Do most people drink alcohol every day?

[Fingernail]

My FB is full of dry January; mostly people lamenting how awful/difficult it is

I drink very rarely, so it’s not a thing but made me wonder if most people would struggle with an alcohol free month?

No, very rarely drink and cannot understand the 'wine o'clock' mentality. Know a couple of people already back on the pop tonight, so 3 days in.
Genuinely can't see why people 'need' a drink of an evening, after a hard day at work or after sorting the kids out. Not being judgemental, each to their own but I really can't fathom it.

And the whole ‘if you struggle to have a month without alcohol then you’ve got a bigger issue and need professional help’...

I drink 3/4 times a week. Not every day. I do find it quite tough having a month off, because I drink out of habit, however I can (and have) managed it on quite a few occasions.
If I went to my GP and said ‘I drink 3/4 times a week, within the NHS guidelines on units, find having a month off quite tricky but I manage it without any major issues’, do you think they’d be tripping over themselves to spend limited NHS budgets on me?

lotusbell they don’t usually need a drink. Theyd like one. Just as others like to go to the gym, eat chocolate, watch shite on TV, eat a family pack of crisps, have a cup of tea...
We’re all different.

We are almost an entirely dry household. I grew up with an alcoholic father. I do drink, but very rarely, and usually on nights out (infrequent), or Christmas. Husband goes through phases. Some months he'll have a couple of ciders in a week, others nothing unless we eat out where he has one drink. Dry January will probably happen unintentionally. Many of our friends are the same. I've got better things to spend my money on!

@Elbeagle, very true

I’m doing dry January. I don’t drink every day and I don’t need to have a drink, so I don’t need professional help. But this is MN where if you’re less than perfect you need to address you issues with a professional. However, towards the end of last year it became more habit for me to have a drink on a Friday night and Saturday night, when previously I could have gone weeks without a drink. Going a month breaks your usual habit. The habits might creep back in throughout the year and that’s when people will do sober October, again to readdress the balance and disrupt the habits.

Our habitats for anything can change over the course of the year(s). We get out of the habit of going to the gym, we check our work emails at home and can’t switch off, we grab takeaway a bit more than we should, sometimes we spend when we should be saving... I have other things that have developed due to habit over the last few months- meat consumption is one of those. I will be looking to disrupt that habit and introduce more vegetarian meals, as we have done previously. Again it might slip throughout the year so I’ll have to readdress it again. Dry January is no different than people wanting to sign up to the gym, slimming world, that pottery class. It’s a new year and we want to address something about ourselves that we want to improve. In February, people will be back to drinking but they’ll also be back to cheat meals at slimming world, skipping the gym because they’re too busy...

Most people I know drink everyday - just not mumsnetters!!

I wouldn't call anxiety a 'failing'

Genuinely can't see why people 'need' a drink of an evening, after a hard day at work or after sorting the kids out. Not being judgemental, each to their own but I really can't fathom it.

People do a variety of things to relax of an evening. I was never much of a drinker but I now have a drink most nights. I don't need it, or have a problem with it. I simply enjoy it.

I think a lot of people have probably drunk more than they usually would over the last couple of weeks, and at times when they wouldn't usually (not everyone but lots of people) so a bit of a detox seems like a good idea at the moment.

I haven't done dry January. I'm still off work, I'm still doing events (been to ILs for meal today, out with friends ice skating and probably dinner afterwards tomorrow) so I might want a drink then when I wouldn't normally.

I don't drink on a work night usually but I do enjoy a drink at the weekend. I only drink certain things so I won't just drink anything because it's there. We have a house full of booze left over from my birthday, Christmas and New year at the moment but I'm not drinking it for the sake of it but if I feel like one, while I'm on my holidays I will.

I lost my partner to alcoholism nearly 5 years ago, he was only 34 when he died. I hammered the booze for the first couple of years after he died but then realised if I didn't stop I would end up going the same way he did. I'm a single parent & I didn't want my son to be left alone like my partner's children were at the ages of 6 & 4.

I think this every year. I very rarely drink, I had a glass of Baileys at Christmas but it was the first alcohol I'd had since Christmas 2017! (I was pregnant in 2018)

How hard can an alcohol free month be?!

