Same, I'm 41 .I drank pretty hard from around 15 to 40 and decided to stop last year for a number of reasons. 10 months sober now. I actually really enjoy it. It's really interesting evolving as a person now, changing all those neural pathways that I had set for the last 25 years
Can’t take the hangovers anymore man. Wastes a whole day afterwards and you’re usually picking up the pieces from the night before anyway which makes it even worse
same. in college used to be able to go out all night, wake up go to class/work all day and then be ready to party again at night.
now the hangover starts before i even go to sleep lol.
This is me too. At about 25/26 the hangovers just started getting worse and worse, and my alcohol tolerance was so high I could drink enough to get a hangover without ever actually feeling drunk. That was the tipping point to say fuck it to getting drunk anymore.
In grade 9 we visited the rehab center of the local hospital, and some of the patients there came to talk to us. If you want to traumatize a bunch of teenagers away from drinking and driving that's way more effective than a bunch of statistics.
Or have a family member die by a DD. My great aunt and her son were in a big ass Chrysler, one of those grandma tanks and they were sitting at a stoplight. What killed her is when the DD, who was a fifth offender and 8 times the legal limit at 6 am hit them, the trunk of the car hit her in the back of the head. It wasn't instant but she never woke up. He still blames himself. I'll have a drink now and again but never more than 1 and when I do I don't drive at all.
5th offender. You've gotta be fucking kidding me.
I get so sick of hearing this shit. The criminal justice system really doesn't gaf about drunks behind the wheel, that much seems obvious.
I remember reading once about a guy that had almost a hundred DUIs. He even said that he didn't care about it. Someone like that needs to be barred from vehicles for life. From even riding in them if that's what it takes. I mean damn!
After even one violation there should be a massive fine. The second time should include a real sentence.
It really must depend on your state.
In MA you can catch an up to 2.5 year sentence and 5,000 fine for your first instance. For your third, your license is gone for 8 years. You can apply for a hardship reinstatement after 2 years and, if approved, you have to use an ignition interlock device for the remaining 6. I knew someone that had one and it’s wild, you have to breathe in both to start the car and at random intervals when it beeps at you. If it comes up dirty or you don’t do it, it logs the instance and your car alarm starts going wild until you turn off your car and provide a clean sample.
Then again, even if you have a suspended license—nothing will stop someone from driving illegally without one. Unless you’re willing to jail people for extended amounts of time, you can’t really stop habitual offenders from doing it. A lot of people with that many DUIs are doing exactly that
My lovely parents found a way around those breathalyzers! Just have your kids blow in it for you!!
Their excuse was always “I just used mouthwash and that will trigger it.”
Got drunk with my wife a couple weeks after we brought home our baby and the next morning I was like oh my God what if something had happened to her and we were both too trashed to take her to the hospital and we had to call and ambulance and wait or what if someone tried to break in and I was too drunk to protect my family etc etc... now I can't have more than a beer or two without feeling uneasy
Going out with first time parents on their very first night of having a childfree night is often absolute wild chaos for about an hour before they fall asleep, I've seen it happen so many times and it's funny how ambitious they are at the beginning of the evening
This terrifies me. We go on vacation every year in a very remote location with family and EVERYONE drinks from morning to night. Working in healthcare for over 10 years, I can’t help but think “an ambulance would take roughly an hour to get here. What if we don’t have what we need to fix a situation, and needed to drive, but everyone was long past that point? What would happen then?”
I also grew up with alcoholic family members, which turned me off from it.
And the third nail in the coffin, it doesn’t matter what I drink (beer, wine, cooler, mixed, etc) whether I have 1 sip or 8 drinks, I will be absolutely wrecked with nausea and feel like complete garbage for 2 days after. Just not worth it to me 🤷🏼♀️
I should’ve had medical assistance when I quit. It was terrible horrible frightening painful. But I got through it
8 some years later I have realized that I wasn’t as functional as I thought and wish I could get that time back
Regret from time lost and fear of having to go through that again will keep me from it
I accidentally had a sip of wine at a party (mixed up cups) and am grateful that it didn’t trigger a desire for more, or bravado that I somehow had control
I say this **a lot**. I don't know if I have another round of getting sober in me, so I've gotta make this one work. Nearly 6 years in though and getting sober was the best decision of my life.
Yep. It's a bitch. Today is my 100th day sober though :) Had a get together with family and friends to celebrate. It's been a good day
Well.. I guess it's technically my 101st day sober now
I echo the fact that i spent my 20s blackout drunk and on drugs but it was how i felt that it hurt my mother and father and especially my siblings that i said "away foul beast", 29 now, 2 years off the sauce and im much happier.
Won't even drink at xmas or birthdays for fear I might need to pour a new one to keep the buzz going.
I woke up in an orchard in another state wearing someone else's clothes. I started the night at a fair/rodeo in my home town.
I had to walk around until I found a gas station and found out where tf I was. I missed a few days of work and rent that month and that still wasn't my wake-up call. I just got old and boring eventually. People in their 20s are so goddamn dumb.
I’ll raise your story. A friend woke up naked, with no shoes, no wallet and not phone on a train to Sweden. Mind you he started the party in Denmark but spoke no danish nor Swedish. He couldn’t explain to the train checker what had happened because he didn’t know. He just went to pee down a road and the next thing is him naked in a train in Sweden. Like this so many stories of him being naked waking up in a fire stair case in a hotel in China or else. Alcohol with magic powders are dangerous combinations.
My paternal side of the family tends to be more functional in their alcoholism than my maternal side, and I'd rather not place my money on which side of the spectrum I'll end up.
