Quitting Drinking

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I'm not in the danger areas so commonly associated with addiction, but I've been very uncomfortable with how my consumption of alcohol has affected my overall health (mental and physical) over the last number of years. The COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated my consumption and also magnified my own reflection on just how much I drink, and to what extent. Often times I fill the boredom and uncertainty with drink, and frankly I just don't want to do that anymore. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I've decided that I want to reduce my alcohol intake to the point that I would be very happy to quit drinking altogether. Whenever I have extended breaks from alcohol I feel so much better, but then I fall back into it when I'm bored or frustrated. I've quit smoking, so it's doubly upsetting that I can't switch this off in the same way.

Can we talk about quitting drinking?

I'm feeling the exact same way these days, so you're not alone.

My wife and two young kids are taking a short trip for the next week away, and I wonder how I will feel when they are gone. Will I be so relaxed without all the noise and commotion that I won't feel the need, or will I be sad and bored and feel like I have to fill that void with alcohol?

I've decided that I may try to go dry for the week and see how it goes. Again, due to the pandemic, I rarely took more than a night off from at least one drink, and I can't remember the last time I went two days in a row without one. I need to show myself that I'm fine without it just so I don't forget that. I want to get back to the point where I have a drink only on special occasions or in appropriate social situations.

Maybe we can have a mini pact for this next week? Solidarity can be helpful for all those involved.

[undercoverbrother]

At one time in my life I had a very bad relationship with alcohol. I was drinking everyday, all day. to the point of passing out. That lasted for about 16 months.

I managed to stop for a while.

Now I am drinking again, but it is different.

I can now have 1 beer and be done. I can go out with people (well I used to be able to) and not have a drink if they were drinking.

Generally, I only have 6 beers max in a sitting, like feet up in the back yard all evening. That happens maybe 1 every 3 months or so.

What I don't really know is what caused or allowed me to regulate like this, because honestly I am generally a very addictive personality.

[Macman]

I get that alcohol is different for each person but how much are you drinking? That's what you need to determine, is it a couple drinks average daily or is it more?

Through the pandemic here I've noticed I can't have more than a couple beers without feeling it the next day so I don't drink daily.

Like others have said, don't keep it in the house, just buy a 6 pack or whatever and when it's gone it's gone. I can have liquor in the house and not drink.
That's why you need things to do like hobbies, interests, have a few cause cause some are seasonal or weather related.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Another tip is commit yourself to early morning appointments like personal training, a long run with a friend or sports.

You'll avoid drinking much the night before because you know you'll get destroyed the next morning.

[Bonded]

I do at least one sober month per year and thankfully so far they have been easy for me, if that ever gets to be a challenge then I will need to re-examine my drinking habits.

Hangovers and intermittent fasting keep me from drinking much than one drink per day on the weekdays and the weekends I try to stick to a max of three drinks each on Friday and Saturday. If you want to taper rather than go absolutely zero, I think a week off is a good starting point and then build into a month if you feeling good.

I would also toss out that if anyone is drinking a lot and wants to stop, don't go cold turkey without supervision.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

My son was helping a friend fix his neighbours fence that someone had slid into and as they were packing up the owner came out and said "hey guys,great job I have a tip for you in the garage. 3 boxes of booze, everything from rye to tequila. some weren't totally full but about $800.00 worth.

Was that you?

No I'm a ####e example of an Englishman, I can go months without drinking even though I always have a selection of single malts and odd rums, various other strange drinks for guests when they come over, I have never liked being drunk or high, I enjoy the taste of some drinks but if there isnt anything around I like I dont drink, if I'm not in company I dont drink and even when I do have a drink I have 2 or 3 measures at most.

I'm a bit of a crap Brit really

[Locke]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

No I'm a ####e example of an Englishman, I can go months without drinking even though I always have a selection of single malts and odd rums, various other strange drinks for guests when they come over, I have never liked being drunk or high, I enjoy the taste of some drinks but if there isnt anything around I like I dont drink, if I'm not in company I dont drink and even when I do have a drink I have 2 or 3 measures at most.

I'm a bit of a crap Brit really

In my experiences over there, the English drink like it's their God-Given Duty for Queen and Country!

The Irish though....the Irish Drink like they're afraid the English are going to take it away from them...

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Locke

In my experiences over there, the English drink like it's their God-Given Duty for Queen and Country!

The Irish though....the Irish Drink like they're afraid the English are going to take it away from them...

I drink more when I'm back in the UK, basically its up the pub every night, but I will drink 2 or 3 pints to my mates 4 or 5, I was brought up in the philosophy that if you drink at home your an alcoholic were as it doesnt matter how much you drink in a pub at night, 5 or 10 pints a night 7 days a week, well your in a pub so that makes it 'social drinking' and not a problem.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Of course you can get into trouble drinking socially. But the trend in North America in recent decades towards drinking alone is not a good one. What benefits alcohol provides are pretty much only evident is social situations.

