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Anecdotally, I've noticed that people who don't drink at all tend to be more social in general, while people who often drink in social settings can find it hard
by bnralt 4y ago
Anecdotally, I've noticed that people who don't drink at all tend to be more social in general, while people who often drink in social settings can find it hard to be social if they're not drunk (and often if both parties aren't drunk). Hence all the replies here that equate alcohol with being social and absence of alcohol with social isolation. Alcohol has become a crutch.
If you told a cocaine addict that cocaine was bad for them, and their response was "perhaps physically, but getting rid of cocaine and isolating myself socially would be bad for me to," it'd be a sign of how deep their addiction was. Alcohol is embedded in many people's lives, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing.
I've also found that trying to socialize with alcohol makes people much more prone to discord (including physical violence) than those who socialize without it. In a lot of ways it seems to function like other drugs - a shortcut that's easier but also inferior in the long term, more dangerous, and one that creates a dependency where people have a difficult time functioning in certain environments without it.
- fho 4y agoI once commented on Reddit that one beer per day theoretically makes you an alcoholic. To date that is my comment with the most down votes, with a net karma of minus several thousand points. Apparently there is a large crowd out there for whom one beer per day is seen as perfectly acceptable.
- Goronmon 4y agoApparently there is a large crowd out there for whom one beer per day is seen as perfectly acceptable. Regardless of judgement about what is "acceptable", the idea that a beer a day makes one an alcoholic severely downplays how serious alcoholism actually is. Not to mention that a person being able to limit themselves a single beer each day pretty much rules out one of the main criteria of being an alcoholic, which is being unable to control how much a person drinks.
- mercer 4y agoHmm. I do see your point, but if anything I feel 'alcoholism' as a concept could use some 'downplaying'. Too many people think of an 'alcoholic' as, more or less, someone who has a red nose, looks homeless, and buys big cans of cheap beer or liquor. Meanwhile, many people who are most certainly alcohol abusers tell themselves it's not a problem yet because they are 'not like that'. I've talked to people who drank around the 'healthy limit' and still struggled because their intention was to not drink at all. I quite like how generally speaking, our (or the more 'professional') views of addiction emphasize the subjectivity of it (while respecting the medical aspects). A big issue with alcoholism is that nobody wakes up a 'serious' alcoholic. It's little steps, often with some big leaps along the way. Quite often, you don't realize you're addicted until well after you are. Making people aware that alcoholism is, usually, a sliding scale rather than some clear 'point' could lead to much more and better intervention before it gets too bad.
- archi42 4y agoHuh? So people who can't sleep or feel uncomfortable without their evening beer aren't addicted, only because final stage alcoholism is a nightmare? Or alcoholism != alcohol addiction? I didn't know what uncontrollable drinking is a necessity to diagnose alcoholism, but I'm luckily not involved in the topic. Do you have a reference to back that up?
- Goronmon 4y agoHuh? So people who can't sleep or feel uncomfortable without their evening beer aren't addicted, only because final stage alcoholism is a nightmare? Or alcoholism != alcohol addiction? I just don't see how a single beer, even every day, can be classified as alcoholism. A single beer is likely going to have a barely perceptible effect on all but the the most alcohol intolerant people out there. In the same way that a person who occasional takes a couple Tylenol wouldn't classify as being a drug addict. I didn't know what uncontrollable drinking is a necessity to diagnose alcoholism, but I'm luckily not involved in the topic. Do you have a reference to back that up? Pretty much every reference out there is going to include "inability to control consumption" as one of the main symptoms. But I'll pull one of the results I find off google. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/3909-alcoholism https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/3909-alcoholi... In the section for "What are the symptoms of alcohol use disorder?" how many of those symptoms could be considered for someone drinking a single beer? Maybe "Having cravings for alcohol." and that's really it.
- fho 4y ago> I just don't see how a single beer, even every day, can be classified as alcoholism. From what I understand it's the regularity and habituation that's the problem. For many one beer a day is not a problem ... as long as that behavior is not challenged in any way. I observed that in two friends of mine, both who definitely do not show obvious signs of alcoholism. But both were challenged to stop drinking (one due to pragnency, one due to being asked to by his SO). Both really struggled to cut out that one beer a day from their life. The now-mother managed to do it, but was very open about that it was hard for her. The other guy failed. (Is this anecdotal? Yes. Am I in any way qualified to talk about this? No.)
- ncrmro 4y agoOne of my close family members is in AA and I’ve been a few times myself. They describe it more as once you start drinking you can’t stop.
- hrbf 4y ago> I once commented on Reddit that one beer per day theoretically makes you an alcoholic. This is in fact the viewpoint held by many medical professionals who regularly deal with addiction and mental health. It’s not only the amount you take in, it’s the function it serves.
- nunez 4y agothat's like saying that playing candy crush for a few minutes per day makes you addicted to games, or that buying a thing on Amazon every day makes you a shopoholic. alcoholism is much more serious than a drink per day.
- Goronmon 4y agoAnecdotally, I've noticed that people who don't drink at all tend to be more social in general, while people who often drink in social settings can find it hard to be social if they're not drunk (and often if both parties aren't drunk). Hence all the replies here that equate alcohol with being social and absence of alcohol with social isolation. Alcohol has become a crutch. Are you using "drunk" as a term for not being sober, or "drunk" in the common usage where someone is noticeably impaired by the quantity of alcohol they have drank? Because it's quite possible to drink alcohol without actually getting the point of stumbling or slurring your words noticeably.
- nephanth 4y agoUh correlation and causation? Perhaps you've simply noticed that are good at socializing in general need feel less the need for alcohol to help them socialize because, well, they're already good at it