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Why do we drink?

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    #1

    Why do we drink?

    I have been contemplating this question for awhile. There have even been many comments over time on this board about getting to the bottom of it. I thought I drank to cope with the downs of life.... Loneliness, a disabled son, moving to a new city several times, old parents, etc, etc. But, I also drink to celebrate, enhance a good time I'm already having, have more fun socializing. How can something I use when I am feeling down be used when I already feel really good as well.... For what purpose.

    I figure the answer has to be that I just love the feeling of being drunk and I use any excuse to enable the feeling of getting drunk. So, getting to the bottom of the reason why I drink is not the issue, it's just a stalling tactic to allow myself more time to drink while I "fix" myself first. It's really the other way around. Get the drinking out of the way first and then deal with life on it's own terms without a haze a booze.

    By the way, I have been doing pretty well over the last few weeks, just haven't posted for awhile. Im just still obsessing over the whole drinking/not drinking thing.
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    #2
    Why do we drink?

    Hi there looking - I wondered that too. I quit for 8 months and seemed to be pretty depressed for most of it. I kept wondering when I was going to feel the good feelings that everyone said I would. I talked to my Doc who said I needed to talk to someone about why I drank - I couldn't find anyone where I live that I thought would be any good to talk to so never did. Ended up starting drinking again. I have since quit again and this time round is totally different for some reason. This time I feel good - and am wondering if this time I was just ready!! I used to drink for the buzz initially. Never got drunk - just had enough to numb the world I suppose. I have never found out the difference between last time and this time - i just KNOW it is so different this time. I totally had a plan - and was so prepared - had chosen my day ahead of time and cut down over the few days leading up to it - was almost looking forward to it, and because I was so ready, it was a relief when it finally arrived. Maybe that was the difference for me - I don't need the buzz anymore as I have put other things in it's place. Last time I didn't. Which left a void in my world.

    Thanks Looking - you just answered my own question.......

    Hugs, sun X
    How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now and there will never be a time when it is not now....

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      #3
      Why do we drink?

      Where I live they say ( and excuse the translation):

      ?Some people drink from sorrow,
      Some people drink from joy ?. and
      Some people drink from morning on ?
      workaholic, shoeaholic and yes ... alcoholic

      Comment

        #4
        Why do we drink?

        Boredom I think has been underlying my drinking. Unwasted has a post in the Tool Box that really resonated with me. I have never been a daily drinker, but recently have been consuming a bottle of wine each time I do drink, a couple of days per week. That is too much for me. Today is day 7 and I feel great, very positive.
        My life is better without alcohol, since 9/1/12. My sobriety tool is the list at permalink 236 on the toolbox thread under monthly abstinance.

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          #5
          Why do we drink?

          With all the research Ive done regarding AL abuse......it would seem that every alcoholic has some underlying issue as to why they drink. I have to be honest.....the reason I drank was because I really like the feeling of being drunk. I am sure there are others out there that feel the same.

          I also like the taste of beer a LOT! I have noticed that whatever I drink(water, soda, coffee) I seem to drink large quantities, and unusually fast. I have at least 2/3 drinks with a meal. I could put away 4 beers an hour(or more if it was later on in the night) without blinking.

          So that would be the reason.........."I" used to drink.
          Living on Planet Sober since 05/02/11




          DAREDEVIL COOKIE MONSTER

          Comment

            #6
            Why do we drink?

            I know I drank to shut up anxiety. The feeling of getting mellow and the release of anxiety was initially very welcome. The hangovers also helped to not give a damn the next day.
            But then later on with increased tolerance and dependence I NEEDED to drink and then I also had an excuse to drink every day. Happy or sad.

            My latest discovery is that it helped me a lot in being patient with my family. Since quitting I can hardly stand them!!
            12-20-2012 AF
            Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.

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              #7
              Why do we drink?

              I drank because I believed I loved drinking. I believed that my life was incomplete without alcohol. I believed it made me feel better. I believed it made me look and act cool. I believed that alcohol and getting drunk was my number 1 priority in life.

              I have come to find out that all of those things that I believed so strongly and for so long were all lies.

              Now I believe that alcohol is poison for me, and there is never a reason to drink it.


