I hope it is OK to use a throwaway for this kind of comment, but I am not comfortable talking about my alcoholism (I am nearing 1 year sober though) with a user

I hope it is OK to use a throwaway for this kind of comment, but I am not comfortable talking about my alcoholism (I am nearing 1 year sober though) with a username that can be linked to me real world identity. That said..you don't go straight from not drinking to 8 drinks a day. The habit usually starts slow and builds up. For me it was: - One beer after work is OK. Some say even good for your health. I need to unwind. - Hey, I worked very hard today. I deserve two today. (fast forward ~2 years, drinking two beers on average every day) - It's not drinking if you drink craft beers. It's being a beer connoisseur. And those can drink a lot, because, err, there's a lot of fancy IPAs to try. It's also not drinking if you "like" that beer on beeradvocate. - There are also bourbon connoisseurs! Let's also try drinking bourboun! No need to cut down on the beer though. (fast forward another ~2 years to drinking a bottle of bourboun a week and 4 beers a night..) So to answer your question, it took me about ~4 years to go from what would some consider to be even good for your health to drinking like a pro. Without anyone noticing. Working in tech also makes it easy to hide the habit. Nobody will bat an eye if you turn up for work at 11 as long as you deliver. You can also "WFH" if you have a particularly bad hangover. I'm so glad I quit and the damage I did to my body seems mostly reversible. Shout out to the /r/stopdrinking subreddit.