Originally Posted by velma929

You know what? It may help to consider rather than "doesn't miss or care" that he just can't. He doesn't have it in him.

Think of the normal people you know. They want connections, friends, a lover. They take the money they earn and go to dinner with friends, buy a jacket they like, go to a movie, buy some snacks and play cards with buddies. Clean up the apartment/flat/ home so it's not a pig sty. Engage in a hobby: basketball with friends, go to the gym, a book club, a quilting guild, a political club. You've written heavy drinking is 'part of the culture' as if it's okay and you just have to accept it. I guarantee you there are people around you who aren't drinking themselves into a stupor every week. You're not required to think heavy drinking okay. It isn't your job to be a one-woman temperance force, but you can find people who aren't on this path.