There was an interesting study from University of Washington. Some subjects were given non-alcoholic drinks, but we’re told they were drinking alcohol. They behaved as though they really were drunk. The implications are that alcohol was not needed for the social benefits.

[troutman]

Expectations and excessive drinking

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/h....10698606.html

In a series of studies in the 1970s and '80s, psychologists at the University of Washington put more than 300 students into a study room outfitted like a bar with mirrors, music and a stretch of polished pine. The researchers served alcoholic drinks, most often icy vodka tonics, to some of the students and nonalcoholic ones, usually icy tonic water, to others. The drinks looked and tasted the same, and the students typically drank five in an hour or two.

The studies found that people who thought they were drinking alcohol behaved exactly as aggressively, or as affectionately, or as merrily as they expected to when drunk. "No significant difference between those who got alcohol and those who didn't," Alan Marlatt, the senior author, said. "Their behavior was totally determined by their expectations of how they would behave."

[Party Elephant]

I quit 15 months ago and havent had a drink since. I rarely ever drank alone except in the final months when I really started to see the problems. I would often pressure friends and coworkers into drinking with me, like uncomfortably often, since I didnt want to drink alone. That would be my justification, that it was social so it was ok.

Anyway, 15 months on and I'm doing great. About a year ago when the lockdowns ended I realised I could go out and socialise and have fun without drinking. It was a little awkward at first but my friends understood and generally weren't dicks about it (unfortunately some people just dont get it, and they're not really close friends anymore). It can be frustrating having to explain yourself all the time, or being stuck with crappy options. For my company's end of year staff party I had the choice of drinking coke or Sprite so that was lovely, and now I'm living in a pretty small town where only 1 of the pubs even has a non alcoholic beer, but that's still 1 more than there was a year ago so I guess we're making progress?

In the very early stages of quitting I posted about it on here and received some helpful messages from other posters so I'll pay that forward to the OP and anyone else thinking about it. You can do it, and it is worth it! Think of how much better your health will be, how much more time you'll have for important things like hobbies and relationships, how much more you'll be able to depend on yourself!

[troutman]

America Has a Drinking Problem

A little alcohol can boost creativity and strengthen social ties. But there’s nothing moderate, or convivial, about the way many Americans drink today.
By Kate Julian

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...roblem/619017/

From 1999 to 2017, the number of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. doubled, to more than 70,000 a year—making alcohol one of the leading drivers of the decline in American life expectancy. These numbers are likely to get worse: During the pandemic, frequency of drinking rose, as did sales of hard liquor. By this February, nearly a quarter of Americans said they’d drunk more over the past year as a means of coping with stress.

Media coverage, meanwhile, has swung from cheerfully overselling the (now disputed) health benefits of wine to screeching that no amount of alcohol is safe, ever; it might give you cancer and it will certainly make you die before your time. But even those who are listening appear to be responding in erratic and contradictory ways.

[smithtofuhr86]

This is a great topic and I have heard more and more people talking about it, especially as we get older. I know for my wife & I we weren't heavy drinkers but you have a beverage regularly here and there (watching hockey etc.), even a Sunday night have a rum while watching a show. What we started doing since about Christmas was keeping it dry Sunday to Thursday (we both work the next day so it's easier), no drinking if possible. That has gone well and eventually we are keeping it to a drink maybe two on Fridays and maybe have a few more on Saturday. The goal is to eventually phase out Fridays and keep it to a drink or two on Saturdays.

[pseudoreality]

I have a totally different attitude towards alcohol now than when I was in my 20s. Most of my peer group is that way now and trying to reduce consumption. My current rule is I have to take a day off for every drink I have. So if I have one beer today, I can't have one tomorrow. If I have two beers, then I need to take at least two days off. Three or four drinks is my hard cap.

Basically, I treat alcohol like pop or fast food; I know it's terrible for me, but I will have it on occasion if I know I will enjoy it.

[HalifaxDrunk]

As I've aged my choice of username has been a humorous topic of discussion for me, my wife and now my kids (14 & 8)...I'm happy that I can claim it doesn't have the regularly scheduled meaning it used to have (typically synced with Flames/Chiefs games).

I can still occasionally pound beer like I used to, but love that I can can also have a couple drinks and then head happily to an early bed time. Alcohol can a friend or an evil mistress and hopefully you can stay on her positive side.

I've got nothing more to add, except good luck in your decision!

[csnarpy]

my wife was the same way as you. didn't have a problem but just felt tired of it. She was really just a wine drinker. Dealcoholized wine's have hit the market huge now. They are so good that she though she was drinking the real deal. She hasn't had a drink in two years now but likes her wine, that she can buy in Superstore. (especially the bubbly)


with the trend of Non-Alcoholic bevy's, it may be a way to go.

[TheIronMaiden]

Trouble with being drunk is it is boring, you can only really do braindead activities. I mean you can do lots of things after 1 or 2 beers and you can pretend that you're golfing well after 6 beers but inevitably it limits what can be done in an evening.