The number of people going on and on about their wonderful alcohol free lives

[Eastie77Returns]

It’s a bit boring now. Every other Opinion essay or online article today is written by someone waxing lyrical about their decision to stop drinking and how incredible their lives are now followed by judgy comments about the poor saps who still drink, use it as an emotional crutch and are too wine addled to realise they are drinking themselves into an early grave. It’s all a bit sanctimonious and honestly…who cares?

I don't see any problem with normalising being alcohol free. We all know the health problems that come from regularly drinking including the increased risk of cancer. I think those people who make drinking their whole personality are far more annoying.

There has also been a number of articles which state that a glass or two of red wine a week is good for you.

Alcohol related admissions cost the nhs about 3.5 billion per year in England, so I would say we probably need more awareness campaigns and reporting, not less.

Also - giving up booze when you know you have a problem can feel a pretty lonely place in the early days. Knowing you’re not alone and that others are not only surviving but thriving can be massive.

I've slow faded friendships, because having to assure friends that I'm not judging them for getting a bit pissed on lunch dates is a chore.
I never DID judge in my 20's and 30's, but the older I've got the less inclined I am to lunch with people for whom a glass of wine with lunch is actually three glasses of wine!

Good! I am so glad that alcohol free lifestyles are being highlighted. I think people are finally waking up to the mess alcohol is making of people's health- both physical and mental. I think alcohol will eventually go the same way as cigarettes and I am quite sure smokers back in the 80s/90s felt the exact same way as you OP about people banging on about giving up smoking- why dont they just shut up and let me enjoy my cancer sticks eh?

I do agree with all the points about the centrality of alcohol to our culture and the continual pushing of alcohol in some social situations. This is just as tedious (and more damaging) than the performatively sober people.

Well done on a year! I actually think it is very different people who are going alcohol free because they are alcoholics - making the decision to try is a massive achievement in itself and telling people is an even bigger achievement and I think on going updates help provide accountability, and allow friends to support. I don't think that should be considered in the same light at all as Anna the influencer who has been posting pics of cocktails throughout December now saying they are alcohol free to follow another trend.

That's just what happens when someone has a new interest. They want to tell everyone about it. It's the same as when someone has their first baby. Suddenly everything is about the joys of motherhood and how people who don't have children are missing out. They're just excited about this brand new thing, even though millions of people have already done it and no one really cares.

See also weight loss, weight lifting, keto, air fryers, robot vacuums, Dyson Airwraps, getting a cleaner, etc.

I once cancelled a date with a guy because he kept going on about how a glass or two “is good for you” He had obviously read one of those articles. I was like just piss off you alcohol bore.

My current partner who drinks has never tried to get me to drink. The same way I’ve never tried to get him to increase his sugar consumption (I consume more sugar than him) . Both are questionable habits, so I wonder at the wisdom and intentions of people trying to recruit others to partake in these things at all?

I think it’s just to make themselves better about bad habits. There’s increasingly a growing body of evidence linking cancer (and sugar) to alcohol.

Why discourage anyone from writing about the positive benefits they’ve experienced from a lifestyle change?

I’ve been sober now for well over a year and it has massively changed my life. HOWEVER I never talk about it unless someone asks me, I thinks it’s a personal thing and a life style choice. Not something to be shoved down other people throats

That was a study done two decades ago and has now been debunked I'm afraid

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/20/red-wine-drinking-alcohol-health-risks

My thoughts exactly. Do what you want, great. But stop banging on about it. It's tedious.

Sorry, I see now I've missed a key part in my message, it was meant in the context of the OP.

It's great when people who were drinking a lot (and digging into non-drinkers) manage to give up alcohol. Funny is seeing them now preaching about it. It looks as that they consider whatever they do to be the good/interesting/fashionable thing, as if stopping drinking would be somehow better than not starting with excessive drinking in the first place.