It’s because people over indulge at Christmas/ new year - off work,more socialising etc - bit of a detox and way to loose a few lbs

I very rarely drink - I will probably have a dry January without even thinking about it.

I find it hard to eat healthily though which is as bad.

How hard can an alcohol free month be?!

Empathy isn't hard and yet so many people fail at that.

I have a glass of wine with dinner. On MN that makes me a raging alcoholic

Me too. Or I have a pre-dinner G&T and skip the wine. I usually have one alcoholic drink most days with a meal - but rarely more than one (unless it’s an occasion). And I never get drunk. Tipsy maybe, but never pissed.

I reckon I could do dry January but it would be very boring.

We drink maybe 2 nights a week (share a bottle of wine) but considerably more often over Christmas and New Year festivities, and have done dry January the last few years. I think my liver and my waistline appreciate a break! It feels a bit difficult on Friday night when we'd normally be opening a bottle but that makes me evaluate my relationship with booze. I'm not holding a gun to anyone else's head or banging on about it - why should it bother you??

I could do dry January without an issue, I might even end up doing it by default anyway if I feel a bit crap or tired on the one night I have planned out in January. I just don't bother that much any more, used to drink a lot socially and someone else mentioned working in a bar is temptation - I find it's one way or the other, some people have a drink after most shifts to unwind, others like me might do it once in a blue moon if it's an occasion like someone's birthday, but as I'd be shattered I'd probably only have one anyway.
I couldn't however do smoke free January, it's 3 days in and I've cracked twice already since midnight on 31st (couple of hours before actually) this is probably my 100th time of 'giving up' and though I haven't bought any I have friends and colleagues that smoke, and so I know where I can go to get one without buying any, until I've bummed that many I have to buy some and off I go again. I'm on the waiting list for smoking cessation help. Hope it actually does because I do want to stop. So I do get how alcohol can be a crutch because nicotine is for me , the difference is that alcohol is socially acceptable and almost encouraged, smoking absolutely is not.

I usually only drink at weekends. Over December that slides, and I have been off work/on holiday for 3 weeks, so have had a couple of drinks every night. It is just a chance to reset my mind back to work mode. And hopefully help the waistline a little. I don't enjoy it, I like the end of week ritual of pouring a G&T but I haven't put anything on social media, haven't seen any friends posting anything either, although I know a few who do it. We just quietly crack on with cutting back.

I probably won't do the whole month, close family member is due to give birth any day, so we will open a bottle to toast the baby.

It doesn't affect anyone else if people decide to cut back on alcohol, just scroll on by if it bores you.

I agree, really do not drink enough to warrant a ‘dry January’..maybe a glass of wine on fri and sat night?

I am a social drinker. I've never enjoyed drinking at home don't know why. With 3 kids under 9 and pregnant again I cant remember the last time I drank! Before all this domesticity I was a total boozer though. I think I used up my lifetimes allotted alcohol then.

I used to drink a lot more but then we moved to Canada and booze is so expensive here that I had to cut down drastically. I went from my usual 3-4 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc in the evening, or 1-2 glasses of red with XH to now having an occasional scotch (single malt only!) before dinner. I drink lots of yummy cocktails in the summer when I socialize but nah, don't fancy drinking alone.

I think lots of people do, yes. I have a drink probably once a month, same for dh. That's just normality for us, I don't know why.

@Boobahs I'm a size 10. I wouldn't dream of going on to a weight loss thread and stating 'pull your socks up dear, just eat less how hard can it be?' Because a) I'm not a dick and b) I know that the reasons people over eat can be much more complex.
Have you ever considered that it might be the same for people with an alcohol addiction? Alcohol is addictive. Drink enough of it and you WILL become addicted. I got into the habit of a daily glass or two when coming home from work. I'm not talking small glasses either. I decided I wanted to lose weight and didn't want to feel sluggish any more so I'd stop. I actually found it very difficult which came as a shock. I decided the best thing to do was quit completely.
I find your lack of empathy astonishing.

@Northernsoullover well said

i don't but can confirm i am pretty exceptional in that regard amongst my peers