4 ms·

I'm always amazed to see these average numbers of daily drinks among populations. Like 6 drinks a day? Or 8... On average? I can't even comprehend it.

pjc50 6y ago
They probably mean "units" rather than drinks, and quite a lot of standard measures - glass of wine, pint of beer - are two units. It implies habit, such as having a drink when you come home from work and then maybe another one later, plus partying at the weekend, which easily adds up to those averages. Quite a lot of people drink a lot in a way that's mostly invisible.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
taway210420 6y ago
I hope it is OK to use a throwaway for this kind of comment, but I am not comfortable talking about my alcoholism (I am nearing 1 year sober though) with a username that can be linked to me real world identity. That said..you don't go straight from not drinking to 8 drinks a day. The habit usually starts slow and builds up. For me it was: - One beer after work is OK. Some say even good for your health. I need to unwind. - Hey, I worked very hard today. I deserve two today. (fast forward ~2 years, drinking two beers on average every day) - It's not drinking if you drink craft beers. It's being a beer connoisseur. And those can drink a lot, because, err, there's a lot of fancy IPAs to try. It's also not drinking if you "like" that beer on beeradvocate. - There are also bourbon connoisseurs! Let's also try drinking bourboun! No need to cut down on the beer though. (fast forward another ~2 years to drinking a bottle of bourboun a week and 4 beers a night..) So to answer your question, it took me about ~4 years to go from what would some consider to be even good for your health to drinking like a pro. Without anyone noticing. Working in tech also makes it easy to hide the habit. Nobody will bat an eye if you turn up for work at 11 as long as you deliver. You can also "WFH" if you have a particularly bad hangover. I'm so glad I quit and the damage I did to my body seems mostly reversible. Shout out to the /r/stopdrinking subreddit.
- rorykoehler 6y ago
  Reminds me of a manager I had in a nightclub I bar tended at as a student. He didn't drink he said. Probably smashed about 10-20 shots a night though but because they were only shots he didn't count them as drinking. People will go to great lengths to justify their bad habits.
bakuninsbart 6y ago
The standard beer here in Germany is 0.5l at ~5% alcohol content, which comes down to 2 1/2 standard drinks. And it isn't unusual to drink 2-3 of those. The problem arises when this goes from an occasion (meeting with friends) to become a regular thing. The body and mind also becomes much more resilient to alcohol as you drink regularly. During my early 20s when we went out to bars a lot, it was normal to drink 4 large beers and feel tipsy, not drunk.

pjc50 6y ago

They probably mean "units" rather than drinks, and quite a lot of standard measures - glass of wine, pint of beer - are two units. It implies habit, such as having a drink when you come home from work and then maybe another one later, plus partying at the weekend, which easily adds up to those averages. Quite a lot of people drink a lot in a way that's mostly invisible.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

taway210420 6y ago

I hope it is OK to use a throwaway for this kind of comment, but I am not comfortable talking about my alcoholism (I am nearing 1 year sober though) with a username that can be linked to me real world identity. That said..you don't go straight from not drinking to 8 drinks a day. The habit usually starts slow and builds up. For me it was: - One beer after work is OK. Some say even good for your health. I need to unwind. - Hey, I worked very hard today. I deserve two today. (fast forward ~2 years, drinking two beers on average every day) - It's not drinking if you drink craft beers. It's being a beer connoisseur. And those can drink a lot, because, err, there's a lot of fancy IPAs to try. It's also not drinking if you "like" that beer on beeradvocate. - There are also bourbon connoisseurs! Let's also try drinking bourboun! No need to cut down on the beer though. (fast forward another ~2 years to drinking a bottle of bourboun a week and 4 beers a night..) So to answer your question, it took me about ~4 years to go from what would some consider to be even good for your health to drinking like a pro. Without anyone noticing. Working in tech also makes it easy to hide the habit. Nobody will bat an eye if you turn up for work at 11 as long as you deliver. You can also "WFH" if you have a particularly bad hangover. I'm so glad I quit and the damage I did to my body seems mostly reversible. Shout out to the /r/stopdrinking subreddit.

rorykoehler 6y ago
Reminds me of a manager I had in a nightclub I bar tended at as a student. He didn't drink he said. Probably smashed about 10-20 shots a night though but because they were only shots he didn't count them as drinking. People will go to great lengths to justify their bad habits.

bakuninsbart 6y ago

The standard beer here in Germany is 0.5l at ~5% alcohol content, which comes down to 2 1/2 standard drinks. And it isn't unusual to drink 2-3 of those. The problem arises when this goes from an occasion (meeting with friends) to become a regular thing. The body and mind also becomes much more resilient to alcohol as you drink regularly. During my early 20s when we went out to bars a lot, it was normal to drink 4 large beers and feel tipsy, not drunk.