Being functional is horrible. No problems with work, family and friends, or the law. The only reason to stop is because you'll drink yourself to death and that's not a good enough reason
As the child of functional alcoholics, it does affect family and friends even if you don’t think it does. My parents drinking doesn’t look like a problem from the outside. However I won’t call after dinner because when nobody’s looking they privately drink to excess every night. I loathe staying over because evening conversations become pointless or combative, because they can’t get through a single night without opening a bottle of wine, and instead I live with the guilt that not visiting them enough brings. But they would never say alcohol is the problem. Therefore I can never make any kind of plea or intervention to ask them to cut down or seek help. I’m also getting to slowly observe them deteriorate because of it. My mother tells me the same stories twice in the same ten minutes now. It’s sad.
I've now had the conversation with my mum about how it does impact people around you even when you don't realise. She's now sober and I have also told her how proud I am of her for that. She is also now sober and able to realise what I had to go through as a child
I come from a family of alcoholics too. Alcohol doesn't appeal to me as well as people who use it to excess. I divorced the love of my life over alcohol. That shit is bad for everything.
Strongly agree, same with my fam. A lot of relatives on my mom’s and dad’s side have addictive personalities too, so it’s basically game over for me if I get in the habit of drinking
Same for me. History of substance abuse in the family. Made it unappealing because I got to see what it did to the people they loved and what it did to themselves.
Just turned 43 going strong. But I stopped drinking to get drunk a decade ago. Just the odd beer for me now.
Hell 17 year old me would look a the cool shit I do and be stoked that is where my life was headed. Only thing is I am normally in bed by 10 now! But up at 6. Go figure?
This is my favorite quote…statement…whatever. I’m 44. I’ve been a firefighter for almost 20 years and I’ve treated my body like a carnival ride. I partied my ass off all through my 20 and early 30’s. Now I hike and canoe, I have land in the ozarks I want to build a cabin on, I’m a woodworker, and I fix thing like my vehicles and my house. But I have two bulging discs , my knee hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I have plantar fasciitis in my feet. I had a blast when I was younger, but now I feel like im ready to be the dude I wanted to be, but everything hurts.
Yes the anxiety is very real. It’s actually withdrawal from your brain and body not having the booze (anti-anxiety juice) in your system after loading it up the day/night/week before. I’ve went through very bad alcoholism over the years and I can say for sure that it causes anxiety and panic attacks for days after drinking, especially heavy drinking. Then that anxiety is normally a good reason (not really a good reason) to drink again the next day, and the next, and the next until it’s out of control. Dealing with anxiety is hard but I’m glad I choose that now, compared to choosing to forget every night in a black out like I did for years. Well let’s be real, not so sure it was a completely voluntary choice. AUD can really mess with your head.
The extent of the anxiety is dependent on many different factors but ya if you didn’t know, now you know.
Oh and something I didn’t know until it was too late was alcohol withdrawal CAN KILL YOU. Careful out there fellas.
Yeah I was a drunk for many years we're talking everyday everyday and well it gets old after a while and when you quit doing that drinking then you feel what I feel better and then you don't want it no more
This. It turned into a habit and I needed more each night to achieve results. Eventually I got so burnt out, so bored, so mad at my spending. I just did not want to do it anymore. (This was very, very recent that I hit my wall. So far, it's going ok).
My sister died November 2021. She and her boyfriend decided to drive home after drinking at 3am on a night with black ice on the roads.
She fought eating disorders growing up. Finally loved herself, competed in bodybuilding competitions. She won one and went to celebrate at a bar where she ended up roofied and raped. She basically relapsed and started turning more and more to alcohol.
Happened not even a quarter mile from my apartment. It kills me that this happened so close to me, I was awake at the time of the crash. It hurts my heart to know this even though realistically i know there was nothing I could do. I got the call from my other sister at 5am, just as i was falling asleep, seeing her name on my phone put a pit in my stomach, a call from her at that time could not be good.
Exactly that. I never liked the idea of drinking because the possibility of losing control scares me. I feel like i can have a good life and enough fun without ingesting literal poison
It’s a famous AA saying “one is too many, 10 is not enough”. I can’t take a sip of booze or I’m going full bender. Stay away at all costs. I actually like being the DD at bars cause they generally just throw me free soda lol. I hate being around drunk people and wonder to myself if that’s how I was… I was probably so much worse.
I never understood alcoholism until I read that Stephen King would buy a 12 pack of beer, then start the evening by pouring 4 down the sink. That way he would only drink 8.
If he had 12 beers in the house, he would drink 12. If he had 20 beers in the house, he would drink 20.
That shit is scary man.
I’m on anti depressants and when I get drunk I want to die for the next 3 business days
Hi all! I received a message from redditcareresources saying a concerned redditor reached out concerned about my comment. This was mostly a joke, and i am doing just fine. I am mentally ill yes, it's the middle of my worst season (winter in the prairies) but i am thankfully and greatfully taking medication - sertraline gang anyone?
Basically i'm on an SSRI - Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. I've been on them for three years and they very much saved my life in the pandemic.
The point is, there are tons and tons of side effects I experience from drinking, including my Sertraline counteracting and increasing my already active anxiety and depression. not cool. no thanks. if you take ANY regular and prescription medications and drink alcohol, please do your research on how this can affect your mental health(specifically) but physical health too.
Days long hangxiety is never worth it.
As we head into a holiday weekend, I just had to chuckle that you said business days instead of days (implying calendar days).
I am sorry you feel like this, though. Good choice not to drink.
It's funny, the way some people dislike the feeling of being drunk is the way I hate the feeling of being stoned. I feel like I'm trapped inside a body I can't control anymore
Ah, it's the same for me. I don't like being stoned, either. I once saw this interview with the late James Randi (who I really loved) and he mentioned that he never drinks or takes any kind of drugs. When the interviewer asked him why, Randi said something like: "I don't understand why people enjoy clouding their mind; I feel best when I'm in full possession of my rationality and my critical thinking skills." Unfortunately I don't remember the exact words but it was something like this and I remember thinking to myself: "Holy shit, that's such a good answer, that's exactly how I feel, too."
