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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Live and let live.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.