Ask Lemmy

I quite like alcohol. In fact I liked it so much I drank my whole lifetimes share, and several other people's lifetime share, by the time I was 35. Decided it would be greedy to have any more. Better to leave some for the rest of the gang, so I stopped 3 1/2 years ago.

Im 37 and drink nearly daily since Trump returned to office. Its my insurance policy to not stay alive that long since people in my family live to late 80s.

I can’t wait to take my eternal dirt nap and I hate the societal structure we’ve built.

But Ill say if your drinking results in causing pain to others, that is not okay. There has to be a stopping point so you don’t black out and cant recall what youve said or done.

I'm 50 years old.

Most of my life alcohol has just been there and had never been a problem for me. I just drank alcohol when appropriate. As I got older and had kids and a house and responsibilities, having a cocktail in the evening was a nice treat that I felt like I deserved. Still no problem. To me I had a normal relationship with alcohol.

Then I started on a GLP-1 med a few years ago. And I stopped wanting alcohol. Was I an alcoholic all that time? I really don't know. I definitely looked forward to that evening cocktail...was I addicted to drinking alcohol? I just didn't see it that way and assumed I had complete control. But now I question it.

I think I only ever emptied a glass of alcohol once and that was a cocktail with more fruit than alcohol. I absolutely hate the taste of alcohol. And I don't like the effect either. I've obviously never been fully drunk, but the mild effects were unpleasant enough for me to not want more.

I don't care when others drink but I hate the culture around it. In certain circles you get comments for not drinking alcohol. I don't like how normalized it is and I also don't like the hypocracy in certain circles: you get comments for having soda in the house because only drinking water is healthy but the same people will call you a goody two shoes and tell you to live a little when you don't order alcohol on a night out.

I also don't like the questioning. If I order the second soda or juice at a night out, some people will ask if I don't drink, why I don't drink etc. Thats so annoying, I don't question why they didn't order a burger or a coffee.

I think people that aren't just trying it out and that drink even one drink in a setting more than once a week are alcoholics to varying degrees. I don't condemn them, but I do think that at that point, the alcohol is a habit, and you are addicted and therefore an alcoholic. Not a raging alcoholic, not a helpless alcoholic, but you have proven yourself able to be, and are, addicted to alcohol and at that point need to be VERY careful.

Also, alcohol is basically just bad for you, fully. Do whatever you want, maybe I'll join you happily occasionally, but this is the fact of the situation.

I used to drink and smoke weed daily. The combination of a few beers and lots of weed would numb my brain and take the edge off reality. I did this every single day for years on end, during which time the amount of both drugs crept up on me. When I lost a friend to suicide, the brakes came of entirely and no more fucks were given. I drank before and during work several days a week, and even more after work. Binge drinking also became more frequent. The last time I drank I got completely fucked up, blacked out, lost half my things, ended up with a court date for threatening to punch two ticket inspectors and a broken nose (unrelated to the incident with the ticket inspectors).

That's when I decided things had to change and I made the decision to quit and I haven't had a drop of alcohol since. My life improved drastically, practically over night, from that decision and improved further when I quit weed a few years later. I went from being miserable alone in front of the computer every night wasting my life getting drunk and high to a married man who will be a dad in a few months.

The moral of the story? I guess that drinking is fine until it isn't and you don't know if you'll be one of the ones where it's not until it happens. I really didn't drink that much at first and it was already a big problem before my friend died, so it wasn't that that caused it. I would recommend everyone who drinks any amount of alcohol to regularly evaluate the reasons they are drinking and if their habits are becoming problematic. But even then the hard part isn't realising you have a problem, it's actually finding the will do change that's hard.

Alcohol is a sneaky bitch.
I used to drink only on the weekends, and I was never the guy who drank the most, or got wasted every week. I was the sensible one in the group.
My limit was 4 beers when I did get drunk, but a lot of the time I was the designated driver and had no problem having fun and dancing sober.
Then in university, Thursdays were the inofficial start of the weekend with the most parties, since a lot of people left town Friday till Sunday.
I didn't, and in that town no one needed to drive, so now I was partying and drinking 3 nights a week.
Then came the daily beer to wind down in the evening. And over the next 10 years, gradually, this evening beer turned into 2, then 3, then 4.
6 on weekends, more if I actually went out.
Scotch also became popular in my circle of friends, and since we all made good money, it wasn't uncommon to get gifted a 100€ bottle from a trip to Scotland. Which lead to a bit of a wake-up call when those friends visited again a week later to taste some of that really nice Scotch with me, but the bottle was already empty.

