Why do YOU drink??

[Toothache]

I've put this in the relationship section as I think it's really about the relationship I have with alcohol.

I drink for a couple of reasons:

For fun when I'm socialising
For relaxation sitting watching TV with DH...

These reasons are fine to me, but my third reason is what worries me.

I drink to forget. Nothing specific as such, just sometimes I drink when I've had arguments with DH or my Mother (more and more these days). I don't get slaughtered, but I drink just enough to make me either forget about my troubles or gloss over them!
I don't drink every night, but throughout my life I have used alcohol as a numbing agent.... hiding from things. When I was a 17 year old I was hiding from a broken heart. As a student I was hiding from the reality of my debt.... and now??? The reality of an unhappy marriage. We are working at it and want to make it work, but as we wait for marriage counselling to get back to us with regular appointments I find myself sitting at this PC more and more evenings with a bottle of wine.

I'm not an alcoholic.... and this thread isn't really about that. I just wondered how many people out there could admit that sometimes they drink to forget... for a while. Am I in the minority? Do most people just drink a few glasses of wine to unwind or just to socialise with friends?

Or is drinking to unwind just another way of using alcohol to forget about the stresses in life??

Just thinking. Feel free to ignore... I'm a bit tipsy!

[moondog]

Drink can be a vvvv dangerous thing.
I don't think that sitting at the pc with a bottle is good for your marriage if it's a bit ropey. (Hey! Would argue that sitting at a pc even without a bottle can be dodgy in the happiest of marriages!!)

I have drunk to numb/forget (mildly) in my past, but now drink for enjoyment and that alone. Mde it my golden rule to only drink in the evening, and only when happy. Also to only drink really good wine and less of it.
I've learnt that the amount in a bottle is a very good thing. Prfect for two people. Any more than 1/2 a bottle at a time and I feel it.

Must say, that being alone with two small children, I really look forward to a glass or two of red at night. Unwinds me just enough to enjoy bath and stories and gives me just the right sentimental edge to cuddle and love them one last time before they sleep.

More than that and the typing goes hwayeriw...

[velcrobott]

I could have posted that Mondog!!!!!

[MaidoftheRiver]

1/2 a bottle of wine later me too!!

[Toothache]

lol Moondog!
I only drink in the evenings and I only drink good wine (er... when it's half price in Tesco )!

Oh DH is downstairs making a tape up for the journey to Liverpool on Friday to stay with the inlaws. he loves making up tapes. Its not that we;ve had an argument really.... just that he's doing his thing and I'm doing mine. But since my early teens I have most definitely used alcohol as more than just an indulgence.

[Toothache]

Must add that DH can't stand wine.... so when a bottle is opened..... well I've just got to drink it! Or I've got to drink enough to make me feel sleepy..... or content.... or if we're both not working the next day I drink enough to be drunk! Is that bad?

[Toothache]

Velcorbot - pmsl @ mondog!

[moondog]

God, I sound a smug bitch don't I???I have committed plenty of shameful drunken misdemeanours however and am not averse to a good sesh every now and again (trouble is I suffer so much for the next three days and it is unbearable dealing with little kids and a hangover.
Also really dread the paranoia that a hangover brings on. It does me in,especially as I am a paranoid overprotective mother at the best of times.

[velcrobott]

I don't get drunk, did it once and that cured me..... I absolutely hate hangovers!!!!
I do think a whole bottle is a lot but I don't know your threshold. They do sell special caps for wine bottles... I know I use them

[moondog]

Oh I wish my dh was the type who compiled tapes! I'm so into that, and found it v seductive in past boyfriends.
I don't think it's bad to drink to get pissed, would say the frequency of such occurences is a better indicator of worrying drinking.

I used to drink a bottle a night regularly when younger, but now if I did, I couldn't sleep. Would wake up at 3:00 am feeling uneasy with a funny tasting tongue.
I also think the issue of drinking w/w/out food is relevant. A bottle on its own is not like a bottle consumed over a long drawn out meal.

Have you read 'Drinking;a love story' by Caroline Knapp (I think) Very interesting.

[moondog]

Velcrobott...getting drunk...once!!!
God you're so wholesome!
I've been pissed millions of times and its been tremendous fun!

[velcrobott]

This is the cap I was talking about
Now this may not be what you are looking for LOL

[velcrobott]

I hate hangovers.... feel like complete shxxe the next day - can't do it !

[Toothache]

I used to drink every night. Did that for many years from the start of my student life. As long as I had money I would be out drinking!

But now it's only about 2 or 3 nights a week. But whenever I feel stress in my life I automatically think "Must get a bottle of wine for tonight".... sometimes I don't even open it.... but I need it there jeee-ust in case!

but just in case what???

Velcrobot - Have you seriously only ever been drunk ONCE in your life?

[Toothache]

Velcorbott - I have loads of those bottle tops..... it's my willpower thats the problem, not the equipment!

[moondog]

VB, reminds me of my colleague who bought a champagne saver thingy for her mil.
That would be brought out a lot in the Moondog household....not!!

Actually, I know I'm getting old and sensible because I can now buy cases of wine and not guzzle it all in 72 hrs. Dh and I often think back fondly to grotty student parties where you turned up with a 4 pack of Kestrel that you kept a firm grip on all night.
Another mark of being grown up-having the booze out in a party and knowing that 17 year olds aren't going to decant it all into milk bottles and disappear with it......or was that just me and my mates?

[velcrobott]

Once that I can remember.... tipsy a few times.

[velcrobott]

Champagne doesn't keep..... LOL

[SeaShells]

I never have the odd drink, I only drink when I'm getting drunk IYKWIM, like when having a night out, I never have the odd glass or 2 at home on an evening or with a meal or anything. I supose I would say that I binge drink, all or nothing kind of thing.

[sansouci]

I love the warm, relaxed glow that spreads over me after a glass of wine or the glorious shock of an icy cold vodka tonic. I have to know when to stop. That's the difficult bit.

[Toothache]

Ah Moondog, them were the days! It was Diamond White Cider for the girls at our parties and Red Stripe lager for the boys.... and usually some lethal cocktail of....... well.... noone knows!! But it would always be lethal and be served in a swing bin (bought specially for the occasion)!!!

[velcrobott]

Well scotch is my favourite drink.... after champagne I think...

[Toothache]

Sansouci - I have definitely been a binge drinker all my life. I drink to get drunk.... for whatever reason. I don't have one glass.

Seashells - I don't get that warm feeling until at least half a bottle of wine!!!

[moondog]

Oh the bin-!!!!
Dh still has a bad scar on his arm from reeling out of one of those parties and impaling himself on the railing outside. I found him out there covered in blood muttering incoherently about 20 mins later.
(Sorry, extremely irresponsible of me to glorify excessive drinking I know. Just makes me laught to think that under his sensible front, a madman lurks!)

[lavenderrr]

because I love the taste of an ice cold beer, chiiled white wine and sometimes it relaxes me, but I could live without it if I had to

[Toothache]

Velcorbott - Shame on you!!! On a Scottish girls thread..... it's NOT scotch.... it's Whiskey....

And do you really drink that with Champagne and NOT get drunk? GOD I hate the stuff!