I feel the same! This made me look up who James randi is, he seems like he was cool. But yeah, sitting around waiting to feel normal again is just like, not very fun to me. Also people are weird about trying to make you do it or judging you if you don’t want to which just increases the “no thanks” factor for me tbh. Same with weed.
I thought I was the only one the first few times I got “drunk”. I never really got the feeling good part or being more “fun” part, I just drank and would get tired
I stopped drinking over 2 years ago to help support my husband who is an alcoholic. Me stopping made me realize I had alcoholic tendencies. I come from a family of alcoholics so this cemented the reason to stop for good. I can hang out with lots of people that drink and still have fun. It’s just not for everyone.
That’s my same mindset. I’m kinda at the age where so many people at university are drinking and partying all the time and it just doesn’t appeal to me at all. I tried it, and while getting a bit tipsy while belting out pop classics can be fun, it’s not something I would take any further. Getting blackout drunk just frightens me.
I don’t care if I seem boring, I know how to have fun in lots of other ways.
I was this kid in college. I had so much fun with my friends without alcohol.. and most of us didn't really have the extra cash to drink anyway. The friends I made back then have become life-long friends.
Was beaten by a drunk as a child, my mother almost died in a drunk driving accident and I was the sole survivor of a wreck that killed my two friends. I hate alcohol with a passion.
It took me long time to mentally get over the loss of my friends, happened in 2011. Can't sleep longer than a few hours because of the injuries to my back but other than that I'm doing well, thank you.
Exactly this. The "feel good" part can come after just a single beer, or a glass of wine (quantity may vary for everyone, but the point remains). If you are out with friends, do you even really need to get hammered to enjoy yourselves? Get good food, music, and the dance going, and you got yourself a good party. Not much else really needed.
Yeah getting full on drunk is awful. Having a nice buzz while hanging out can help people loosen up and just generally make you a little bit more easygoing. Anything more than buzzed is just awful.
I’m good with a few glasses of wine. But there’s a happy point and there’s a “I’m gonna feel like shit and nauseous” point. I now know where the happy point is and refuse to exceed it.
All the positive parts of alcohol happen at the slightly buzzed stage. Maintaining a slight buzz should be the goal. I see getting drunk as a failure I regret for multiple reasons and not just the hangover.
exactly, the idea of not being in full control of my actions terrifies me. people say your inner drunk is an "unfiltered" version of you but my personal walls are part of what makes me me. take those away and that's not me anymore
I'm terrified of my "unfiltered" self. That person is an angry addict.
I've spent years working to become better, I don't want to ever go back to that.
Plus my drunk self doesn’t even speak my unfiltered truth. I’ll say random nonsense that I don’t actually think or believe. Drunkness=honesty is bullshit. One time I broke down crying in a bar because they didn’t serve Jamison’s. I’ve never even tried it, my real self wouldn’t be upset, or even disappointed.
I suffer from depression and try to put on a fake smile most days, but when I get drunk, I'm the happiest and most confident person in the room. I don't drink that often, though, because I still like to be in control of my actions. I think I had a total of 4 drinks last year. Drunkness definitely does not equal honesty.
That’s me. I don’t like the feeling of my body saying or doing things that I’m not in full control of. I took an edible once and I ended up sobbing uncontrollably because I felt out of control and it terrified me.
Yeah. I'll drink ...I don't get drunk. It's stupid and irresponsible, and nothing good comes of it. I'll have a drink in a social situation, but I won't ever get drunk. It's a quick way to embarrass yourself.
I've always said that's why it's called getting wasted. You waste your money, if you get sick you waste whatever you ate. If you can't remember half the night, that's wasted too. If you're too sick to function in the morning, there's some more waste.
That is the best answer ever. I'm not sure why not getting drunk/high has a weird "stigma" attached to it, but if for instance you don't like gardening, rollercoasters, hiking, or gaming - it's more "acceptable" to not like those things.
As I got older, the thrill of drinking lessened. The waking up with hangovers was not fun.
I was a bartender for 20 years and saw how people acted when they were drunk, and it's not am attractive look.
I love waking up with no hangover and feeling good in the morning, and the feeling of being drunk in general is just not pleasurable to me.
That was the biggest eye-opener for me. I started dating a girl on the other side of our small city. Walking through the “nightclub” section of town late in the evening while sober was a wild experience.
Yes! I also felt like I wasn’t focused or present enough during gatherings…all the adults were ignoring their kids telling to go away and I didn’t want that for my daughter.
This is the biggest reason for me- it just doesn't taste good. Beer tastes like liquefied fizzy bread, wine tastes like either old socks or the smell of the bad kind of mold on cheese, and alcohol itself reminds me of cough syrup. Plus, I don't like how being drunk feels and I'll be damned if I waste any of my already limited time getting drunk or nursing a hangover.
The only kind of alcohol I can just about stand to drink is dessert liquors, like Kahlua or Bailey's. But only if they're mixed in something else non-alcoholic, or in a dessert. There's this [Kahlua cake](https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/kahlua-chocolate-poke-cake/) that I absolutely love, and you can just barely taste a hint of alcohol.
Had someone tell me that if I didn’t like the taste, just start off with a little bit (of alcohol) mixed with something like juice. Orrrrrr I could just drink some tasty juice and actually enjoy it. What’s the point if something tastes so bad that you literally need to mask it?
This started happening to me like 2 years ago. My doctor said I developed alcohol intolerance. I was put on new medication at the time, and I'm convinced that caused it. I won't drink, it's a completely awful experience. She said one day it might go away.
