How Does Alcohol Affect You? Better or Worse?

[Parafox]

In my experience both personally and professionally alcohol affects different people differently.

 

Personally, It makes me mellow and chilled and more social.

 

I see people regularly whose demeanour is seriously negatively affected by alcohol.

 

Along with that I see many people who are over-friendly, almost to the point of being embarrassed by them.

 

So often, when I turn up to an alcohol related incident, I get so many bystanders who tell me I'm great and what a wonderful person I am for doing what I do. Equally I get called a green-suited **** and a twat and a ****ing nuisance and "why don't you do something for my mate you ****",

 

I've been spat at, kicked, had my throat grabbed, pushed over and punched  by the a bloke who's friend I was trying to treat. All drunk.

 

Equally I've been praised, overly thanked, patronised, been called a hero, been many a strangers best mate.  Again all drunk.

 

It seems to me, obviously, that alcohol affects people in different ways, in terms of their moods, attitudes, emotions and responses.

 

How does it affect you?

[SystonFox]

It makes me ill.

 

it makes me happy.

 

it makes me sad.

 

it makes me invincible.

 

it makes me weak.

 

it makes me a lot of things but all I really know is it's a waste of fookin time and money. Get me a lucozade quick.

[An Away Move]

After a couple of decades of habitual low level drinking I thought I'd give Dry January a go. 
I have rarely had more energy, rarely felt so great and rarely have been so productive. Which is a shame because I LOVE booze. But I am feeling life is so much better without it. I'm now going to do two more dry months and take it from there.

[Parafox]

1 minute ago, SydenhamFox said:

After a couple of decades of habitual low level drinking I thought I'd give Dry January a go. 
I have rarely had more energy, rarely felt so great and rarely have been so productive. Which is a shame because I LOVE booze. But I am feeling life is so much better without it. I'm now going to do two more dry months and take it from there.

I was drinking a bottle of wine a night when I had no work the next day. It relaxed me, I liked the taste and the feeling that it made me better company. I felt wittier, more intelligent, better informed, cleverer.

 

I have cut down to one glass of wine or a glass of G and T and I feel so much better the following day even though I don't have work. My days off feel so much better and I can function without the hangover.

 

Maybe occasionally, once a couple of weeks, I and my wife will have a night where we listen to music, watch a film and over-indulge in alcohol, but I feel so much  more in control now

[Webbo]

Alcohol is a mood enhancer. If your happy it'll make you happier, if you're sad it'll make you more miserable.

[separator]

I'm pissed after a few cans of beer these days, must be getting old. I get random drug and alcohol tests at work as well which goes a long way to reducing my weekly booze intake. Instant dismissal if I fail a test. I'm a happy carefree drunk when I am under the influence though.

[Parafox]

5 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Alcohol is a mood enhancer. If your happy it'll make you happier, if you're sad it'll make you more miserable.

Not so Webbo. Many a time I've been in the depths of despair and alcohol has made me, albeit temporarily, euphoric. Alcohol is a crutch for so many.

 

But it helps.

[ozleicester]

Ban Alcohol

[Barky]

I was mildly alcoholic for short periods of my youth, drinking to blackout two nights out of three and loved it for the social aspect. I was a happy drunk and could easily spend hours shooting the shit with other random drunks, making a lot of friends in the process. These days I find I'm still generally a happy drunk if I'm at home and/or in good company but I'm less social with it than I used to be. I put that down to something changing in society, I'm not sure what, but nights out seem a lot less carefree and much more judgemental than they ever were before. Maybe it's all the social media stuff, people worried that whatever they do on a night out is going to end up posted on the internet or something.

 

That said I hardly drink at all anymore. I drink to be drunk so never bother with the whole going out for one or two drinks or having a glass of wine at home thing. At the same time I really can't be arsed with hangovers anymore so don't often get proper drunk. I could easily go 6 months without drinking and wouldn't be bothered at all.

[An Away Move]

If there is anyone here who would like to moderate their drinking, pause for a while, or looking to stop I would recommend this group. Lots of good advice and support: https://joinclubsoda.co.uk/

[Beliall]

I used to drink a shitload in my 20's working as a chef, finish work late and go to a bar or club most nights, these days i barely drink at all. It used to make me happy and carefree, but now if I have had a couple I dont suffer fools gladly and willl say things i may have kept to myself were I sober

[Bayfox]

8 hours ago, Webbo said:

Alcohol is a mood enhancer. If your happy it'll make you happier, if you're sad it'll make you more miserable.

