DoubleDragons

So, I guess bottom line is, does drinking alcohol at all really make any sense for anybody, alcoholic or not???

bunnezjp

One drink?!?!?! DON'T TEASE ME!!!!!

Bunnez

FeenixxRising

I know that drinking doesn't make sense for me. As for other adults, I take the position that it's not my business if they want to drink or not. Although, if a close family member or friend displays signs of a drinking problem, I would probably discuss my concerns with that person.

Personally, I believe the majority of people can control and enjoy their drinking without consequences (and I believe research backs this up), and I see no reason why they should change their lifestyle. Or at the very least, I see no reason to interfere with their choice to consume alcoholic beverages.

SoberHoopsFan

Those people are still addicted to and dependent on alcohol if they consume that often. The sober life we lead is way better, in basically every way, than living like that (even if they aren't getting drunk and having disasters). I know many consider that "normal" drinking or "social" drinking, but being addicted to a drug is not normal, and not healthy. People just don't realize that there is no benefit to drinking alcohol, and only negatives. I blame society though, it's conditioned on us from a young age that alcohol provides all these wonderful things when in fact it does the opposite. That is why it is seen as abnormal if you can't consume the drug normally, as if not imbibing a poison could ever be an abnormal life. The world is a funny place.

SoberHoopsFan

I don't disagree with your sentiments in general, but do you really think the majority of "normal" drinkers are "choosing" to drink? If it's a "choice," how come they all make the same choice, every time, week after week, year after year. If it was a choice, plenty of "moderate" drinkers here and there would simply stop drinking for good, and not even think of it. But that almost never happens, these people continue to consume in moderate amounts for the rest of their lives, or until they are older and a doctor tells them they can't anymore. It sounds like the drug has already made the choice for them and always makes the choice for them, they just are under the illusion of control because nothing "that bad" has happened.

Also, wasn't trying to single you out or jump on you answering 2 posts of yours, I just find it an interesting topic how others that are sober view people that drink "socially" or "normally" and how they perceive these people's relationships to the drug.

FeenixxRising

They aren't addicted. Drinking a few glasses of wine or a few beers each week is not an addiction. And I'm probably overstating the amount they drink.

Because they aren't addicted, the rest of your comments really aren't relevant.

FeenixxRising

Sober. I simply don't care about other people's drinking habits. Normal drinkers aren't addicted to alcohol, period, so I do believe they choose to drink or not drink. Otherwise, they wouldn't be normal drinkers.

I have no desire to engage in a lengthy discussion about what constitutes a normal drinker. I just know they exist.

FeenixxRising

Sober, I apologize for being a little curt with my comments. However, I'm sensing a neo-prohibitionist attitude in some of the replys in this thread (and in other threads as well), and I find it troublesome. Some posters of late have been implying that normal drinkers don't exist, and that anyone who does drink is either an alcoholic or will eventually become an alcoholic. That notion is nonsense IMO.

Moreover, why this concern with the drinking habits of others? Personally, I'm concerned with the drinking habits of one person only--my own. Spending any time whatsoever thinking about the drinking habits of others does not help my sobriety in any way. Many people drink, many people like to drink and many people can drink responsibly for their entire lives without suffering serious consequences. That's life. I only know that I can't do it, and I'm perfectly fine with that. What other adults do is not my concern (assuming it is legal and does not affect me).

MelindaFlowers

I remember way, way back when....before I drank alcoholically, a few cocktails or two glasses of wine gave me a wonderful buzz that I really enjoyed and I would stop after that. This baffles me now. In June, before I stopped drinking, if I went out to dinner with friends I would order two beers with dinner. It was often painful to have to sit for 90 minutes slowly sipping so I didn't look like a crazy person, slurping each one down in five minutes. Drinking two beers at dinner was actually more painful than not drinking at all. I've only realized this in hindsight.

Just two beers? Ha! Two drinks to me acted more like speed. I became very alert of my surroundings and highly motivated - to get more alcohol!

Ah the memories. Two beers at dinner and 12 more at home.

DoubleDragons

I have no desire to police others' actions. Whenever I try that, I fail miserably. I am just making an observation that any alcoholic drink is full of empty, sugar filled calories and ethanol. Whether you drink a little or a lot, it is not the healthiest choice to put into your body.

