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There's a South Park episode about the alcohol industry relying on ten percent of their buyers being alcoholics. That was me until a month ago. But I quit because it was now rampantly destroying my body in ways that severely affected me, even when sober. I'd keep drinking if I could.
Oh well, more money in my pocket. And more mental energy for nerd projects, which I'd long wanted to get back to anyway.
Congrats! The first month is the hardest. Come check out stopdrinking@lemmy.world, if you haven’t already.
When I started, I listened to many hours of the Happy Sober Podcast. Craig Beck does a good job of exposing the tricks alcohol plays on the brain.
Keep it up! It gets easier.
I've sobered up for a month to eight months at a time. The difference is that the long stint was just because and I got talked into drinking by someone I was dating and then it was on top of me again. The one month stint was just to take a break. I did about two weeks right before the USA election last year, but then the asshat got in control again and I said fuck it.
This time, I really don't have a choice. The effect on my body made it clear that I can't keep going. I had a good run. I drank very hard for a very long time.
But thank you for the kind words. They are appreciated.
With the increase loneliness crisis 📈 and the decrease drinking at the local pub 📉
I think this headline is not a positive
Society needs to decouple socializing from drinking that's all
Not just health hazards, but legal hazards, too. Get a DUI, and you instantly becomes a pariah to everyone around you, including work, who may fire you. Then there are the costs, fines, possible prison, increased insurance, etc.
Going out and partying it up in a city that requires cars, is too much of a risk, and getting drunk at home is kind of pathetic.
Also, legal/ semi-legal weed.
I quit.
Work stress, financial stress, time stress, family stress… I didn’t used to drink much, but it sneaks up on you when it helps quiet the noise in your head about all the stresses. You find yourself looking forward to drinking even if technically you’re not an alcoholic.
Yeah, you know intellectually what the dangers are, but so much social life revolves around alcohol and media really doesn’t help by pushing the idea. Out and drinking, bbq at home and drinking, watching sports and drinking…etc.
I quit for a bit, tried to ease into light social drinking and hated looking over my shoulder all the time to see if an extra drink or three was going to sneak up on me. Hated that. Stopped being fun.
I just hope we don't slide into another Prohibition, honestly. Between people who don't drink because health, and the social conservatives who want a fundamentalist theocracy, we are squeezed.
For me, it's money - I finally have a good job AND a husband with a good job, and over time have accumulated a collection of booze to use for cocktails. And if we want to go out for a drink it won't bankrupt us. I practice moderation, one drink 3-4 times a week but never more than one, plus two months off each year, and really like that much drinking, feel good physically.
Drinking is expensive and overrated. I was sober for the majority of my life. Went on a 1 year drinking binge due to problems at home. It was fun but I paid a hefty price for it. Not worth it honestly. 2/10 wouldn’t do it again.
Try drugs, instead
Alcohol is a drug.
You see, to do things that cost money you need money to spend.
To get money you can get a job, maybe in a bar or restaurant.
Places that hire people need people to spend money at them to then pay people.
No one can afford the high prices in bars and restaurants on a regular enough basis.
Not enough people go to bars and restaurants to have them hire you, and with less people going there is less reason to go.
Its cheaper to buy booze and drink at home.
Government and everyone wants more money, so the price of everything goes up (booze included).
You don't get paid enough for non essential purchases.
You go into debt, just to have a little joy.
The debts are not paid and the debt companies struggle (klama etc). They stop lending.
You have to cut spending, by not drinking (even the cheap swill at home) you save money and feel like ass less often.
You (and many others) stop drinking altogether. <---- We are here
At some point the K type recession becomes so clear and you understand that you are not on the good part of the K.
I only drink with friends, but one friend doesn't drink, one is an alcoholic, and one also only drinks with friends. It's kinda hard to make it work even if we're able to meet up.
Seems about right. My partner doesn't drink alcohol, and I very seldomly drink alcohol. I petty much buy it if I'm going from cook with it, but beyond that, it's money I'd rather spend (or need to spend) elsewhere.
If I'd had to guess, I'd say it's a combo factor of people being poor, health consequences of partaking being more widely known, and adults choosing to socialize more online instead of going to bars.
Being poor is not really a factor. If you want to drink, in most countries usually you can buy some crappy alcoholic drink for cheap.
If people literally living in jail can get a hold of alcohol, pretty much anyone can.
Yeah. There's a reason a lot of places limit the sale of things like fortified malt liquor to certain times or places. It's the lowest cost per unit of alcohol, and often the drink of choice for the homeless.
"The findings of the poll, which was conducted in July, indicate that after years of many believing that moderate drinking was harmless — or even beneficial — worries about alcohol consumption are taking hold. According to Gallup's data, even those who consume alcohol are drinking less."
This must be the 54% of those who put Trump in office.
Wording is very careful to not offend the alcohol industry.
“Growing skepticism of alcohol’s benefits”
Why not “Growing awareness of alcohol’s harms”?
You cherry picked one line from an article that does talk about alcohol's harms, including in the opening paragraph.
Not to mention the "growing skepticism of alcohol's benefits" is also accurate because there have been cases over the years where some study will come out saying it's better to drink a little than not at all (despite awareness of many of alcohol's harms, but they were blamed on drinking in excess) and people have been growing more skeptical of those lately.
Belief in those benefits drove a different kind of drinking (like a glass of wine with dinner habit) than a lack of awareness (or denial) of the harms (which can lead to more severe alcoholism involving frequently drinking to get drunk). By addressing both the awareness of harms and skepticism of benefits, it's showing that both of those groups are on the decline.
Alcohol's benefits, you know like feeling like shit in the morning, liver failure, being an asshole...
Health concerns are legit, but have they seen the prices? A 6 pack of Bud Light is regularly 9 bucks. FOR BUD LIGHT. Forget about premium brands, those are 12 and up. Hell, small batch locals are up to 15+. Liquor hasn't shot up quite as much, but it has climbed.
Don't even get me started on how much bars/restaurants charge.
Man, I wish. Check out Canadian liquor prices. I don’t drink Bud but I’m pretty sure a six pack is $16 ($11.58 USD). Hard liquor is where we’re really hit though. Whisky is my drink of choice and it’s very expensive up here. I remember going to Boston a few years back and buying a few bottles of scotch because of how much cheaper it was, it was crazy.