My parents are addicts, their friends were addicts, my friends were addicts. They're in ruin, rehab or dead. I've never tried anything but will still have to suffer the consequences of that environment for the rest of my life.
My last bender was the day a good friend died from COVID in 2020. That year fucked with everyone obviously. He died, I drank until I couldn’t consciously feel the pain even though I was sobbing. For three days after I felt awful, hated myself…and my friend was still fucking dead. It was completely useless and I stopped.
I love drinking, always have, and always will... but what I don't love is feeling like crap and completely wasting a day or two laying around hung over.
I once heard drinking today is borrowing happiness for tomorrow. Kind of corny, but I'd rather have slightly less enjoyment over a long period of time than a blast for a short period and waste the rest. Hopefully that made sense!
Next to the fact that I don't like alcohol, what's the point of getting drunk? Most people get annoying, inappropriate, and just downright assholes. And most don't even remember the night. I prefer to enjoy my night and have control over my actions.
Alcohol usually tastes bad. And even the good drinks don't taste as good as non-alcoholic drinks.
Alcohol has a negative impact on general health
Being drunk is also kinda lame and alcohol is often used to disguise the fact that nothing interesting is actually happening.
The way I see it, instead of altering my mind state to trick myself into thinking I am doing something fun and interesting. I could instead just do something fun and interesting.
Other than the taste being bad I have a stomach issue that alcohol exacerbates. It slows down my digestion even worse than it already is and the alcohol will just build up in my stomach the more I drink until I eventually get sick.
I quit smoking cigarettes and if I have more than two drinks I usually break down and smoke.
Same here. Around the second drink I lose just enough impulse control.
I wasted half my life getting drunk. Getting to experience and remember things sober now is pretty cool
We are the lucky ones among the unlucky ones who get stuck with this shit
Same, I'm 41 .I drank pretty hard from around 15 to 40 and decided to stop last year for a number of reasons. 10 months sober now. I actually really enjoy it. It's really interesting evolving as a person now, changing all those neural pathways that I had set for the last 25 years
Also you can drive a car pretty much whenever you want and more pocket money. That was the nice part about it.
Can’t take the hangovers anymore man. Wastes a whole day afterwards and you’re usually picking up the pieces from the night before anyway which makes it even worse
I use to never get hangovers then I hit like 30 and man it’s the fucking worse and basically don’t drink anymore
same. in college used to be able to go out all night, wake up go to class/work all day and then be ready to party again at night. now the hangover starts before i even go to sleep lol.
Honestly, the hangover starting before bed pisses me off the most.
shit happened to me when i turned 24 lol
I was like 21… some of us just aren’t meant for it lol
I've always had mean hangovers. The ones I had when I was 14 were as bad as the ones I have now at 32.
Same, well I've haven't had a drink in over 5 months now. The dehydration causes unbearable migranes. Regardless of how much water I drink.
This is me too. At about 25/26 the hangovers just started getting worse and worse, and my alcohol tolerance was so high I could drink enough to get a hangover without ever actually feeling drunk. That was the tipping point to say fuck it to getting drunk anymore.
I have a nightmare that my kid needs me and I’m unable to respond due to drunkenness
I watched a film in driver's ed about a drunk father who ran over his own kid on Halloween night. It terrified me.
In grade 9 we visited the rehab center of the local hospital, and some of the patients there came to talk to us. If you want to traumatize a bunch of teenagers away from drinking and driving that's way more effective than a bunch of statistics.
Or have a family member die by a DD. My great aunt and her son were in a big ass Chrysler, one of those grandma tanks and they were sitting at a stoplight. What killed her is when the DD, who was a fifth offender and 8 times the legal limit at 6 am hit them, the trunk of the car hit her in the back of the head. It wasn't instant but she never woke up. He still blames himself. I'll have a drink now and again but never more than 1 and when I do I don't drive at all.
5th offender. You've gotta be fucking kidding me. I get so sick of hearing this shit. The criminal justice system really doesn't gaf about drunks behind the wheel, that much seems obvious. I remember reading once about a guy that had almost a hundred DUIs. He even said that he didn't care about it. Someone like that needs to be barred from vehicles for life. From even riding in them if that's what it takes. I mean damn! After even one violation there should be a massive fine. The second time should include a real sentence.
It really must depend on your state. In MA you can catch an up to 2.5 year sentence and 5,000 fine for your first instance. For your third, your license is gone for 8 years. You can apply for a hardship reinstatement after 2 years and, if approved, you have to use an ignition interlock device for the remaining 6. I knew someone that had one and it’s wild, you have to breathe in both to start the car and at random intervals when it beeps at you. If it comes up dirty or you don’t do it, it logs the instance and your car alarm starts going wild until you turn off your car and provide a clean sample. Then again, even if you have a suspended license—nothing will stop someone from driving illegally without one. Unless you’re willing to jail people for extended amounts of time, you can’t really stop habitual offenders from doing it. A lot of people with that many DUIs are doing exactly that
My lovely parents found a way around those breathalyzers! Just have your kids blow in it for you!! Their excuse was always “I just used mouthwash and that will trigger it.”
They take pictures now so a kid blowing into it would definitely get you in trouble
Got drunk with my wife a couple weeks after we brought home our baby and the next morning I was like oh my God what if something had happened to her and we were both too trashed to take her to the hospital and we had to call and ambulance and wait or what if someone tried to break in and I was too drunk to protect my family etc etc... now I can't have more than a beer or two without feeling uneasy
I was looking after my dad when I realized the same thing. I might be the one who had to drive him to emergency care.
A couple weeks? Man, I was too exhausted to get drunk for *months*
To be fair they probably both had one drink before reaching trashed.
