Alcohol.......

[FTY]

Drink far too much, tbh. Seem to drink every friday and saturday to the point where I dunno what happened, and it's got to the point where I find it hard to picture having a good time without it involving alcohol.

Not good.

 

[Deleted member 24970]

Something i have always wondered about, many people in high pressure jobs seem to drink a few glasses of wine a night with their meal (supposed to compliment eachother), they dont think they have a alcohol problem, yet some of the many seem to do it 5-6-7 days a week !

My aunt was like this at one point and i asked the question to her, she said its okay because it was only a couple of glasses/units. She seemed a little lost when i pointed out it 5 or 6 times a week. Question people need to ask themselves is could i substitute wine for water for example ?
The answer to the question can sometimes be a starting call for a possible addiction maybe ?

Thoughts ?

 

[tommye]

Drink far too much, tbh. Seem to drink every friday and saturday to the point where I dunno what happened, and it's got to the point where I find it hard to picture having a good time without it involving alcohol.

Not good.

that should all stop when you get past 14.

 

[The Esk]

Something i have always wondered about, many people in high pressure jobs seem to drink a few glasses of wine a night with their meal (supposed to compliment eachother), they dont think they have a alcohol problem, yet some of the many seem to do it 5-6-7 days a week !

My aunt was like this at one point and i asked the question to her, she said its okay because it was only a couple of glasses/units. She seemed a little lost when i pointed out it 5 or 6 times a week. Question people need to ask themselves is could i substitute wine for water for example ?
The answer to the question can sometimes be a starting call for a possible addiction maybe ?

Thoughts ?

Think this is extremely common, certainly many of my friends always have a bottle of wine in the fridge "on the go" so to speak, for some I am sure they are well into the addiction process already. They're sober, hold responsible positions etc etc but can't get through an evening without a couple of glasses.

 

[evilwebby]

Everything in moderation.
Unfortunately addiction is a characteristic of personality, and takes many self-destructive forms, just one of which is excessive alcoholism. For these people, if it wasn't alcohol it'd be something else.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle I believe is the best way to tackle all forms of addiction - you see the widest possible picture about the long term effects of all your choices (and they ARE choices).

 

[The Esk]

Everything in moderation.
Unfortunately addiction is a characteristic of personality, and takes many self-destructive forms, just one of which is excessive alcoholism. For these people, if it wasn't alcohol it'd be something else.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle I believe is the best way to tackle all forms of addiction - you see the widest possible picture about the long term effects of all your choices (and they ARE choices).

Do you think everyone has the choice though?

I'm of the opinion that someone's addictive behaviour can be an illness, therefore just as I can't choose not to have a physical illness, equally I would not be able to chose not to have a mental illness.

I don't think it is as simple as choice, otherwise someone like Charles Kennedy would have made that choice surely?

 

[Garrick]

(Why is the video potato quality? I don't know, blame the 90's.)

 

[evilwebby]

Do you think everyone has the choice though?

I'm of the opinion that someone's addictive behaviour can be an illness, therefore just as I can't choose not to have a physical illness, equally I would not be able to chose not to have a mental illness.

I don't think it is as simple as choice, otherwise someone like Charles Kennedy would have made that choice surely?

I don't think you can look at how things ended. He didn't that way overnight. You get there by living a certain way and not being completely honest with yourself. You can fool others, but you can't fool yourself, right? If you're hiding debt, then be completely honest and say you're living above your means and spending too much. If you're too fat then be completely honest and say you've eaten poorly. If you're stuck in a dead end job or dead end marriage then fess up and say you made some poor choices along the way in life.

We all make concious choices every day, and those choices all go towards helping us become a little more the person we want to be, or being a little further from being that person. As you know, I do strongly believe in the principles of personal freedom, but I have always said that the flipside of that is self responsibility.

 

[Jags]

Everything in moderation.
Unfortunately addiction is a characteristic of personality, and takes many self-destructive forms, just one of which is excessive alcoholism. For these people, if it wasn't alcohol it'd be something else.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle I believe is the best way to tackle all forms of addiction - you see the widest possible picture about the long term effects of all your choices (and they ARE choices).

I agree with the point that addiction is a personality thing. A lot of my family have struggled with both drink and drug addiction, to the point where I find if there is something I enjoy I will rinse it until I no longer use it. For example, for my family it was drink and drugs, for me it has been Xbox.

However, defining them as choices is risky. @the esk just summed up why it may not be considered one, but I do agree that people make choices to allow themselves to get in to a position, so to speak. For instance, knowing my vulnerability to addiction I try to stay away from the drugs a lot of my friends are exploring. However, once he addiction has taken hold, it is a different story.

