Sure, but I was also an alcoholic. Very high functioning, but still at the end 100% dependant on it.

The slope is so treacherously flat, you don’t feel yourself slipping. I still have no idea how I ended up where I did, or for that matter how I ended up actually managing to quit.

I’m sure some people can use liquid courage without it turning into depending on it to do the hard things, then more and more things turning hard and needing a boost to do it, or can wash away work with a drink at the end of the week, without having to wash it away at the end of every day, and then having a quick rinse-and-reset at lunch, and so on… But it’s impossible to know which one you are until it’s too late.

I mean, you could call it strategic, or you could call it relying on substances as a crutch to manage your emotions.

I’m not saying that’s always bad, necessarily. There is the school of thought that it’s just a tool, like in your edit. But, it’s important to remember it can become a habit.

Everyone high roading you here is probably on anti-anxiety meds lol

I’ve been doing “tipsy chore day” for a while. Do a chore > glass of wine > do another chore > glass of wine… I may as well finish the bottle > do a chore > final glass.

Chores are less boring, and you push through them to get your next glass. Has to be wine though, beer I don’t get a buzz going, and spirits have me incompetent.

Anxiety is necessary sometimes. It’s fine to be anxious and it’s ok to be uncomfortable. You are having trouble managing your anxiety seek a therapist. Alcohol will trick you into thinking it’s a solution. Be careful, this is very similar to how my alcoholism and my fathers started.

Using alcohol as a method to resolve personal problems can be a very dark path. Please be careful.

PSA to the youngs who see Box of Wine and think QUANTITY.

Box of wine actually stays best longest because the tapped bag doesn’t take in O2 and start to sour. So box wine is usually pretty par for paced domestic drinking and cooking.

I’m sure someone has smashed the box, but they also serve people who are more likely to leave the last glass in the bottle too long.

Bought Box does not mean Drank Box.

Yes, my strategy is I don’t drink and in turn I don’t get hangovers

Short answer… no. Long answer… Noooooooooooooooooooo

I know everyone in here’s saying no but I do. If I’m going to a social occasion I might have a drink beforehand; not much, just enough to feel it. I’m not the most comfortable in social situations and a beer can just take the edge off. I don’t get drunk or anything and I’d only do it if there’s going to be alcohol there anyway.

I also drink sometimes to help me sleep. I have ADHD and I struggle to switch my brain off. Sometimes I hit like 2am and if I think I need it I have a bottle of whisky downstairs that I’ll go and have a drink off. Again, just enough to feel it. I have pills and medicine that help me sleep, and they work also, but they leave me feeling groggy the next day. With a little whisky I don’t even feel it the next day and it seems to work just as well. I don’t do it too often, maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks.

Hmmm, may drink strategically to dodge rules like no self brought alcohol on the festival, or a way to feel the effect good enough before needing to run to the bus.

But to deal with drama? No that I’m taking fully in so I can learn from it if something similar happens again

These days i rarely drink but a glass of wine with some pasta now and again goes down a treat

I do, but the other way as I’m getting old and can’t down them like I used to. Met up with a mate to watch the F1 in the pub garden on a sunny Sunday, just had a couple of halves as I still wanted to try a number of new drops

Though I completely understand using alcohol to loosen up a bit, for numerous social situations. Definitely used it more that way in my younger days, to varying degrees of success

I like to have a drink but hard NO to doing it before anything important. I strongly prefer to feel clear headed for those moments.

Yes, I barely if ever drink alcohol. I’m not social and hate talking to people or crowds, I’m also pretty ND so I can’t fake or pretend I give a shit about what other people are talking.

Alcohol helps a lot, if I have to meet whoever and their friends and they’re asking me about work or how I would design an app that does blah blah I definitely need to be like 4 beers in to tolerate that conversation.

That being said I don’t drink for things like school presentations or other events that require me to speak, like conference stuff. I just bite the bullet and it sucks, but I’d rather be sober and speaking coherently than feeling like I am.