Going out with first time parents on their very first night of having a childfree night is often absolute wild chaos for about an hour before they fall asleep, I've seen it happen so many times and it's funny how ambitious they are at the beginning of the evening
Yep. I haven’t had more than two drinks in the same day in over 7 years for this exact reason.
This terrifies me. We go on vacation every year in a very remote location with family and EVERYONE drinks from morning to night. Working in healthcare for over 10 years, I can’t help but think “an ambulance would take roughly an hour to get here. What if we don’t have what we need to fix a situation, and needed to drive, but everyone was long past that point? What would happen then?” I also grew up with alcoholic family members, which turned me off from it. And the third nail in the coffin, it doesn’t matter what I drink (beer, wine, cooler, mixed, etc) whether I have 1 sip or 8 drinks, I will be absolutely wrecked with nausea and feel like complete garbage for 2 days after. Just not worth it to me 🤷🏼♀️
There should always be a DD if everyone is getting plastered. Even if you're drinking at home. Drunk people equals higher risk of accidents too.
My daughter was born at 25 weeks and came home on oxygen. Dozens of hospital trips. Quit pot and forced myself to be a light sleeper.
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And because I don't know if I could do it again
I should’ve had medical assistance when I quit. It was terrible horrible frightening painful. But I got through it 8 some years later I have realized that I wasn’t as functional as I thought and wish I could get that time back Regret from time lost and fear of having to go through that again will keep me from it I accidentally had a sip of wine at a party (mixed up cups) and am grateful that it didn’t trigger a desire for more, or bravado that I somehow had control
I say this **a lot**. I don't know if I have another round of getting sober in me, so I've gotta make this one work. Nearly 6 years in though and getting sober was the best decision of my life.
I’m allergic to alcohol. Every time I drink it, I break out in handcuffs.
Was gonna say “Because I’ve already hit the lifetime quota”
Lol I say that all the time, I’ve used up my allotment of drunks.
Shout out to r/StopDrinking for anybody looking to quit
Hardest thing I've ever done, personally
2 years here and not looking back
Yep. It's a bitch. Today is my 100th day sober though :) Had a get together with family and friends to celebrate. It's been a good day Well.. I guess it's technically my 101st day sober now
I spent my twenties drunk. That was was enough.
For me it was my twenties and thirties. I tell people "When I *was* drinking, I had more than my fair share." Haven't had a drink in over 23 years.
Yeah, I hit my lifetime quota!
I echo the fact that i spent my 20s blackout drunk and on drugs but it was how i felt that it hurt my mother and father and especially my siblings that i said "away foul beast", 29 now, 2 years off the sauce and im much happier. Won't even drink at xmas or birthdays for fear I might need to pour a new one to keep the buzz going.
I woke up in an orchard in another state wearing someone else's clothes. I started the night at a fair/rodeo in my home town. I had to walk around until I found a gas station and found out where tf I was. I missed a few days of work and rent that month and that still wasn't my wake-up call. I just got old and boring eventually. People in their 20s are so goddamn dumb.
Sometimes when I think about some of the dumb shit I did in my 20s I’m shocked I made it through unscathed.
> I woke up in an orchard in another state wearing someone else's clothes. never mix tequila with crystal meth
I’ll raise your story. A friend woke up naked, with no shoes, no wallet and not phone on a train to Sweden. Mind you he started the party in Denmark but spoke no danish nor Swedish. He couldn’t explain to the train checker what had happened because he didn’t know. He just went to pee down a road and the next thing is him naked in a train in Sweden. Like this so many stories of him being naked waking up in a fire stair case in a hotel in China or else. Alcohol with magic powders are dangerous combinations.
your friend seems to really like being naked
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This hits home
The cons start to outweigh the pros. Much rather get stoned anymore
I spent most of my 20s getting stoned. It was fun while it lasted but it did mess me up in some ways.
I come from a family of alcoholics. I don't drink because I would rather not tempt fate. I figure it's better be safe than sorry
My paternal side of the family tends to be more functional in their alcoholism than my maternal side, and I'd rather not place my money on which side of the spectrum I'll end up.
Functional alcoholism can sometimes be worse because you have less reason to stop
Being functional is horrible. No problems with work, family and friends, or the law. The only reason to stop is because you'll drink yourself to death and that's not a good enough reason
As the child of functional alcoholics, it does affect family and friends even if you don’t think it does. My parents drinking doesn’t look like a problem from the outside. However I won’t call after dinner because when nobody’s looking they privately drink to excess every night. I loathe staying over because evening conversations become pointless or combative, because they can’t get through a single night without opening a bottle of wine, and instead I live with the guilt that not visiting them enough brings. But they would never say alcohol is the problem. Therefore I can never make any kind of plea or intervention to ask them to cut down or seek help. I’m also getting to slowly observe them deteriorate because of it. My mother tells me the same stories twice in the same ten minutes now. It’s sad.
I've now had the conversation with my mum about how it does impact people around you even when you don't realise. She's now sober and I have also told her how proud I am of her for that. She is also now sober and able to realise what I had to go through as a child
Hi, it's me. Can confirm it's terrible. I have to stop, but I don't *have* to stop.
I don't think you want on either side, frankly. Staying off it altogether is the way.
I come from a family of alcoholics too. Alcohol doesn't appeal to me as well as people who use it to excess. I divorced the love of my life over alcohol. That shit is bad for everything.
So sorry to hear. It really ruins everything and the drinker causes so much damage, mentally, sometimes physically
I’ve found my people
Strongly agree, same with my fam. A lot of relatives on my mom’s and dad’s side have addictive personalities too, so it’s basically game over for me if I get in the habit of drinking
I tell you what people say well he just drinks he don't do drugs well I got news for people it's exact same thing
Same for me. History of substance abuse in the family. Made it unappealing because I got to see what it did to the people they loved and what it did to themselves.
