{
  "id": 17911857,
  "title": "‘I perfected deception’: My secret life as a relapsed alcoholic | Meghan O'Gieblyn",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/i-perfected-deception-my-secret-life-as-a-relapsed-alcoholic-meghan",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-11-03T05:00:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Health",
    "slug": "guardian-health",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/nov/03/my-secret-life-as-a-relapsed-alcoholic-addiction-sober"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "My name is Meghan O Gieblyn, and I recently relapsed into alcoholism. For over a decade, I had been sober, sharing my struggles and relapse with the world. However, convincing myself to return to drinking was a deeply personal and complex journey. Initially, I felt that my drinking was contextual, that my 20s had been a particularly challenging time, and that my late 30s would be different. However, I later realized that my sobriety was a narrative construct I had imbued with reality and substance for years. It was a flawed assumption that my thoughts were not real and could not hurt me or have any effect on the world. I had been so focused on the hypothetical that I failed to see the threat until I had already acted. It was during a trip to Helsinki in the middle of winter, where I warmed up at a Christmas market selling both alcoholic and non-alcoholic glögi, a traditional mulled wine. I approached a vendor, took a sip of the non-alcoholic drink, and then drank half of it before leaving. This act was a split-second decision, and I attempted to convince myself it was a misunderstanding.",
  "summary": "Everyone knew about my years of addiction, the dangers I had put myself in. The second time around, after 11 years sober, not even my husband knew I am finding it very hard to write about my return to drinking. This is unexpected, given that I spent more than 10 years identifying as an alcoholic and narrating, from the podiums of church basements, the most shameful and unflattering moments of my…",
  "key_points": [
    "Meghan O Gieblyn relapsed into alcoholism after a decade of sobriety.",
    "Realized her sobriety was a narrative construct, not reality.",
    "Sipped non-alcoholic glögi at Christmas market in Helsinki."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The author's relapse reveals how long-term sobriety can become a fragile narrative construct that fails to protect against the sudden, impulsive reality of addiction.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}