Congratulations on changing your life! And it is totally ok in my books to talk about it and help others do the same/help others understand what the obstacles are. Just the opinion pieces and trying to ride on the wave as an "influencer" are sometimes ridiculous

She didn't say it was difficult to stop for a month. She said it was boring listening to it.

And the most boring bit is the constant: YOU MUST BE A RAGING ALCOHOLIC THEN!!!!!!!!111!!!!

Why did you read the article if you were going to be triggered?

I have a glass or two of red wine every weekend, but I know my limits. If you want to drink, it's your choice.

I’m very pleased for those who stop drinking or make any change to their life that benefits them, that’s great. I don’t mind hearing about this and of course saying they are doing well.
but I have a friend who rams it down your throat (her view) whether in person or worse with about 5 Facebook posts per day about how bad alcohol is and we all need to follow in her footsteps basically. I simply press snooze for 30 days as it drives me mad.
it’s just the same as folk who go to the gym, all is wonderful but no one needs a daily update.. just get on with it
you make changes for yourself and we don’t need to be told repeatedly 🤣

Tbh though, it's probably to do with the UK culture. It's seen as an achievement not to drink because drinking is so prevalent.

I enjoy alcohol as it's fun. I like the buzz of being tipsy and it's part of my culture.
I don't drink very often but when I do, it's great.
I also enjoy a bit of time off (eg, January). But love that first G&T in February

I'm Scottish and we're the opposite. Anyone who isn't drinking pretends to be on antibiotics, holds their hand over the bottle label, or just gives in and drinks.

I don’t blame you. Thankfully for me those kind of whiney “ but why won’t you have a drink” or “what’s wrong with drinking” friends kind of faded away in my early 20s.

I think about half my friends drink the other don’t, but the half that does have never questioned me on it or encouraged me to have ‘just one drink’.

And most of them are not big or daytime drinkers AFAIK, so they usually wouldn’t be having a wine with lunch and certainly not 3 glasses.

Someone I know has a sign in their house which says, ‘Kids- you’re the reason mummy drinks wine.’

What a beautiful message to send to your children.

I feel the same and it's not because I have an issue with alcohol it's because it's a bandwagon that everyone seems to be jumping on (on SM) and it's boring content! Drink, don't drink, whatever, you do you but stop going on about it.

I've unfollowed quite a few people on SM I used to enjoy following because it's all they talk about.

I say this as a daughter of an alcoholic, so I know the dangers and damage alcohol can cause.

I don't drink (I did dry January last year and carried on), I drank on New Year's Day, realised I didn't miss it at all.

I've always been(after about age 25) very much a take or leave it towards alcohol though. I come from a family of people who like a drink, so I'm an anomaly in my family.

I don't understand why people talk about giving up alcohol for one month like it's a big deal, unless they actually do have an alcohol problem and find giving it up a struggle (in which case absolutely talk about it, get support, and let people motivate you with their encouragement).

I almost never drink. Not because of health risks or some kind of moral high ground, but because I have a wildly unpredictable reaction to alcohol - I could drink a bottle of wine in one sitting one week and barely feel any effects, then the next week a single glass would have me blind drunk and hugging the toilet.
It meant going out for a polite social daytime drink or having a little glass of something when my kids were in bed was a gamble, so I just stopped.

No moral judgement, no high horse, just someone who doesn't want to accidentally get pissed after a small glass of sauvignon at 1pm on a Tuesday afternoon, have to go home after a couple of pints on a night out, or get up with the kids while battling a headache sent from the devil himself because she recklessly decided to have a wild night (a glass and a half of prosecco).

When someone's buying a round and I ask for a soft drink, they often think I'm being polite and insist. It surprises me how often, when I say that I don't drink, people assume that I'm judging them and become apologetic or defensive.
I'd kind of like if it was more accepted that some people just don't drink, without the automatic assumption that they're either an ex-alcoholic, or about to set up a PowerPoint in the middle of the pub to deliver a lecture on your liver.