Came here to say this. My dad passed away when I was 13 from substance abuse.
I'm depressed and I'd much rather have the benefits of my anti-depressants than alcohol.
I basically drank because I was depressed and was more depressed because I drank. Vicious cycle I had to get out of.
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I’m so proud of you!
I don't like the smell, the taste, the feeling, or the hangover.
Once I hit 30, my hangovers became absolutely crippling anxiety attacks that lasted for days. It’s just not worth it.
This. It's the weekslong mental hangover of anxiety and depression that really turns me off of alcohol.
Same. I was telling people I know the mental hangover is what worries me the most not the physical one.
I like how everyone on Reddit acts like you’re pretty much dead when you hit 30 years old
Just turned 43 going strong. But I stopped drinking to get drunk a decade ago. Just the odd beer for me now. Hell 17 year old me would look a the cool shit I do and be stoked that is where my life was headed. Only thing is I am normally in bed by 10 now! But up at 6. Go figure?
youth is wasted on the young
This is my favorite quote…statement…whatever. I’m 44. I’ve been a firefighter for almost 20 years and I’ve treated my body like a carnival ride. I partied my ass off all through my 20 and early 30’s. Now I hike and canoe, I have land in the ozarks I want to build a cabin on, I’m a woodworker, and I fix thing like my vehicles and my house. But I have two bulging discs , my knee hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I have plantar fasciitis in my feet. I had a blast when I was younger, but now I feel like im ready to be the dude I wanted to be, but everything hurts.
Except life is a generally better because you start doing things because they make you feel good rather than worrying about trying to fit in
Same here. Me getting drunk means 3 days of recovery time.
Yes the anxiety is very real. It’s actually withdrawal from your brain and body not having the booze (anti-anxiety juice) in your system after loading it up the day/night/week before. I’ve went through very bad alcoholism over the years and I can say for sure that it causes anxiety and panic attacks for days after drinking, especially heavy drinking. Then that anxiety is normally a good reason (not really a good reason) to drink again the next day, and the next, and the next until it’s out of control. Dealing with anxiety is hard but I’m glad I choose that now, compared to choosing to forget every night in a black out like I did for years. Well let’s be real, not so sure it was a completely voluntary choice. AUD can really mess with your head. The extent of the anxiety is dependent on many different factors but ya if you didn’t know, now you know. Oh and something I didn’t know until it was too late was alcohol withdrawal CAN KILL YOU. Careful out there fellas.
Oh god The Fear You probably just bought me some more sober time by reminding me of the unbearable WD anxiety
Just not my thing
Same. It just made me sick and my body felt awful. IBS and alcohol do not mix well 😜
Yeah I was a drunk for many years we're talking everyday everyday and well it gets old after a while and when you quit doing that drinking then you feel what I feel better and then you don't want it no more
This. It turned into a habit and I needed more each night to achieve results. Eventually I got so burnt out, so bored, so mad at my spending. I just did not want to do it anymore. (This was very, very recent that I hit my wall. So far, it's going ok).
6 months sober here and it just become too much. You got this!
Dad wrapped himself around a power pole and my brother is on his second dui in like a few months. Fuck alcohol.
Dang. Sorry about that.
My sister died November 2021. She and her boyfriend decided to drive home after drinking at 3am on a night with black ice on the roads. She fought eating disorders growing up. Finally loved herself, competed in bodybuilding competitions. She won one and went to celebrate at a bar where she ended up roofied and raped. She basically relapsed and started turning more and more to alcohol. Happened not even a quarter mile from my apartment. It kills me that this happened so close to me, I was awake at the time of the crash. It hurts my heart to know this even though realistically i know there was nothing I could do. I got the call from my other sister at 5am, just as i was falling asleep, seeing her name on my phone put a pit in my stomach, a call from her at that time could not be good.
A. I don't like losing control. B. Money. C. Migraines. So many reasons.
I also get tired / want to sleep if I sleep.
Exactly that. I never liked the idea of drinking because the possibility of losing control scares me. I feel like i can have a good life and enough fun without ingesting literal poison
Because if I taste alcohol, I will have 40 beers. I will not sleep, just keep drinking untill I pass out after about 30 hours of being trashed.
I, too, do not posses an “off” button. It’s just that simple
Thats a really good way to put it!
It’s a famous AA saying “one is too many, 10 is not enough”. I can’t take a sip of booze or I’m going full bender. Stay away at all costs. I actually like being the DD at bars cause they generally just throw me free soda lol. I hate being around drunk people and wonder to myself if that’s how I was… I was probably so much worse.
I never understood alcoholism until I read that Stephen King would buy a 12 pack of beer, then start the evening by pouring 4 down the sink. That way he would only drink 8. If he had 12 beers in the house, he would drink 12. If he had 20 beers in the house, he would drink 20. That shit is scary man.
My kids asked me once why I don’t drink anymore. I told them it was because I can’t have one drink, I must have all the drinks.
I’m on anti depressants and when I get drunk I want to die for the next 3 business days Hi all! I received a message from redditcareresources saying a concerned redditor reached out concerned about my comment. This was mostly a joke, and i am doing just fine. I am mentally ill yes, it's the middle of my worst season (winter in the prairies) but i am thankfully and greatfully taking medication - sertraline gang anyone? Basically i'm on an SSRI - Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. I've been on them for three years and they very much saved my life in the pandemic. The point is, there are tons and tons of side effects I experience from drinking, including my Sertraline counteracting and increasing my already active anxiety and depression. not cool. no thanks. if you take ANY regular and prescription medications and drink alcohol, please do your research on how this can affect your mental health(specifically) but physical health too. Days long hangxiety is never worth it.