You only notice how bad it got once you stop. And then you realize you'll never have a relaxed attitude towards alcohol again, cause whenever you have one drink, it won't end till you pass out.

So that part of my life is over, and good riddance. I will not drink today.

Drank most weekends in my twenties. Not so much now. My wife and I take years to go through a bottle of booze.

It’s tough trying to decide which reply to post this under so I guess at the top….

I do enjoy drinking occasionally, and I also drink much less than I used to. I admit to unhealthy binge drinking in my early 20s. Now, I essentially never have enough to get impaired, so that’s good. I do also respect my brain and want to take care of it. Also as I get older, alcohol is just less appealing and the hangover is harder to deal with. I’ll have a couple drinks every few weeks

I’m actually tempted to try to drink more often. It helps me socially and helps reduce stress, so why shouldn’t I have a drink or two every weekend. I do know alcohol is a sneaky bitch though, so would never actually try to drink more

And of course when I mentioned this to a buddy, I found out he had gotten up to 2/day by following that logic. Yikes

as an alcoholic myself (10 years sober) if you can have a few drinks once and awhile and it doesn't affect your life in any way whats so ever then power to you. If it's fun for you every now again but not on the regular, then again, power to you.

For people like me we can't do that. we don't know where the stop button is and in many cases don't care to find it. for otherx saying "drinking is bad full stop it has health issues even if you have one drink every month" oh let the baby have their bottles and ignore them. if you can drink and it's not destroying anything and you can still function then have at it.

I enjoy some light drinking. It curbs my social anxiety and makes me loquacious and stimulated. Just not to the point of being sloppy, slurred and clumsy.

The medical community recognizes alcoholism and drug addiction as diseases, not moral failings.

I believe that the statistic is that 10% of all drinkers account for over half the alcohol sold.

Live and let live.

I only care about other people in so far as their habits are disruptive to other people's peace.

I think that occasional social drinking is probably a good thing for society. It encourages people to socialize, open up and trust each other. Yeah you low-key are poisoning yourself, but your liver can handle a couple drinks a week. Id say I average about 1-2 drinks a week, and as such I have like no alcohol tolerance. The upside of which is that im a pretty big guy and I can get pleasantly buzzed off a single drink on an empty stomach.

The first time I had alcohol I hated it. The feeling, kinda like what you said, that my brains processing power has gotten throttled down. But once I learned to relax, its actually quite pleasant. I dont judge anyone for not wanting to drink, though, it's not for everyone. But if youre gonna alter your mental state with drugs I think its a decent choice. There are safer drugs, like cannabis probably, but I think in today's world alcohol is more the energy that society needs. I dont think that its a coincidence that the decline in alcohol consumption among young people is closely correlated with an increase in loneliness.

I think everyone is going to have their own opinion on this. Obviously it's not great for health. Just like any substance, it feels good for some... Not so much for others. Some people get dependent, others not. I think it's a very personal thing. If you can have a few drinks here and there without it causing problems... More power to you! If it becomes how you function or a daily habit, take a fucking break man. Or stop entirely.

This message was written after drinking a couple drinks.

You're literally poisoning your body when drinking and increasing your risk of getting many different cancers down the line (you have to drink less than you probably think for this to be the case).

So yeah...I just don't drink.

I love the taste of alcohol and in social situations it sooths my anxiety. But because of that I've noticed it take over me for a bit. Now I may not even have a drink in a month. And not drinking has been great for my physical training even if parties aren't as fun.

But really I don't care about substances having an effect on my reasoning or perception. I think it's good actually to have different perspectives. So as long as you're alcohol consumption isn't hurting those around you, have at it brother.

I really like it. It enhances nights out, social gatherings, music, and comedy.

It doesn't affect my work as I only drink if I'm not working the next day. I probably get drunk 2-4 nights a month.

It's absolutely not for everyone. Some people should never drink.

My biggest issue with it is that it screws up my health due to the empty calories and poor food choices/lack of exercise the next day.

I don't drink much but I do smoke weed a lot, and its effects are similar. I'm actually high right now. I think regularly drinking or using weed is fine as long as you're responsible and don't do it in a way that interferes with other responsibilities. Do it after you've done all your tasks that you need to be sober for. Also, try not to be dependent on it. Learn other ways to cope with daily struggles.

It’s fine unless it’s a problem for you. It’s also fine if you don’t.

Everyone self medicates in some way.

