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> That would be recognized instantly as a problem. Really? I didn't get drunk every day. I just drank a beer every day. I really don't think anybody would con

> That would be recognized instantly as a problem. Really? I didn't get drunk every day. I just drank a beer every day. I really don't think anybody would consider that a problem.

rleigh 8y ago
It depends on the person. If you're not dependent upon it and you can immediately give it up without ill effects, then it's not much of a problem. What makes this article and paper so interesting is that there's a real physical and mechanistic basis for why some people can handle it, and why others can't, which makes a lot of sense. The experimental design to model addictive behaviours looks clean, simple and elegant and with it identifying similar population subsets to humans, maybe we'll eventually see some genetic, epigenetic or developmental basis for that difference be elucidated. I'm unfortunate to have known two people who became alcoholics, and it was incredibly sad and frustrating to see their irrational, self-destructive behaviour ruin both their health and their relationships. I do hope that this will lead to effective treatments for alcoholism, and perhaps other addictive behaviours which involve the same underlying mechanisms. It looks like the current drugs aren't that effective, but now that we know which areas and pathways to target things might proceed much faster.
- cup-of-tea 8y ago
  > It depends on the person. If you're not dependent upon it and you can immediately give it up without ill effects, then it's not much of a problem. But that's the problem. How do you know? I seriously doubt anyone here would try to intervene if they discovered a friend had a beer every day. Yet that could easily be the beginning of a problem.
  - rleigh 8y ago
    It's very difficult, for certain. As is clear from this thread, "normal" levels of drinking can vary wildly between people and social groups. For the two people I know, it wasn't an overnight thing. They were already fairly regular drinkers, and at some point it got out of control, either by some triggering incident or something else. One thing I'm grateful for is that because alcohol affects me greatly I'm careful to never drink more than three pints when I go out with friends; usually one is more than enough. And after seeing the horrible effects of alcoholism, I made a conscious effort to reduce the frequency from a few times a week to a few times a month, and feel a whole lot better for it.
JoeAltmaier 8y ago
And there's the 'cohort normalization' distinction right there. My crowd doesn't do that.

> That would be recognized instantly as a problem. Really? I didn't get drunk every day. I just drank a beer every day. I really don't think anybody would consider that a problem.

rleigh 8y ago

It depends on the person. If you're not dependent upon it and you can immediately give it up without ill effects, then it's not much of a problem. What makes this article and paper so interesting is that there's a real physical and mechanistic basis for why some people can handle it, and why others can't, which makes a lot of sense. The experimental design to model addictive behaviours looks clean, simple and elegant and with it identifying similar population subsets to humans, maybe we'll eventually see some genetic, epigenetic or developmental basis for that difference be elucidated. I'm unfortunate to have known two people who became alcoholics, and it was incredibly sad and frustrating to see their irrational, self-destructive behaviour ruin both their health and their relationships. I do hope that this will lead to effective treatments for alcoholism, and perhaps other addictive behaviours which involve the same underlying mechanisms. It looks like the current drugs aren't that effective, but now that we know which areas and pathways to target things might proceed much faster.

cup-of-tea 8y ago
> It depends on the person. If you're not dependent upon it and you can immediately give it up without ill effects, then it's not much of a problem. But that's the problem. How do you know? I seriously doubt anyone here would try to intervene if they discovered a friend had a beer every day. Yet that could easily be the beginning of a problem.
- rleigh 8y ago
  It's very difficult, for certain. As is clear from this thread, "normal" levels of drinking can vary wildly between people and social groups. For the two people I know, it wasn't an overnight thing. They were already fairly regular drinkers, and at some point it got out of control, either by some triggering incident or something else. One thing I'm grateful for is that because alcohol affects me greatly I'm careful to never drink more than three pints when I go out with friends; usually one is more than enough. And after seeing the horrible effects of alcoholism, I made a conscious effort to reduce the frequency from a few times a week to a few times a month, and feel a whole lot better for it.

JoeAltmaier 8y ago

And there's the 'cohort normalization' distinction right there. My crowd doesn't do that.