Those are actually promising statistics. I have a feeling it is perhaps more rife in the UK, especially from what I see all the time. I know so many people from the same village who have died from alcohol related diseases. It's not even spread around in any even sense.

The adverts are out of control at xmas time, and to be honest I'm not too sure of the point of them, generally most people who drink have their tipple of choice and seeing an advert is not going to change that!

Do 6 million people in Ireland need reminding every xmas, nearly every hour, that Guinness exists, just incase they had forgotten! :)

The irony is, I can pour the perfect pint of Guinness :)

*sigh I used to frequent a bar that would scoop out the foam so they could pour the Guinness faster. 'Murica!

What really gets me are the Facebook posts - Look! I'm a fun adult with a drink while on vacation, at a party, at a restaurant, while grilling, while doing yoga, in the shower, on my lawnmower, at a funeral, etc.

Yes i love how the ads glorify drinking . . .cut to a few hours later . . .the hard drinkers black-out drunk or vomiting in bathroom. That'd be my commercial . . .but I guess that wouldn't sell . . .lol!

I seem to remember a drink responsibly campaign with a girl covered in puke and a missing tooth a while back, but it hasn't been on lately ... just a glamorous woman with perfect make -up, sitting in front of a roaring fire, drinking Baileys.

Faster?!! . . . a pub would go out of business in Ireland if the pints were coming any quicker than a few minutes at least! . . . whenever I used to be in England it always used to worry me how quickly Guinness used to appear, Irish people expect to wait a good 5mins for a Guinness :)

A good round buyer will get the order in with a quarter pint still left in the glass, by the time the pint is finished, the next one has been sitting for 5/6mins!

It's pretty sad on reflection how drinking was soo organised when I used to drink! :(

By breaking free of alcohol, I not only rid myself of the curse, but also removed myself from being involved in it in any way at all.

I can see it now for what it really is, and it disgusts me how soaked humanity is in the stuff. Even the regular people who are not fully addicted like we are spend a lot of their time with alcohol.

I live in the middle of nowhere, so I don't have TV reception. It spares me a LOT of issues...but I'll share a couple "aha" moments from my life.

When my kiddos were little, I saw how they were being baraged with toy adds more and more as the holidays drew near. So, once Thanksgiving happened, they were only allowed to watch videos, no commercial TV. It did them a favor too, they weren't primed to want a bunch of stuff they couldn't have (rather like us). We were dirt poor, so none of those glamorous gifts were ever going to show up at our house...can't even say under our tree because many years we couldn't afford to have one.

Another night, I couldn't sleep, and got up and turned on the TV. The infomercials were on and I thought, "these are the most vapid, intellect insulting crap...WHO are they advertising to?" um...ME. I was their target audience. Same goes for any commercial. They cost the companies a lot of money to produce and air...they do demographic studies etc. If you see the commercial, you have most likely been deemed the target audience.

So, I asked myself, is this who you want to be? Is this who you see yourself as? And was it healthy for me to continue to put myself in that particular line of fire.

It's ok if the answer is yes. I am not claiming that TV in nothing but junk or anything. My BF and I enjoy several series that we watch on DVD. My ex and I used to use the mute button whenever commercials came on or turn off the box for a couple minutes then back on. but I did find that my personality is a lot happier when I filter what goes into it.

In early recovery I learned a little prayer I say every morning upon waking

"Help me today to not put anything into my MIND or body that you would not have there. Take all my relationships in life and do with them as you will. Let me know the truth"

I think relationship covers my relationships to stuff, food, informtaion etc as well as relationships with people.

Most days I find that what I am putting into my mind is more of an issue than what I am putting into my body.