God, I love it dearly, but it's also a major contributor as to why I ended up drinking the way I did. I'm a pilot for a major US airline. Finally waved the white flag earlier this year and went to rehab. It was amazing honestly, and the accountability of the HIMS program is exactly what I needed.
For years, I was self medicating anxiety with alcohol, because the FAA is so archaic when it comes to pilots treating mental health, which is thankfully improving quite a lot. It only took them like 60 years to realize pilots are just as susceptible to mental health struggles as the general population, maybe moreso due to the lifestyle. It can be really stressful and lonely. You're in hotels all the time. If you don't want to be alone and go out with the crew, 9.5 times out of 10 you're all getting drunk. Half the time you're pre-gaming with minis the flight attendants swagged off the airplane. I already didn't go out with crews a lot, half because I like to be alone and game, and half because I didn't want to get as drunk as I'd want to.
I was always able to keep the 2 lives separate. I hardly ever drank on the road, and if I did I made damn sure there was zero risk of me being hungover the next day or blowing anything but 0.0. When I got home though, it was off to the races. My usual routine on the way home from the airport after a 5 day was to buy a case of handles, they'd be gone by the time I worked again usually. I could feel the barriers slipping though and rock bottom getting closer. I started getting looser with not driving after drinking. I've still never driven when I was wasted, but there's times I've driven to the liquor store the next day where I probably wasn't under the limit. I figured it was only a matter of time I was doing the same when working and that is a hard NO. The public trusts me with their lives and that's not something I'm willing to risk. So I called my union and said I needed help. 2 days later I was in rehab.
I'll always consider you fuckers my people which is why I'll always lurk in here, hope all you are doing well. Shiny livers and full bottles to you all.
Chairs