Question for those who quit drinking, permanently or even temporarily:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I are currently temp abstaining from alcohol. We will certainly drink again at some point, so we are not looking at this as some alcohol is evil or we'll never touch it again or judge those who drink it. Anyways, is it just us or once you're sober for a few weeks you start to truly realize how booze and beer are thrown in your face CONSTANTLY by media, restaurants, and sporting events? Every show, every movie, every other song on the radio, every podcast, every other commercial, magazine and online ads. Even influencer moms on social media seem to be constantly boozing or pushing some "cute" cocktail. Celebrity and athlete endorsements. Alcohol is pushed on the masses from EVERY direction. It feels like a full on propaganda to coerce you to drink. It makes alcohol seem so... gross and sleazy?

Yes. I quit two years ago and the marketing angle was really significant for me. I had a real problem and had tried to quit for years. There were a lot of reasons that I was finally successful, but one of them for me was the book "Quit Like a Woman." It finally hit home that this toxic, addictive substance had been marketed to me to make me want to use it and I was like, F that. And now I am very conscious of the everywhere, all the time marketing of alcohol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its been a while now for me.

Personally, the biggest issue is avoiding people knowing that I'm not drinking. It can lead to people assuming judgment, when that is not at all the case.

If I go to a bar event, I will go up to another bar myself in advance, to get a club soda with lime.

If I am at an event involving a wristband, I will buy the wristband even though I don't intend to drink.

Sometimes though, its unavoidable. One of my MIL knows and its somewhat uncomfortable for the topic to keep coming up..

At the same time, I am more and more happy as time goes on with not drinking. Better all around.

I'm more comfortable now. I went to a dinner party this weekend, didn't know anyone beforehand. I brought a 6 of Athletic Brewing NA beer. When I was offered a drink I just said, "I don't drink, but I'd love one of the NA beers I brought." I have had one experience where I guy just would not give it up - I was only about 6-7 months sober then. It sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well... They closed schools for COVID. However, the ABC stores started doing drive up.

Alcoholics can die from withdrawal. It’s unfortunately dangerous to detox unsupervised for a very heavy drinker. It might seem funny to you, but I am sure hospitals weren’t wild to be doing detoxes during the height of COVID. It’s sad but this actually was a sensible move when you think about it.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know who "quit" drinking have simply switched to other stuff like pot.. It's been my observation, not suggesting this is your situation. But IMHO it's not really quitting..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know who "quit" drinking have simply switched to other stuff like pot.. It's been my observation, not suggesting this is your situation. But IMHO it's not really quitting..

This illustrates the difference between "dry" (i.e. not drinking) and sober. Sober people usually go through a process of evaluating why they drank/used, and part of that process involves checking for and eliminating cross-addictions/substitution addictions. Doesn't have to be 12-steps, but most successful programs do have elements of them because they work (if you work them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have taken long breaks from drinking and am a light drinker now. This doesn't bother me.

I'd unpack why this bothers you because to me it hints at a deeper issue with booze.

Doesn't bother me either, but I'm not a huge drinker.

DH and I drink a few times per year.

This literally is a non issue for us. I tune out adds for alcohol like any products I have little interest in or attachment to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well... They closed schools for COVID. However, the ABC stores started doing drive up.

Alcoholics can die from withdrawal. It’s unfortunately dangerous to detox unsupervised for a very heavy drinker. It might seem funny to you, but I am sure hospitals weren’t wild to be doing detoxes during the height of COVID. It’s sad but this actually was a sensible move when you think about it.

When you think about it, why is the government actively involved in selling poison to its citizens? Where is the regulation?

[Anonymous]

The good news is that now that they've mainstreamed sports gambling, a lot of the alcohol ads are being replaced by gambling ads! What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I’m not even an alcoholic but the shows that really glamorize drinking like Mad Men really make me want a drink. Seeing people enjoy alcohol is hard.

Interesting...Mad Men in particular makes me want to never drink

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well... They closed schools for COVID. However, the ABC stores started doing drive up.

Alcoholics can die from withdrawal. It’s unfortunately dangerous to detox unsupervised for a very heavy drinker. It might seem funny to you, but I am sure hospitals weren’t wild to be doing detoxes during the height of COVID. It’s sad but this actually was a sensible move when you think about it.

When you think about it, why is the government actively involved in selling poison to its citizens? Where is the regulation?

ABC stores are the regulation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well... They closed schools for COVID. However, the ABC stores started doing drive up.

Alcoholics can die from withdrawal. It’s unfortunately dangerous to detox unsupervised for a very heavy drinker. It might seem funny to you, but I am sure hospitals weren’t wild to be doing detoxes during the height of COVID. It’s sad but this actually was a sensible move when you think about it.

When you think about it, why is the government actively involved in selling poison to its citizens? Where is the regulation?

Yes it’s a grand conspiracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its been a while now for me.

Personally, the biggest issue is avoiding people knowing that I'm not drinking. It can lead to people assuming judgment, when that is not at all the case.

If I go to a bar event, I will go up to another bar myself in advance, to get a club soda with lime.

If I am at an event involving a wristband, I will buy the wristband even though I don't intend to drink.

Sometimes though, its unavoidable. One of my MIL knows and its somewhat uncomfortable for the topic to keep coming up..

At the same time, I am more and more happy as time goes on with not drinking. Better all around.

Why are you ashamed of it? I don’t drink and it’s a nonissue, not something to hide.

I am this PP and am definitely in no way ashamed of not drinking, whatsoever.

At the same time, I like to avoid being grilled on it... avoid having assumptions made... avoid having to filter my responses to questions about my personal reasons for not drinking...etc.

+1 I don’t like to be grilled either.

I’m surprised by how much people drink. I have a friend my age who goes to bars. I can’t imagine wanting to go to bars at my age because it’s so hard to hear people.

Drinking causes cancer, I learned, so that’s more reason to avoid it.

As for the cannabis person above, I have zero interest in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know who "quit" drinking have simply switched to other stuff like pot.. It's been my observation, not suggesting this is your situation. But IMHO it's not really quitting..

You need to know different people. Your friend circle appears to be full of addicts. Is that really healthy? Everyone you know has substance abuse issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know who "quit" drinking have simply switched to other stuff like pot.. It's been my observation, not suggesting this is your situation. But IMHO it's not really quitting..

You need to know different people. Your friend circle appears to be full of addicts. Is that really healthy? Everyone you know has substance abuse issues?

Most people have defective/dysfunctional coping skills. They're workaholics, they're just checked out, they cheat, they drink/use... Your own friend circle is probably full of them, too.

[Anonymous]

To the 20-30 a week person: do any of these people have health issues from alcohol? This seems like the way I drank in my 20s /early 30s.

Sigh. I wish alcohol wasn’t so bad for you. I enjoy drinking and can’t smoke pot (fed).