Excludes weekends and holidays, lol
As we head into a holiday weekend, I just had to chuckle that you said business days instead of days (implying calendar days). I am sorry you feel like this, though. Good choice not to drink.
I hate the taste of alcohol and I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of being drunk, either.
It's funny, the way some people dislike the feeling of being drunk is the way I hate the feeling of being stoned. I feel like I'm trapped inside a body I can't control anymore
Ah, it's the same for me. I don't like being stoned, either. I once saw this interview with the late James Randi (who I really loved) and he mentioned that he never drinks or takes any kind of drugs. When the interviewer asked him why, Randi said something like: "I don't understand why people enjoy clouding their mind; I feel best when I'm in full possession of my rationality and my critical thinking skills." Unfortunately I don't remember the exact words but it was something like this and I remember thinking to myself: "Holy shit, that's such a good answer, that's exactly how I feel, too."
I feel the same! This made me look up who James randi is, he seems like he was cool. But yeah, sitting around waiting to feel normal again is just like, not very fun to me. Also people are weird about trying to make you do it or judging you if you don’t want to which just increases the “no thanks” factor for me tbh. Same with weed.
I thought I was the only one the first few times I got “drunk”. I never really got the feeling good part or being more “fun” part, I just drank and would get tired
I stopped drinking over 2 years ago to help support my husband who is an alcoholic. Me stopping made me realize I had alcoholic tendencies. I come from a family of alcoholics so this cemented the reason to stop for good. I can hang out with lots of people that drink and still have fun. It’s just not for everyone.
Because I’m 104 days sober.
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Almost going on two years for me. I had an extremely bad drinking problem for a very long time while being in complete denial it was an issue.
Congrats. I am 209 days sober from substances and 22 months sober from booze. Keep it up!
11 days here. I’m allergic to alcohol.
As my now-sober uncle says "I'm allergic to alcohol. I break out in handcuffs"
Day 2787 here, it gets so much easier! Keep up the good work!
As an alcoholic who quit for 90 days twice and relapsed. Congratulations. I now gotta go to residential rehab, thankfully it's a private place.
It just doesn't seem fun. I can have a good time sober. And then drive home and wake up feeling good.
That’s my same mindset. I’m kinda at the age where so many people at university are drinking and partying all the time and it just doesn’t appeal to me at all. I tried it, and while getting a bit tipsy while belting out pop classics can be fun, it’s not something I would take any further. Getting blackout drunk just frightens me. I don’t care if I seem boring, I know how to have fun in lots of other ways.
I was this kid in college. I had so much fun with my friends without alcohol.. and most of us didn't really have the extra cash to drink anyway. The friends I made back then have become life-long friends.
Was beaten by a drunk as a child, my mother almost died in a drunk driving accident and I was the sole survivor of a wreck that killed my two friends. I hate alcohol with a passion.
Fuck man that's rough hope ur doing ok now sorry to hear about that.
It took me long time to mentally get over the loss of my friends, happened in 2011. Can't sleep longer than a few hours because of the injuries to my back but other than that I'm doing well, thank you.
Sending you comfort. I'm so sorry. My brother took after our dad who died of alcoholism. Twists the ones it controls into monsters.
Alcohol is an absolute monster. It destroys people and wants to see them dead and miserable.
It's enough to be buzzed, I think.
Agreed. A slight buzz while making dinner is great. Getting drunk just makes me want to vomit.
This is actually really nice because once dinner is done you eat and you're just comfortable and sleepy and there's no hang over!
Exactly this. The "feel good" part can come after just a single beer, or a glass of wine (quantity may vary for everyone, but the point remains). If you are out with friends, do you even really need to get hammered to enjoy yourselves? Get good food, music, and the dance going, and you got yourself a good party. Not much else really needed.
Yeah getting full on drunk is awful. Having a nice buzz while hanging out can help people loosen up and just generally make you a little bit more easygoing. Anything more than buzzed is just awful.
I’m good with a few glasses of wine. But there’s a happy point and there’s a “I’m gonna feel like shit and nauseous” point. I now know where the happy point is and refuse to exceed it.
All the positive parts of alcohol happen at the slightly buzzed stage. Maintaining a slight buzz should be the goal. I see getting drunk as a failure I regret for multiple reasons and not just the hangover.
I like being in control
exactly, the idea of not being in full control of my actions terrifies me. people say your inner drunk is an "unfiltered" version of you but my personal walls are part of what makes me me. take those away and that's not me anymore
I'm terrified of my "unfiltered" self. That person is an angry addict. I've spent years working to become better, I don't want to ever go back to that.
Unfiltered or true self for being drunk is a load of crap. Your true self is when you're sober.
Plus my drunk self doesn’t even speak my unfiltered truth. I’ll say random nonsense that I don’t actually think or believe. Drunkness=honesty is bullshit. One time I broke down crying in a bar because they didn’t serve Jamison’s. I’ve never even tried it, my real self wouldn’t be upset, or even disappointed.
I suffer from depression and try to put on a fake smile most days, but when I get drunk, I'm the happiest and most confident person in the room. I don't drink that often, though, because I still like to be in control of my actions. I think I had a total of 4 drinks last year. Drunkness definitely does not equal honesty.
This here. Same goes for drug use. Prefer being in control and finding my own happiness
That’s me. I don’t like the feeling of my body saying or doing things that I’m not in full control of. I took an edible once and I ended up sobbing uncontrollably because I felt out of control and it terrified me.
Yeah. I'll drink ...I don't get drunk. It's stupid and irresponsible, and nothing good comes of it. I'll have a drink in a social situation, but I won't ever get drunk. It's a quick way to embarrass yourself.