 

[roydo]

Do you think everyone has the choice though?

I'm of the opinion that someone's addictive behaviour can be an illness, therefore just as I can't choose not to have a physical illness, equally I would not be able to chose not to have a mental illness.

I don't think it is as simple as choice, otherwise someone like Charles Kennedy would have made that choice surely?

It is a really weird one that. Like I drink most days, well, most evenings, like some of your mates seem to do, but it is really a habit more than anything. Just as happy to have tea, or something. Or even mega low alcohol content lager. It just seems more civilized sitting with Mrs R watching telly with a drink of some sort.

But I dont crave booze, and if we dont have some in, then it doesnt bother me. But booze has been a constant in my family for as long as I can remember. We all enjoy it, and it is present at very single get together.

So maybe it is how you are bought up as well? But addiction (to anything) is deffo an illness of sorts in my book. And maybe I dont have the addiction gene or whatever it might be, cos I could never imagine me getting into the sort of scrapes that drug/booze/gambling addicts seem to.

If fact, maybe that is it. Like, I hardly gamble, cos I just dont. And when I do, it has no hold on me whatsoever. Same as when I packed in ciggies. Found it a piece of cake with an e ciggie thing. Odd.

 

[The Esk]

I don't think you can look at how things ended. He didn't that way overnight. You get there by living a certain way and not being completely honest with yourself. You can fool others, but you can't fool yourself, right? If you're hiding debt, then be completely honest and say you're living above your means and spending too much. If you're too fat then be completely honest and say you've eaten poorly. If you're stuck in a dead end job or dead end marriage then fess up and say you made some poor choices along the way in life.

We all make concious choices every day, and those choices all go towards helping us become a little more the person we want to be, or being a little further from being that person. As you know, I do strongly believe in the principles of personal freedom, but I have always said that the flipside of that is self responsibility.

Whilst I accept many people get themselves into whatever difficulties life presents them, you cannot say that every person is responsible for every difficult situation they find themselves. There are bigger forces at play than choice and responsibility, not everyone who is fat is fat through diet, not everyone who is in debt is so because they're living fecklessly, same for employment.

But getting back on topic it is definitely the case that for some, perhaps many, alcoholism is an illness, and as I say it's difficult to chose to be healthy if you're ill.

 

[Billy Dean]

Whilst I accept many people get themselves into whatever difficulties life presents them, you cannot say that every person is responsible for every difficult situation they find themselves. There are bigger forces at play than choice and responsibility, not everyone who is fat is fat through diet, not everyone who is in debt is so because they're living fecklessly, same for employment.

But getting back on topic it is definitely the case that for some, perhaps many, alcoholism is an illness, and as I say it's difficult to chose to be healthy if you're ill.

I might even go so far as to call it a symptom of other problems rather than the illness itself, as there are other factors that lead people to addictive behaviour as a form of self-medication.

 

[COYBL25]

I might even go so far as to call it a symptom of other problems rather than the illness itself, as there are other factors that lead people to addictive behaviour as a form of self-medication.

Very good point. I've always thought that a lot of the fellas who are daytime drinkers in corner pubs are actually suffering from depression, due to loneliness, losing their job, retirement etc. They don't intially start out with a drink problem, but time on their hands causes loneliness and boredom, which in turn leads them into depression. They almost find them self with a drink problem by default having intially sought out company to fill the emptiness of their lives.

 

[Deleted member 24970]

Think this is extremely common, certainly many of my friends always have a bottle of wine in the fridge "on the go" so to speak, for some I am sure they are well into the addiction process already. They're sober, hold responsible positions etc etc but can't get through an evening without a couple of glasses.

Exactly what i was thinking mate, its a little strange to me how they get up each morning without a hangover, especially after drinking a whole bottle the night before ! Maybe the body is used to it at that point ? If so i find it a little scary that the number of people in this position is a hell of alot more than we realise.

For the record i only drink when socialising which isnt that much anymore, i cant handle the hangovers for a start.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Exactly what i was thinking mate, its a little strange to me how they get up each morning without a hangover, especially after drinking a whole bottle the night before ! Maybe the body is used to it at that point ? If so i find it a little scary that the number of people in this position is a hell of alot more than we realise.

For the record i only drink when socialising which isnt that much anymore, i cant handle the hangovers for a start.

i heard on the old wireless last week, that the UK consume 12 million more bottle of wine, per week, than was previously thought! how could you mis-calculate by 12 million! and how many bottles does the UK actually consume per week then? must be a hideous number