I Never Hit Rock Bottom, But I Knew I Had to Quit Drinking | Mateja's StoryI Never Hit Rock Bottom, But I Knew I Had to Quit Drinking | Mateja's Story
Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories
Mateja shares how she went from a late-blooming, high-functioning drinker to choosing sobriety without a dramatic rock bottom. The conversation focuses on anxiety, restaurant culture, trauma, AA, and the quiet decision to stop when alcohol stopped feeling like fun.
1:03:01•2 Jun 2026
High-Functioning and Hurting: Mateja’s Quiet Decision to Quit Drinking
Episode Overview
- You don’t need legal trouble, job loss or a dramatic crisis for your drinking to be a serious issue.
- Binge drinking that others label as “fun” can still hide anxiety, trauma and deep self-doubt.
- Keeping up appearances in social and work circles often delays asking for help or questioning alcohol.
- Meetings, sponsors and sober communities can help reframe what it means to be an alcoholic and show you’re not alone.
- Sobriety can bring better sleep, lower anxiety, more meaningful connections and genuine enjoyment of life’s simple moments.
“You don’t have to hit a rock bottom. You don’t have to go to jail. You can just say, ‘Hey, I don’t think this is right for me.’”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation follows Mateja, a classically trained violinist who didn’t touch alcohol until 21, yet still slid into problem drinking without any of the "classic" consequences. From a strict, high-achieving childhood in Michigan to the party culture of the University of Miami and the intensity of restaurant work in Florida, Mateja explains how alcohol quietly went from social extra to central character.
She shares how blackouts, being carried out of clubs, and even a frightening, non-consensual encounter with a co-worker were all minimised under the excuse of "having fun". As she puts it, “I never got a DUI. I never got arrested. I never lost my job. So how could I possibly have a problem with alcohol?” Host Brad McLeod gently draws out the way drinking became her go-to stress reliever, especially around family tension, anxiety, and breakups.
A vivid turning point comes when she describes sitting alone on a hotel room floor, “just pouring this tequila down my throat that a, I don’t even like, and b, I know is going to give me a reaction,” simply because she couldn’t stand to “waste” a free drink. What makes this episode so relatable is that Mateja’s life looked successful from the outside: career, relationships, zero legal trouble.
Her shift came from a quiet Monday-morning thought after her mum asked, “Why do you have to have a cocktail every time we go out?” That moment led to AA meetings, rethinking what the word “alcoholic” means, and discovering that anxiety, sleep, and joy all improved without alcohol.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your drinking “counts” as a problem because everything on paper looks fine, Mateja’s story might have you asking: what if you don’t need to hit rock bottom to choose something better?
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