This, if I'm in a good mood before I start, say it's a saturday I've had a good week and i'm well up for the football, I can have a cracking day, drink lager all day long, and be in a great mood and have a real laugh with my mates, I get a bit loud yes, but in what I see as a polite, bantering sort of way.

 

However if I go out on a friday after a shit day or week at work, I can quite often end up extenuating my foul mood, end up feeling pissed as after about 4 pints and although I never really show it in public, quite often end up in a row with the wife over something that doesn't really matter in sober mode and you would normally just ignore. I guess it's easy to take out a bad mood on those closest to you. I used to go out nearly every friday after work, whatever week I'd had, drink to escape if it's been a bad week I guess, try to forget, but I've learnt if I've had a bad week, to stay home, avoid the drink and it generally means I won't upset anyone with a seemingly witty comment that turns out is not that funny because I'm in a shit mood.

 

On that note, this week has been a mixed week, plenty of things achieved but too much time spent chasing monies well overdue and stressing about cash flow. So I'm about to sort my takeaway pizza for me and the boy tonight and play taxi to my mates, so I won't be on the beer  

[Guest]

I'm thinking about going tee-total (or,erm, 95% tee-total).  I don't drink a lot, but I do drink rather regularly as it seems like the drink of choice when socialising. Might switch to coffee for a while.

 

According to my acupuncturist, my liver could do with some sorting out -so this seems like the most direct change I can make. Until you make the change you don't realise how much it has impacted your mood/nerves and even your complexion. 

[Dr The Singh]

10 hours ago, Parafox said:

In my experience both personally and professionally alcohol affects different people differently.

 

Personally, It makes me mellow and chilled and more social.

 

I see people regularly whose demeanour is seriously negatively affected by alcohol.

 

Along with that I see many people who are over-friendly, almost to the point of being embarrassed by them.

 

So often, when I turn up to an alcohol related incident, I get so many bystanders who tell me I'm great and what a wonderful person I am for doing what I do. Equally I get called a green-suited **** and a twat and a ****ing nuisance and "why don't you do something for my mate you ****",

 

I've been spat at, kicked, had my throat grabbed, pushed over and punched  by the a bloke who's friend I was trying to treat. All drunk.

 

Equally I've been praised, overly thanked, patronised, been called a hero, been many a strangers best mate.  Again all drunk.

 

It seems to me, obviously, that alcohol affects people in different ways, in terms of their moods, attitudes, emotions and responses.

 

How does it affect you?

Ive suffered from being a very happy man to a very angry man while drunk.  It's not the alcohol but the emotional state i'm in.  Alcohol with me when drunk represents my emotional state, for years I had family and marriage issues, and I would suppress them, and hence when I got drunk they all would just burst out in a angry way.  The positives are, that it made me realise that I need to confront those issues and make peace with myself, the negative were the pain I caused others.

 

Now, i'm very emotionally balanced and happy, I can get drunk and i'm a very nice person to be with.

 

I'm doing dry january, and I like getting up early on saturday and sundays, so i've decided I would in feb and beyond cut down the alcohol levels to an amount that's sensible.  Other benefits is hunger for food, my diet is alot better and i've lost weight.

 

Everything in moderation!

[notnow john]

I really enjoy a glass of red with my evening meal but for the last couple of years I've continued 

drinking until the bottles empty. Never become aggressive more passive if anything

Feel a bit fuzzy in the mornings and the wife complaiins about my breath but it's just

sour grapes.

 

 

 

 

 

[Manwell Pablo]

10 hours ago, ozleicester said:

Ban Alcohol

 

You do know that song is more about legalising cannabis than anything to do with banning alcohol. Also that Tax from alcohol consumption pays for all the Policing and Health problems Alcohol contributes (note the use of the word contribute not causes, people will eventually get sick and die at the NHS's expense with or without alcohol and some people do not need to drink in order to go out and fight, it merely helps) to more than twice over. So the claim that it causes any kind of strain on society is a total myth.   

 

Tempting as it is I will re frame from sniping at you and attempt to educate you, Prohibition, even if you take away the fact that you are removing choice from fully grown adults, is a fcking awful idea.

 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/2009/03/12-bad-effects-of-prohibition-you-should-know/ 

 

[An Away Move]

I have spent years drinking on average about half a bottle of red per midweek night. At the weekends I'd have about 4-5 pints and another bottle of wine across the Saturday and Sunday. To me this was 'normal' and if I compared it to most of my friends and family a bit less than them. 

I am using an app called 'Drink Less', which was put together by some Ph.d researchers at King's College who are working in the field of drink and behavioural change. Within the app there is a questionnaire about how much you drink. After you've inputted your info It then asks you if you think you are a light drinker, moderate, or heavy compared to the rest of the population. My result made my jaw hit the floor.

