a bit like, you know – if I close my eyes, I can’t be seen. It doesn’t work, I can reveal. It’s like drinking and thinking problems will disappear. The only thing that sets in is that silence that’s so uncomfortable. Not just for me but for my colleagues too, because no one really dares to be honest about this, which is so burdened with shame, as alcoholism is.
Difficult to Face Everyday Life
I told my colleagues that I was going to a treatment center, which was appreciated. I received a lot of positive response to that. But the thing is coming back, five weeks of treatment is just the beginning.
Facing real everyday life, that’s where the real work of staying sober begins. And my trust capital was depleted, all the preconceived notions about alcoholics that exist, and life is simply really tough with all the consequences I had brought upon myself, which doesn’t make it easier.
I Had My Previct Care
But I brought something with me when I came back, something that created a visual security for everyone around me.
I had the Previct Care app on my phone.
I understand people who are afraid to “come out” as an alcoholic at work or in other contexts where you can be judged based on preconceived notions. And sure, I could have smuggled it and hidden in the bathroom when I needed to blow, etc. But for my part, and as I felt it to take back my life. This is part of what I must keep open for my own sake.
So there at work, on my desk, it was there like any other necessary part of my office paraphernalia.
The Previct Care App and Breathalyzer could Show My Sobriety
And I could, whenever it was time, take it out and perform my sobriety test. Which showed that I was actually working on my sobriety every day. This gave me honesty in my way of being when it came to my alcoholism. It led to many unexpected conversations when others wondered what it was I had with me in different situations at work. Previct Care has given me a way to gain respect for the work I’ve done to stay sober. A way to give others insight into what’s going on in recovery.
Sure, it was embarrassing the day I had drunk something from the health food shelf and got a red face, like two minutes before I was supposed to go in and have a meeting with the boss.
“Hey, I need to do my sobriety test again because it didn’t go so well just now”.
But rinsing my mouth and waiting fifteen minutes to blow again, then the Previct Care app sent the green happy face again.
Ola – Proud and Sober, thanks to Previct Care