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Original poster

Is alcohol going out of fashion?

139 replies

Shepherdspiemix · 28/02/2023 22:08

Many of my close circle have cut right back & a few have gone teetotal. I understand to a point. They don't have time for hangovers etc. Just wondering is this a rising trend or just in my circle. I'm not a big drinker, I enjoy a few glasses of wine over the weekend but thinking of gradually phasing it out..

OP posts:
WholeHog · 01/03/2023 02:59

I think like smoking it was going out of fashion amongst the young even before the pandemic, and the current cost of living is going to reduce it further.

SnackyOnassis · 01/03/2023 03:07

Drinking to get drunk definitely seems to be a thing of the past in my social circles. In my experience, people might have a glass of wine with dinner but the social event definitely isn't 'going for drinks' anymore.
The caveat there though is that we live fairly rurally so someone is nearly always driving, lots of us have started having children so have been pregnant/breastfeeding, and both halves of a couple need heads screwed on for babies in the morning. A dedicated drinking event requires an overnight stay, arranging babysitting etc and all seems like much more logistically than it's worth.

Nelia5 · 01/03/2023 03:39

Hospitality has noticed a trend among the younger generation who apparently aren’t into alcohol as much, hence an increase in marketing for non or low alcoholic drinks.

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boboshmobo · 01/03/2023 06:01

Yes I think so , I see it as poison tbh!

I think in 50 years it will be mostly gone and proven it causes loads of cancers and dementia !

Dentistlakes · 01/03/2023 06:24

I haven’t given up completely but I rarely drink now I’m olde. It makes me feel so awful, even 1 glass, that it’s simply not worth it. I exercise a lot and the effect it has on my performance in the gym is huge. It can literally knock me for six for days. I do think the drinking culture is waning in the younger generations too.

Alighttouchonthetiller · 01/03/2023 06:29

Definitely not out of fashion in this house! A few glasses of wine is a lovely way to relax after a hard week.

Caspianberg · 01/03/2023 06:33

I’m mid 30s. Most friends and dh don’t drink regularly.

I see it as a huge waste of money in general, coming from parents who would waste Sundays away at the pub, then have no money for us to do basics.

We also live rural, so us and most friends have to drive home from others houses or restaurants.
If we have a bbq in summer the ‘shandy low alcohol’ or sparkling soft drinks are drunk the most. With the odd beer or a bottle of bubbly with everyone having just a small glass.

Muelled wine has been popular locally for years in winter. But nowadays hot spiced apple which is alcohol free is drunk just as much.

Lodgeornot · 01/03/2023 06:37

Gave up in my mid 20s. About a decade ago. The levels of anxiety felt the next day were not worth it. Hangover, no problem. Feeling sick about the mere thought of leaving my bedroom, just nope. Pass me a lemonade.

LolaMoon · 01/03/2023 06:46

Its definitely not as popular as it once was and more studies are showing now that just one drink a day increases risk of cancer, dementia etc which is really appalling. Alcohol is a carcinogen- there should be warnings on it like there are cigarettes. In the 90s we had way more of a lad culture and drinking was seen as cool and funny. Now, instagram etc is all about looking good and being healthy - drinking heavily doesnt go with that at all- the bloated puffy face, uncoordinated poses, extra weight and red face doesnt look great in photos.

PatsysBeehive · 01/03/2023 06:50

It's just way too expensive now. I used to love going for a pint with DH a couple of times a week but I'd rather save the money now and maybe have something at home on a Friday. But when you lose a whole day feeling so rough with a hangover, it makes me think what's the point? I read something aswell that said something like, if a dog ate something that made it feel ill and sick, it wouldn't eat it again. I thought that was an interesting way of looking at it.

BeetleyCarapace · 01/03/2023 06:51

I think it is, kind of. I work with a lot of young people (20s mostly, one or two younger still) and a majority of them don’t drink at all.

I’ve also noticed an explosion in the availability of alcohol-free beers and spirits on restaurant menus. A lot of the people who start up these alcohol-free drinks businesses are young. They’re looking for alternatives and inventing them if they don’t find them.

I also think the younger crowd and people up to my age (early 40s) are starting to see the consequences of a lifetime of heavy or frequent drinking on older relatives and thinking; nah, don’t want that. My FIL is currently having major health issues and several of them are directly contributable to his alcohol intake. Among my peers, at least a dozen people I know have lost a parent in the last couple of years (usually their dad) in their 60s or early 70s due to alcohol-related or alcohol-worsened conditions.

I was in a town the other week that was one of my old ‘stomping grounds’. We went out to eat on Saturday night and it was quite interesting; most of the pubs and bars that were heaving with drunk people in 1998 were still heaving with drunk people in 2023 — but it was the same people. These places were full of 50- and 60-somethings utterly smashed off their faces.

