Man, this brought back memories.

One thing that took me a weirdly long time to figure out was why I was drinking so much.

Turned out it was an injury that had kind of mostly dulled itself out of my perception, but it negatively affected my mood. Booze brought back my happy self. Once I quit, I became moody again. Took a few years and a life change massage that unexpectedly brought back the back pain. I have to regularly get massages but I'm pretty much back to my happy self now.

No booze in almost 12 years (in December).

P.S. For any heavy drinkers, consider finding a better pain management method. Booze is just a crappy medication when used for that purpose.