Not sure if anyone can help, but this is about DH. This is long, because I don't want to drip feed, bottom line, he is gradually drinking more and more, but still isn't at scary levels.. so should I worry yet?
Here goes - For the past 20 years DH has nearly always had a drink in the evening, used to be usually just a bottle of beer. At the weekend still not much, half a bottle of wine or 3-4 beers per evening.
Over the last 5 years (extreme work pressure amongst other things) he's much more likely to have two beers, and has started drinking red wine often, instead.
Then, since lock down, 1-2 glasses from 5pm when he's wfh, and doing end of the day catch up meeting with colleagues (they do this, on their own time, which is a whole other story). This is followed by the amount he would normally have with dinner/ watching TV, which is now 2 bottles of beer, or 2 glasses of wine.
Despite the GP mentioning that he ought to give himself at least a 24hr break week, he won't, he says it's nothing compared to his parents, and they're fine.
Cut to the past few months, and he will have maybe 5 units a night and, I realise that it's almost ridiculous to be asking you about this, but here we are, 20 years later, and he's still very very slowly increasing the amount he drinks over the weeks, months, years.
The reason I'm aware of how much he drinks, apart from the fact that I see it, is that his mum is a function alcoholic, and his uncle was a barely functioning alcoholic. It's had a huge impact on the family.
I don't want to be a nag, I've asked him if he thinks he could manage without it if he needed to, and he says he doesn't need to, and it's a normal way to wind down, and stop fussing.
Tbf, we've had times when he hasn't been able to drink, and he hasn't starting feeling terrible or anything, but at what point do I feel concern?
I hope you can see that I'm just keeping one brain cell engaged with this, it doesn't consume me, but, as I say, I'm not sure if he will find his natural set point, or if I should be aware that he could just keep upping the drinks.
I only posted because I saw this corner of mn for the first time, I wasn't actively worrying.
Thanks for any advice or thoughts you might have.
Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.
Alcohol support
Is it possible to become an alcoholic later in life?
IntoDeepBlueSea · 24/05/2023 11:31
ViburnumFarreri · 24/05/2023 18:04
Yes of course people can develop an alcohol use disorder later in life. It’s quite common, in fact.
Have a look at the book Alcohol Explained - it’s a bit less American than The Naked Mind, iykwim, so may go down better with a bloke. There’s a good Facebook group of the same name, with plenty of men in.
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.