Apparently what I thought was moderate was in fact not the case. I was drinking to a level that was likely causing physical and mental damage. Apparently my level of alcohol consumption put me in the top 4% of drinkers!

 

That result blew my mind. As I say, nearly everyone I know drinks way more than that. So comparatively I WAS moderate. But we don't see the habits of people outside of our circles I guess.  I am loving this month being alcohol free. It feels a bit like stepping out of The Matrix. Alcohol is everywhere and we are conditioned to drinking for any occasion you can think of or just to wind down or self soothe at home. Much of it industry led. It feels good to step out of that and get a glimpse of a different way of being.

If I'd have read what I wrote above even a month ago, I think I'd have felt quite threatened by it. I was so wedded to drinking. In fact there was a beautiful woman who was a bit flirty with me last year, but I knew she didn't drink. At all. Ever. I didn't pursue it any further because I thought "where's the fun in that?!". I know think that thinking was pretty startling. I couldn't have my boozing habits tested like that, so chose to bin her instead. WTF?!

 

[Alf Bentley]

13 minutes ago, Dr The Singh said:

Ive suffered from being a very happy man to a very angry man while drunk.  It's not the alcohol but the emotional state i'm in.  Alcohol with me when drunk represents my emotional state, for years I had family and marriage issues, and I would suppress them, and hence when I got drunk they all would just burst out in a angry way.  The positives are, that it made me realise that I need to confront those issues and make peace with myself, the negative were the pain I caused others.

 

Now, i'm very emotionally balanced and happy, I can get drunk and i'm a very nice person to be with.

 

I'm doing dry january, and I like getting up early on saturday and sundays, so i've decided I would in feb and beyond cut down the alcohol levels to an amount that's sensible.  Other benefits is hunger for food, my diet is alot better and i've lost weight.

 

Everything in moderation!

 

Very much my experience, Doctor. Alcohol suppresses learned social behaviour (e.g. treating others with respect, expressing emotions proportionately, discussing disagreements calmly). So, if you're drunk, whatever's in your psyche at the time spills out all raw.

 

I'm coming at this from the perspective of a life-long "semi-controlled chronic binge drinker" (my own self-categorisation) who has been tee-total for 20 months now.

 

Alcohol has given me an enormous amount of pleasure over the years, and I'd be really sorry if I thought that I'd never return to boozing. I've never seen the point of moderate drinking. I never needed booze to socialise (not after about 19, anyway) and if I needed to be sober after a social encounter, I'd stick to soft drinks. When I was drinking, whether socially or alone at home, I wanted the positive effects of inebriation. Depending on the circumstances, those positive effects might be: breaking up dull monotony & feeling life is more fun; having more of a laugh with other people; getting into a nice dreamy, contemplative mood on my own; feeling that I'm rebelling against life's tedious constraints etc.

 

On the other hand, alcohol has caused me a lot of problems over the years - mainly when I was younger and less comfortable in my own skin. Very often I'd be the life and soul of the party, but other times (which were hard to predict) I could turn verbally nasty on people, mainly close friends or family rather than strangers. I could get viciously argumentative over nothing (though not physically violent) - and could behave outrageously, getting out of control and upsetting people. I lost one or two good friends and girlfriends that way. I think that mostly related to my underlying psyche: immature, insecure, lacking in self-confidence and prone to emotional turbulence, plus my mood on any given day. From about 30, as my physical resilience has declined and as I've felt more comfortable in my own skin, the negative effects of alcohol have become much less of a problem: the odd argument with the wife (which still happen now I'm sober), chatting shit, falling asleep, feeling rough the next day...

 

Different types of alcohol have different effects on me, too. I pretty much gave up spirits in my late 20s after repeated instances of argumentative or outrageous behaviour. Red wine has always tended to make me mellow and dreamy - and fall asleep, now! Beer is a bit less predictable, depending on mood and amount: generally a positive experience, apart from long-term health impact, hangovers, and the time/money spent/wasted. 

 

 

[Finnaldo]

How much would people consider their 'norm' to be in terms of weekly drinking? Drinking midweek has always been a bit alien to me and I'm only likely to drink at the weekend if Leicester are on TV down the pub or I've arranged to go out or meet my mates down the pub. 

 

Therefore my weekly norm is either nothing at all or possibly a pint, or if I go out about three pints and a few (maybe around four) mixed drinks.

[Manwell Pablo]

6 minutes ago, SydenhamFox said:

I have spent years drinking on average about half a bottle of red per midweek night. At the weekends I'd have about 4-5 pints and another bottle of wine across the Saturday and Sunday. To me this was 'normal' and if I compared it to most of my friends and family a bit less than them. 