Fly N Buy

As I look back, I never made any attempt to drink normally/moderately. When I drank - starting at 13 YO it was to alter the state of mind I was in and get a sense of false confidence releasing me from a lack of self esteem.

Alcohol was always ingrained ( no pun intended ) in my brain as equating with pleasure = fun! Why wouldn't anyone want to have more fun????

These reflections are merely academic at this point and I do not dwell on these thoughts. Regards of why , there exists IS Today....

I have so many obsessions of the mind it's truly amazing. I am hopeful TODAY the worst of these obsessions has been arrested, or I may be arrested!

Peace

appachem

The more I read these posts, the more I realize I may be crazy, but there are many others like me. I can't believe how people can have a beer or a glass of wine, not finish it...and then go to bed. In a way I'm a bit jealous....because I know alcohol doesn't rule them the way it rules me a la Will Ferrell in Old School.

readerbaby71

There's no way to "diagnose" others as problem drinkers unless you know them IRL. You're assuming a lot, SoberHoopsFan. I also have no desire to monitor or judge others' drinking habits.

dwtbd

As to the OP and the concept , I think it is a perspective and highly contextual.
I went for dinner last night , when the waitress asked what I would like to drink I chose a soft drink. I ended up having two, but I honestly didn't plan on it. This is probably the way some people plan or not plan their choice of alcoholic beverage.
For me though alcoholic beverages were means to a different end.
I believe some people just decide to enjoy a glass of wine or beer with dinner , or on the porch, whatever or any effects of the consumption of that amount at that 'sitting' is satisfying for them. They would see a six pack and think oh look six beers, I saw it as mine and where when is more coming, cause that will not be enough.

sobercatholic

Just my 2 kopecks, but I think that maybe prohibitionists/teetotallers that have issues with other people's drinking have them because they still haven't come to grips with their own, even after a period of sustained sobriety? The idea, perhaps, that other people can drink normally, even if it is a weekly habit, is somehow threatening to them, or at least the cause of a resentment.

That's just a thought, for what it's worth. But, we take our own inventory, not other people's. If they can drink and stop after a few, so be it. Habitual controlled drinking does not an alcoholic make. It may be just a ritual of theirs. If their drinking bothers me, then I have to work on something within myself so that I can cope with that. There's always Al-Anon if one has issues with other people's drinking.*

anattaboy

Congrats on 15 months! Yup, can relate to the "alcohol abuse" issue of leaving it--used to think and drink that way too.

jdooner

Soberhoopsfan - are you not one who argues you can smoke weed and not have a problem with it? I am perplexed why you would then think there is nobody who can be a normal drinker.

My view for me - I used alcohol to self medicate and it was unhealthy, the same way I used drugs. I chose to remove these from my life and create a sober life that I want more than my active life - I find greater value in it even if on occasion I may have felt left out at a social event:-)

I view alcohol in a societial fashion similar to soda pop. There is nothing positive about it - empty calories, no nutritional benefit. I see the acceptance purely social in my own experience. Cocaine was once accepted socially, as was LSD and other scheduled drugs. Who am I to say there should be no soda or should be no alcohol consumption - that is silly. I try not to project my issues on the greater society that I am a part, as I have come to accept my issues are my issues.

soberbythesea

I definitely think there is such a thing as a normal drinker, I'm just not one.

When I think of my own reaction to chocolate, I feel like I can sort of see how a normal person reacts to alcohol. I like chocolate, but I'm not the type of person who will hoover down a whole bag of candy or cookies. After I've had a couple pieces of chocolate, something kicks in for me and I'm like "that's it" -- I don't want any more.

I think normal drinkers have the same reaction after a couple of drinks -- they just know it's time to stop. That's what my husband tells me he feels like after a couple glasses of wine. But I never had that experience. With alcohol, my throttle is broken.

Willdoit

I have , but I have also met many who once they start they can't stop , that's what I am like.

I can sometimes have 4 then stop. But then a few days later I start and can't stop , so as has been said none is the answer for me.

CousinA

Yeah, how others drink is none of my business. If they can enjoy a glass of wine with dinner then Zeus bless them.

I never drank like that. Moderation for me is if I didn't wake up in the hospital. I no longer have any interest in alcohol and it isn't something I think about.

-allan