I stopped drinking alcohol two years ago. Only after quitting I realized that I self-medicated my undiagnosed adhd by drinking regularly and almost developed an alcohol addiction by doing so.

Tips? It started with dry January for me. One month turned into three the first year. When I was at six months sober two years ago, I decided that it's better to just continue staying sober.

Alternatives? Non-alcoholic beer is quite good. You have something to do at social gatherings and you can still do the cheers! thing with the others.

3 years sober this august. Eventually the amount of drinking you need to do increases to an unbearable degree for the same amount of "fun".

Life is much better now. But being an addict sucks, don't go there.

I enjoy good beer. I have one almost every day - I don't believe it's the effect alcohol has on my brain, but the taste. I found a non-alcoholic beer that I liked and drank it for months. Then the store ran out so I got some of my old favourites as a treat and from the very first sip it was just - better. So I'm back to drinking alcohol - one beer a day and a small Jägermeister once or twice a month.

I understand that it's poison, but I feel like unless you're living a totally subsistence lifestyle in the middle of nowhere then everything you do is a potential poison to some extent and our bodies will deal with it or not - we're all playing Russian Roulette with everything we ingest, breath and touch.

I hate alcohol. I hate the lifestyle of alcohol. I hate that people orbit themselves around alcohol to where all they think as to have a good time, is to have alcohol. I hate drunk drivers. I hate people who're constantly drunk. I hate people who spend enormous times at the bar or some nightclub where there will be - alcohol. I hate domestic abusers who usually cause a lot of shit by drinking alcohol.

If you want to do drugs do them sparingly and if there are any you can't do then sparingly don't do those ones at all.

Alcohol and I had quite a destructive relationship for all of my 20s and I am fortunate to have survived it. Got sober at 30, relapsed over Covid, clawed my way back, and coming up on my 5 year (take 2) anniversary in July. As a whole, I've been sober for 11 of the past 13 years and have no desire to pick up the bottle again.

My partner is a normal drinker in that he will have a single hard cider once or twice a month on a Friday while playing League with friends. I'm at the point where a six pack can sit in the fridge for a couple months and it doesn't phase me in the least. If he drank more and/or more frequently, I'd likely need to adjust some boundaries though.

I'm a firm believer that people should make their own choices and that what others do with their own bodies is no business of mine, but I do think there should be an increase in education around alcohol and it's physical, mental, emotional, and social/relational effects.

My mom died of breast cancer at 62 and was a heavy wine drinker. She kept drinking "moderately" (i.e. almost daily) after chemo and the first remission. Her cancer is not her fault, but I can't help but wonder if she would have had longer had she quit when she got the first diagnosis.

I really enjoyed the drinking and weed combo (getting wasted all the time and skipping most of the hang over with weed felt like a life hack), thought i could do it forever - but then it just felt normal at some point. In the end alcohol gave me gout attacks and weed gave me random anxiety attacks.

I miss them like toxic lovers, but i know they're shit and totally not worth it. Learning how to "be sober" was really hard as a result of doing it for so long.

Honestly, I don't drink much anymore. I drank a lot as a student and I was youthful enough not to feel too many after effects.

But now... maybe once or twice a month tops. I'm mostly there for the taste now. I brew beer. I drink so little of it I end up giving away most of my bottles, or maybe sharing one with several friends on occasion. I love a good whiskey, but I'd rather buy an expensive bottle and let it last several years than powering through it or getting fucked up with cheap booze.

Truth is, I literally can't stomach heavy drinking anymore. So now I more often than not stop when sufficiently buzzed or when my taste buds give up.

As a recovered alcoholic, not a big fan of it.

Alcohol provides practically zero benefits to the human body and countless damages.

People who drink regularly, even if they aren't actually alcoholics, are causing really bad long-term damage to their organs (all of them, not just the liver). Alcohol is also a carcinogen that newer studies are saying is comparable to tobacco.

That being said it isn't necessarily an issue solved with judgement. Most alcoholics know they're killing their bodies but can't quit due to the chemical and psychological addicting properties of alcohol. Many who become alcoholics do so as a form of self medication for major problems, psychological or otherwise. Others are literally groomed into it by friends, family and the nearly global culture of drinking.

Thank fuck the newer generations are drinking less than ever.

I do like the moralizing opinions of those who use cannabis often. Very interesting.

Personally I find nothing wrong with it. Everything in moderation and it's your life.

Opinions? You do you. No amount of alcohol is apparently "safe" in terms of health effects, according to newer research. For a ton of people that doesn't matter that much.