I am using an app called 'Drink Less', which was put together by some Ph.d researchers at King's College who are working in the field of drink and behavioural change. Within the app there is a questionnaire about how much you drink. After you've inputted your info It then asks you if you think you are a light drinker, moderate, or heavy compared to the rest of the population. My result made my jaw hit the floor.

Apparently what I thought was moderate was in fact not the case. I was drinking to a level that was likely causing physical and mental damage. Apparently my level of alcohol consumption put me in the top 4% of drinkers!

 

That result blew my mind. As I say, nearly everyone I know drinks way more than that. So comparatively I WAS moderate. But we don't see the habits of people outside of our circles I guess.  I am loving this month being alcohol free. It feels a bit like stepping out of The Matrix. Alcohol is everywhere and we are conditioned to drinking for any occasion you can think of or just to wind down or self soothe at home. Much of it industry led. It feels good to step out of that and get a glimpse of a different way of being.

If I'd have read what I wrote above even a month ago, I think I'd have felt quite threatened by it. I was so wedded to drinking. In fact there was a beautiful woman who was a bit flirty with me last year, but I knew she didn't drink. At all. Ever. I didn't pursue it any further because I thought "where's the fun in that?!". I know think that thinking was pretty startling. I couldn't have my boozing habits tested like that, so chose to bin her instead. WTF?!

 

 

I'm assuming you drank more on Friday than Mon Tues etc, so all in all you'd be drinking about 75-80 units which is quite a lot, but there is no way 96 people out of 100 who drink drink more than that. 

 

There is a major problem in measuring what are "safe" amounts and who is in what bracket of drunkard when it comes to drinking, as when you ask most people what they drink, they lie through their teeth, statistically you were probably in the top 4% but as it looks like your being honest meaning in reality you're probably not.

[Finnegan]

My beer behavior is very routine and predictable:

 

1. Start to get loud.

2. Get very loud.

3. Be ridiculously over friendly.

4. Love everyone.

5. Fall asleep in my seat.

6. Wake up, find Maryland.

7. Puke.

8. Pass out.

[Alf Bentley]

10 hours ago, SydenhamFox said:

After a couple of decades of habitual low level drinking I thought I'd give Dry January a go. 
I have rarely had more energy, rarely felt so great and rarely have been so productive. Which is a shame because I LOVE booze. But I am feeling life is so much better without it. I'm now going to do two more dry months and take it from there.

 

It might be quite different for you, but I've always found the same pattern on the various occasions when I've stopped boozing over the years:

- After 4-5 days, it gets tricky as I feel energised and am still in the habit of getting excitement through booze

- Next 2 months tend to be quite easy as a new, beneficial routine has been established

- After 2-4 months, I tend to get complacent, remembering the good stuff about boozing, while the bad stuff seems more distant, so feel tempted to relapse

- After that, I find that it gets easier again and there's rarely any temptation. Now, after 20 months, it would take an active decision to get me back boozing (will probably happen one day, but not yet - too much to do). I recognise moods (boredom/frustration or high energy/exhilaration) in which I would have gone boozing if I was still in the habit, but don't feel tempted.

[kingcarr21]

Ill let you know after tonights result

[RoboFox]

I've never thrown a punch in anger, drunk or otherwise. I'm what I consider to be a 'happy drunk,' and thankfully I'm never sick when I overdo it. 

 

I very, very rarely booze on weekdays. I like going into work hangover-free, and enjoy going to the gym every day. For me it's important to try and find a balance.

 

For most of last year though, I got into the cycle of drinking on both Friday and Saturday night with various social circles, and that led onto drinking at home for the sake of it if I wasn't out. As well as being a little bit hungover all weekend, my tolerance became pretty high and I was probably tucking away quite a bit in terms of units.

 

In the new year, as part of a wider wellbeing thing, I decided that I was going to significantly lower the amount: Only drink on one day, only if I'm at a social event, and in much lower amounts. I've got to be honest, it feels good!

 

My body is a temple. 

[leicesterlad1989]

I was an obnoxious bastard in my 'youth' after having a few. Not purposely but I think it made up for my quiet demeanour when sober. So it made me more confident to the point of arrogant.

 

Now as a 28 year old I handle my drink a lot better (Man United away last season aside) and I drink to socialise rather than drink to get drunk. Completely changed my attitude and I can have a good laugh without over stepping the mark. However, I am prone to stripping off and this is something that I honestly believe I get egged on to do due to my previous reputation. It has made many a Christmas function, quite interesting!