I’m sure there are still younger people who drink, and who drink far too much. But I think the needle is slowly moving away from it.

BeetleyCarapace · 01/03/2023 06:54

…’directly attributable to his alcohol intake’ I mean.

WeAreTheHeroes · 01/03/2023 07:04

I think it's interesting that you really look forward to your wine at the weekend OP. I have never thought of alcohol that way or looked forward to it. I'm not teetotal, but have definitely cut down on what I drink. I might look forward to trying a wine I've heard is good or something special (i.e. expensive), but actually drinking? No.

My thoughts are that uni fees mean a lot of students are more invested in their higher education than previous generations and in combination with the higher rents and cost of living mean they just don't go out drinking and clubbing in the same way I used to with my friends. Plus the personal safety aspect, particularly for young women. There also comes a point where you feel you are wasting a day if you have a hangover as they become harder to shake off as you get older and have more responsibilities.

PamelaDawes · 01/03/2023 07:08

I’ve mostly gave it up at age 47. Every time I even have one drink I feel hideous the next day. Wine stopped making me feel lightheaded and happy and started marking me sleepy.

I miss it, but the pleasure isn’t there anymore.

I suspect sugar is next. Aging is not fun.

Bluetrews25 · 01/03/2023 07:09

I really can't imagine why people would want to stop pouring a carcinogenic, brain poisoning substance down their throats at all! What's that about?

(non drinker for decades, known 7 who died directly to do with alc XS)

Oneofakind1 · 01/03/2023 07:09

I loved a drink for thirty years but now I’m in my fifties I hardly drink at all. It doesn’t agree with me eg hangovers, headaches, feeling groggy. I would say I know a couple of people who barely drink any more either but most people do and some still drink a lot at home eg open a bottle of wine at 5pm.

JamSandle · 01/03/2023 07:12

In my early 30s but barely drink. It's expensive and I don't like feeling bad.

Stellaris22 · 01/03/2023 07:12

I'm hardly young, but I find in my circle of friends we just don't drink. It's nothing to do with a trend, but more just something we don't do. Also, alcohols expensive!

Not teetotal, I just don't buy it.

dubyalass · 01/03/2023 07:13

I still enjoy a drink from time to time but my limit is a glass of wine or a bottle of beer - any more and I get the aforementioned 4am wake up and feel shit the next day. It's just not worth it. I never had much tolerance for it but did spend my teens and 20s drinking most weekends, with the resulting hangover and being sick.

Nowadays I like making the most of my weekends - that time is precious and I don't want to spend it hungover! The young people I know are a mixture of occasional drinkers and teetotalers; I don't think any of them binge. That said, I regularly go out in a university town and the students there are certainly still drinking - no shortage of lairyness at closing time.

faultytelenorefund · 01/03/2023 07:13

My observation is that younger people (under 30) do drugs more than drink alcohol. 30s tend to binge drink and at home. People 40-55 seem to go through stages of drinking loads to nothing as I think this age group is very stressed out and panicking about health and mortality. But it seems after 60 they drink as they wish unless there is strict medical reasons.

CouldIHaveThatInEnglishPlease · 01/03/2023 07:14

I’m 38 and haven’t really drunk in over 10 years. Now, I do enjoy a pimms in the pub garden on a hot summers day, but that’s it. I don’t buy alcohol to have at home, I don’t have a glass when we go out for a meal, and even a trip to the local i buy a Diet Coke.
dd(19) does enjoy a drink and a night out on the town, but her bf is teetotal so it’s just a social thing when she’s out with the girls

adulthumanfemalemum · 01/03/2023 07:15

It's quite reassuring to hear that excessive drinking among teens is waning. I did a fair bit of drinking during my uni days but since having kids I am very careful because I can't be doing with making myself sick or hangovers. (plus I hate the overpricing in pubs so rarely go). I know a lot of 45-60 year olds who regularly get absolutely smashed though. Maybe they're the only ones who can afford to go to pubs now?

faultytelenorefund · 01/03/2023 07:16

Yes I definitely know more 40+ getting hammered on the regular than under 25s. It is too expensive. But the young people have their own vices.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 01/03/2023 07:17

Most people all over my social media pages still drink as much as they always did.

There are a few that don't but they're definitely few and far between. I don't really drink myself and it's still commented on as being pretty unusual by people (I'm in my thirties).

Afonavon · 01/03/2023 07:18

As a teen I drank a lot. But, I have always regretted drinking, either due to the hangover on horrible anxiety going over the previous night’s events. Did I do something or say something stupid? Will people be annoyed with me? Will I die in my sleep?

I don’t particularly like the taste.

My DS is like me, and my DD has finally managed nights out sober, after some extreme scary emotions which surfaced when she was very drunk.

Neither DH’s or my parents drink/drank.