              Alcohol ingrains itself into our belief systems through our neurological pathways, which makes it very hard to change that belief.....but once you do, sobriety becomes easy and pleasurable.

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                #8
                Why do we drink?

                When I drank I drank to relax, have a good time..........Well the day after for the most part was not fun. These days I can still relax, and have a good time........but the next day is wonderful.
                I quit drinking on March 8, 2020. Taking it One Day At A Time and no more taking my quit for granted.

                Also doing it for me. I got to stay sober for me.

                Just consecrate on today and do what you can to remain sober for today and worry about staying sober tomorrow, tomorrow.

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                  #9
                  Why do we drink?

                  I drink when I am bored
                  I drink as a reward

                  I drink when I am happy
                  I drink when I feel snappy

                  It is my lifeline
                  And it could kill me

                  So I stopped and now I am alive
                  I am no longer in bed with the thief
                  that was causing me so much grief




                  Corny...corny I know, but I couldn't help myself. I could go on and on because I drank for all different kinds of reasons, but the underlying issue was I liked the buzz and the older I got the more addicted to the buzz I became. I also drink incredibly fast like Nelz, but I do everything with a sense of urgency and that is something I am trying to change....Next.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Why do we drink?

                    hmmm... "why did i drink"

                    It was ingrained in my life from as far back as I remember. we all drank. I drank when i was a preteen to experiment. My first drink was a bottle of 10 penny beer from my granparents fridge back in the 70's. i wanted to know what was the big deal. i thought it must be yummy or else why was everyone doing it.. it was horrible..

                    i drank again at 14/15, my BFF poured her grandmothers Sherry into a bottle, filled hers back up with water and away we went. we mixed that stuff with everythingwe could think of .. and eventually got it down with grape pop. we were so drunk. puked all night long in her bedroom. to this day i have never drank Sherry.
                    at 16 i went to the local pub with a native indian friend of mine. she had jsut received her monthly govt cheque and asked me to go for lunch from school to the pub. Of course i went. it was 1981, noone asked me for ID. i drank many draft beer. went back to school drunk as you can imagine... my friends put me in a car and drove me home.. i puked all night..
                    It just continued from there.. i drank to fit in, i drank to have sex, i drank to not feel anything... i drank and i drank and i drank... my friends drank, my family drank.

                    in my late teens it was parties.. in my 20's it was night clubs.. in my 30's it was with my hiusband in my 40's it was alone... but always drinking...

                    Its all i have known as far back as i can remember.. it was my constant companion, my reprieve from anxiety, my confidant, my nemesis, my partner. it was always there for me. It was there for me when my parents weren't, it was there to ease the guilt of a drunken night with strangers...it was there for abortions and miscarriages and neglect, it was there when we had no money but always enough for booze... it was there when my marriage was bad and my kids were stressful. it was there when i needed an extra something to help me relax and have sex wtih my husband even when i didn't want to. it was there i found out from my aunt in a parking lot that my mothern had died 6 months previous and no one called me.

                    It was ALWAYS there no questions asked... its a whole new world to not drink for me. i have nothing to compare it to. Sobriety is alien. but i will conquer it. I have wasted SO much of my life living with this desease.
                    I no longer want to be "oh Caper is coming over for dinner we better stock up on booze"

                    I'm not embarassed about quitting, i'm ok with telling the world i am trying to quit. My alcoholism was in hiding. MY quitting is out in the open, out of the closet..

                    I'm a quitter and i'm proud.
                    caper
                    AF since Sept 2013...
                    :alf:

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Why do we drink?

                      .
                      caper
                      AF since Sept 2013...
                      :alf:

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Why do we drink?

                        Caper - that is an awesome post....:l:h
                        How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now and there will never be a time when it is not now....

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Why do we drink?

                          Thank you so much Caper what a brave and wonderful post. You deserve the best life now

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Why do we drink?

                            thanks... i reposted it in a new thread... I hope i can reach even 1 person and help them to quit .. sometimes the words just flow each and every one is true..
                            caper
                            AF since Sept 2013...
                            :alf:

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Why do we drink?

                              Caper,

                              Wonderful, honest post. Thanks for sharing.

                              Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

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