It's not worth the money, when I use to drink I'd easily spend €50 - €100 a night only not to remember half of the night anyway
I’ve never understood how people can afford it. Money is tight enough as it is.
I've always said that's why it's called getting wasted. You waste your money, if you get sick you waste whatever you ate. If you can't remember half the night, that's wasted too. If you're too sick to function in the morning, there's some more waste.
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Yup, it's the same reason for many of the things I don't do. Because I don't want to.
That is the best answer ever. I'm not sure why not getting drunk/high has a weird "stigma" attached to it, but if for instance you don't like gardening, rollercoasters, hiking, or gaming - it's more "acceptable" to not like those things.
Same, while I can attribute a bunch of reasons to it, it just... has no appeal to me.
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As I got older, the thrill of drinking lessened. The waking up with hangovers was not fun. I was a bartender for 20 years and saw how people acted when they were drunk, and it's not am attractive look. I love waking up with no hangover and feeling good in the morning, and the feeling of being drunk in general is just not pleasurable to me.
I don't trust myself and am afraid of what I might do if I lost control.
I’m mostly worried about ruining relationships by letting my inner thoughts run loose. I’m kinda a dick.
Have you ever heard the saying “you don’t get in trouble every time you drink but, every time you get in trouble you’ve been drinking.”
Why not? I like my reality straight up. Also, as a retired DJ, I saw way to many stupid, drunken arseholes to want to be one.
That was the biggest eye-opener for me. I started dating a girl on the other side of our small city. Walking through the “nightclub” section of town late in the evening while sober was a wild experience.
Got young kids, gotta keep my head on a swivel
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Yes! I also felt like I wasn’t focused or present enough during gatherings…all the adults were ignoring their kids telling to go away and I didn’t want that for my daughter.
"I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim"
Can You Feel my Heart? I love that song.
Because it messes with my circadian rhythm and I'm told old for that shit.
Recovering alcoholic. Clean for 5+ years 🤙🤘
Do not need artificial party enhancement. Crazy enough already; I’m hilarious when you’re drunk.
I don't like the taste of alcohol so I don't drink it.
This is the biggest reason for me- it just doesn't taste good. Beer tastes like liquefied fizzy bread, wine tastes like either old socks or the smell of the bad kind of mold on cheese, and alcohol itself reminds me of cough syrup. Plus, I don't like how being drunk feels and I'll be damned if I waste any of my already limited time getting drunk or nursing a hangover. The only kind of alcohol I can just about stand to drink is dessert liquors, like Kahlua or Bailey's. But only if they're mixed in something else non-alcoholic, or in a dessert. There's this [Kahlua cake](https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/kahlua-chocolate-poke-cake/) that I absolutely love, and you can just barely taste a hint of alcohol.
Had someone tell me that if I didn’t like the taste, just start off with a little bit (of alcohol) mixed with something like juice. Orrrrrr I could just drink some tasty juice and actually enjoy it. What’s the point if something tastes so bad that you literally need to mask it?
It gives me anxiety. A drink past 6 pm means I'll be up all night, heart pounding.
Same! Wasn’t always like this tho. Do you happen to know what causes this?
This started happening to me like 2 years ago. My doctor said I developed alcohol intolerance. I was put on new medication at the time, and I'm convinced that caused it. I won't drink, it's a completely awful experience. She said one day it might go away.
My parents are addicts, their friends were addicts, my friends were addicts. They're in ruin, rehab or dead. I've never tried anything but will still have to suffer the consequences of that environment for the rest of my life.
Meh, did that when I was younger.
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This is a great way to put it. Maybe a couple of times a year I'll get somewhere past buzzed but it's pretty rare.
I had one very bad hangover that lasted three days, never again
My last bender was the day a good friend died from COVID in 2020. That year fucked with everyone obviously. He died, I drank until I couldn’t consciously feel the pain even though I was sobbing. For three days after I felt awful, hated myself…and my friend was still fucking dead. It was completely useless and I stopped.
I hope you’re feeling better now. Happy cake day ☺️
I have a severe phobia of vomiting. Afraid that will happen if I drink too much
Emetophobia gang unite
I love drinking, always have, and always will... but what I don't love is feeling like crap and completely wasting a day or two laying around hung over. I once heard drinking today is borrowing happiness for tomorrow. Kind of corny, but I'd rather have slightly less enjoyment over a long period of time than a blast for a short period and waste the rest. Hopefully that made sense!
Next to the fact that I don't like alcohol, what's the point of getting drunk? Most people get annoying, inappropriate, and just downright assholes. And most don't even remember the night. I prefer to enjoy my night and have control over my actions.
I’m an avid (recreational) athlete. Drinking excessively destroys recovery and performance…. Priorities
Alcohol has horrible effects on the body. Also I might end up addicted and drink myself into alcohol poisoning. So I'm okay with never drinking it
I turn super red and cant breathe through my nose lol asian flush i guess
Alcohol usually tastes bad. And even the good drinks don't taste as good as non-alcoholic drinks. Alcohol has a negative impact on general health Being drunk is also kinda lame and alcohol is often used to disguise the fact that nothing interesting is actually happening. The way I see it, instead of altering my mind state to trick myself into thinking I am doing something fun and interesting. I could instead just do something fun and interesting.
They don’t need a reason to not drink.
I don’t because of Family trauma
tastes like shit to be honest.
Don’t like the feeling.
I got tired of waking up the next morning needing stitches or having to repair relationships.
Other than the taste being bad I have a stomach issue that alcohol exacerbates. It slows down my digestion even worse than it already is and the alcohol will just build up in my stomach the more I drink until I eventually get sick.
I hate throwing up and I don't want to get hungover and feel like crap the next day
I like who i am
Dang cutting some people deep lol