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> People tend to assume that “the mere presence of other individuals exerts a beneficial effect” that tempers the desire to overindulge when drinking, Fairbairn
by stevage 1y ago
> People tend to assume that “the mere presence of other individuals exerts a beneficial effect” that tempers the desire to overindulge when drinking, Fairbairn said.
Who thinks that? I have never personally known anyone who drinks much alone, but plenty who drink too much in groups.
- yoyohello13 1y agoI mean… you wouldn’t necessarily know about the people who drink alone. If you were someone who binged alone why would you talk about it?
- theoreticalmal 1y agoAt a certain point that’s all the overindulger has to converse about.
- hx8 1y agoIt doesn't have to degrade to that level. There's definitely a population that drinks alone and has interests outside of alcohol. I've known plenty of divorced men that regularly drink while watching sports/TV alone, but when picking a conversation topic will often choose their kids or sports over alcohol consumption.
- genocidicbunny 1y agoThere are plenty of counter-examples to that. Many heavy drinkers get to the point where they're only feeling 'normal' due to drinking a lot, and can only go about their day by heavily indulging. One of the Monty Python guys was an alcoholic, at the 'bottle of vodka per day' level. You've probably also known some heavy alcoholics at some point in your life if you've been around long enough, but you wouldn't really know it unless you knew the subtle clues to look for; They tend to become very good at hiding it. They're not chugging vodka out of a bottle, they're putting a bit of a pick-me-up in every cup of coffee they're drinking.
- hinkley 1y agoI’ve known too many people who indulge to deal with social anxiety. It’s a terrible terrible plan but they’re more likely to drink when with people than alone.
- morkalork 1y agoThis is basically it. You don't know that Bill from accounting crushes a six-pack every night when he gets home from work, alone. How would you? He's doing it in his kitchen, or on his couch. The guys at the liquor store know. His doctor knows. But his friends and colleagues? Probably not.
- hinkley 1y agoAgreed. Alcoholics pregame in order to reduce criticism by reducing the number of beverages they are observed consuming. Once your inhibitions are gone you don’t care as much though.
- theoreticalmal 1y agoPregaming is also typically cheaper than consuming every drink in a setting like a bar, restaurant, or other commercial venue
- morkalork 1y agoIf you are a regular and heavy drinker, the prices establishments charge are unbearable. Plus, the drinks are like watered down pop. Can't even taste what's in it.
- hinkley 1y agoI would warn you this is a slippery slope. I buy single serving junk food, because whatever size I get is single serving. And expensive chocolates. The cost is friction.
- protocolture 1y agoYeah I drink more when being social, and in some circles will even start smoking.
- jampekka 1y agoEverybody I personally knew who died of alcohol drank too much alone. They also drank a lot in groups but oftentimes held the drink better than many who drank less.
- tstrimple 1y agoI think that. When I drink socially, I'm engaging with other people and things like slurring speech become readily apparent. I can tell when I'm stumbling over words and having trouble saying what I mean. It's very obvious. When I drink alone, I'm not talking to anyone. The voice in my head never gets noticeable inebriated. I'm typically not moving around as much so can't rely on my sense of balance to judge intoxication as reliably either. And with social drinking, it's pretty easy to compare the rate at which I'm knocking back drinks versus everyone else. You tend to order in waves with others which slows folks like me down quite a bit.
- stevage 1y agoAh interesting. For me it's a bit the opposite. Socially I'm very distracted by conversation and easily have more than I really intend to. Alone, I take time to consider each drink and almost never have more than 2.