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Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,078 posts, read 7,519,082 times
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Like the sharp taste of beer and whiskeys. The subtleties of wines. Live in heart of wine and craft beer country. But alas BP (180/80 conservative) and triglycerides (1000+) are off the chart and unable to adequately control for decades. 67yo, 165#, 5-6.
I think the point on drinking alone means that you obviously aren't drinking as part of a social situation - you are drinking to DRINK. Sure you can say you're savoring that craft beer or whisky or vintage wine Okay, that gets you ONE drink.
But if you aren't drinking to socialize and are having several drinks, the question is WHY do you want to drink...to forget, to cope, to calm down...? There aren't a lot of positive reasons - especially if you're doing it many or most nights of the week. And of course, don't you have any friends to go out with? Why not? Because of your drinking or other maladjusted behavior?
It's not that drinking alone CAUSES bad things but there can be a pretty strong correlation with other negative things going on in your life and alcohol rarely helps work that stuff out.
As an introvert, alcohol as a social lubricant fascinates me because I can't understand why extroverts need it. If an extrovert finds social contact rewarding and energizing, why is alcohol such an essential part? I can understand why introverts would need to get it to through a social gathering like a party, but it would seem like extroverts would have fun just being with other human beings. So how does an extrovert know that it is the social contact they are enjoying and not just alcohol doing its (temporary) magic?
I think the point on drinking alone means that you obviously aren't drinking as part of a social situation - you are drinking to DRINK. Sure you can say you're savoring that craft beer or whisky or vintage wine Okay, that gets you ONE drink.
But if you aren't drinking to socialize and are having several drinks, the question is WHY do you want to drink...to forget, to cope, to calm down...? There aren't a lot of positive reasons - especially if you're doing it many or most nights of the week. And of course, don't you have any friends to go out with? Why not? Because of your drinking or other maladjusted behavior?
It's not that drinking alone CAUSES bad things but there can be a pretty strong correlation with other negative things going on in your life and alcohol rarely helps work that stuff out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matisse12
Sand&Salt, You say your relative has aggressive liver cancer and "has not touched a drop." Heavy drinking can cause liver disease (such as cirrhosis). Liver disease is different from liver cancer. Liver disease is deterioration of the liver so that it does not function properly. (smoking can cause liver cancer and pancreatic cancer)
As far as drinking alone. I do not agree with the statements above. Drinking does not need to be for socializing only, or only with others around. Drinking alone is fine as long as it is not excessive or too frequent or in large amounts. And chastising the poster about possibly not having friends and accusing the poster of maladjusted behavior, I find peculiar and inappropriate.
Well, I was being a bit facetious about not having any friends to drink with because you're maladjusted...but I was hoping for responses on why exactly they drink alone? Other than what various blues songs say?
Socializing is likely the most common situation for drinking. So what is YOUR reason for drinking if you do so alone?
And sure...pretty much ANYTHING is okay if not excessive, not too frequent, or in large amounts I guess that's why I said something about using it to cope and having multiple drinks many nights of the week.
Grew up observing both parents as alcoholics and it probably swayed me to be conservative in how and when I drink alcohol. We have a little ritual of a cold beer on Friday night and a few glasses of wine on the weekend but nothing during the week. I could quit if I chose to and will no doubt drink less as I get older but for now, will continue to enjoy a few drinks at home on the weekend.
I used to party hardy in my 20s, but by age 30, I noticed the same things you did. At one time in my 20s I drank as much as a gallon and a half of vodka a day, and held down two jobs. I was what they call a " functional alcoholic".
Plus I take 19 prescriptions and alcohol and prescriptions don't mix well.
A gallon and a half? Are you sure? If I calculated correctly, that is over 120 drinks.
19 prescriptions sounds like a lot. Perhaps a second opinion is in order. My doc prescribed to me a diabetic medicine despite me not being diabetic. According to him, it had to do with my junk food intake. I was advised to get rid of him, and did so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by josie13
This is the absolute truth. I have been around many friends and boyfriends and coworkers who drink; they get progressively louder and dumber and sloppier as the evenings wear on. Not that fun to be around if you aren't drinking.
For example, some of my siblings have married into families whose social and family lives feature a lot of drinking. It's highly noticeable when we go over to their homes because they are sloshed and uninhibited when we arrive, and it just goes downhill from there.
Nobody seems to worry about alcoholism or liver disease. Alcohol use is so accepted in our culture, and I don't understand why.
I never cared to be around people who are annoying or worse, nasty when drinking. Alcohol makes me like a person doped up on Valium, so my reaction to it is different than the people noted above.
About alcohol in our culture, I think the rate of alcohol consumption is twice as much in England. Hopefully, someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I quit drinking 40 years ago and never looked back. Saw enough abuse related to the drunks in my family to forever taint my opinions of alcohol. I nearly ruined my own life as a teenager by getting drunk and doing something incredibly stupid. No thanks. I figure if I’m going to ruin my life at least do it sober.
A couple of things I’ve noticed in the past few years have caused me give it up.
Since the kids have been gone, dh and I have observed cocktail hour at 5:00 pm every night. It has been a pleasant ritual before dinner, a time to pause and share the events of the day. Nice. I have 2 Manhattans and hubby has more. He’s fine with it, but I’m done.
Firstly, I was having trouble sleeping at night. I fell right to sleep, but then I’d wake up at about 3 am and toss and turn for hours. Since I quit drinking, I sleep through the night.
Second, during the day, I eat like a bird. After a few bites, I’ve had enough. After cocktails, I feel as if I eat too much at dinner....my internal regulator turned off. As someone who could stand to lose 30#, I’m hoping that the loss of calories will pay off in the waistline.
Third, I noticed that some of our older senior friends drink way too much. The cocktails start earlier and end later. It’s a slippery slope I don’t want to fall into.
Lastly, and this was the last straw for me... We were expecting a robo call about a delivery for the next day. The next day came, and I mentioned to dh that we hadn’t gotten the call yet. He looked at me funny. He said I had answered the call, and I had told him the time they were coming. I still have absolutely no memory of the call, and it really scared me.
I’m not saying I won’t have a sip of spiked eggnog, or a glass of wine during the holidays, but I’m feeling really positive about my decision. I feel as though I’m giving my body a gift.
It probably has something to do with both my sister and sister in law dying this year. I’m probably not immortal.
interesting that you wake up at 3am. I AM NOT A DOCTOR.! Metabolizing alcohol delays metabolizing food. Your body treats alcohol like a toxin and your liver focuses on dealing with that first... for some people that can mean your insulin levels go up steeply while sleeping and results in your liver dumping sugars and fats into your bloodstream which can make you wide awake.
i have not looked into this in a few years, so my facts might be all over the place but if you are prediabetic it might be worth looking at...
just my opinion, might be completely wrong.
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Okay, that gets you ONE drink.
