What's the fun in getting smashed?

[Icimoi]

I have absolutely nothing against alcohol and social drinking, I like the odd glass of wine or G&T at home and will drink a bit more if I go out socially. I also completely understand that sometimes people will go over the top and drink too much and do things they may regret later. But I do find it difficult to understand people who talk about how they specifically plan to go out and get totally rat-arsed, and how they do it every weekend.

So could someone explain it to me? I just don't understand what is the point in planning to go out and spending a fortune on drink, getting so drunk that you throw up and can't remember anything about it the next day but have a horrendous hangover? I could understand it if you remember feeling that you were having a good time, but frequently people can't. And is it really a good time if you are totally embarrassed by what you remember about your behaviour?

Because it's fun.

You don't throw up and black out unless you've gone way beyond pissed.

Because unless you're 15 you don't throw up and black out. You just get merrily pissed and have fun with other people who are generally on the same level of drunkness as you. I hear you on the hangover though. That's the downside.

Let off steam, a different form of socialising, to have fun with friends and family, an occasional blow out, stress relief, chance to be less inhibited...I could go on.

Well done on your excellent restraint.

I used to when I was young and had no responsibilities. Went out Friday and Saturday night and pub Sunday afternoon normally. I did it because I could I suppose. I swear it was cheaper to do it back then aswell. Could go to the pub with 15 quid and have a bloody time on it. I now just go out down local maybe twice a month on a Friday or Saturday evening whilst parents babysit but I don't miss going out all the time anymore. I know some friends (guys) who still do it every weekend. They are in the 30's single and no children.

As I say, I completely understand why it can be fun to get merrily pissed. I just don't get why it's fun to get so pissed that you have no memory of it and feel awful afterwards. After all, if you can't remember it you presumably don't even know whether you had fun or whether you actually had an awful time?

I don't see the point in having one drink. If i drink, I drink to get drunk.
I am pregnant at the moment & plan to bf so potentially wont touch a drop for another year - seriously craving a nice strawberry daquiri!!

& no, I agree I don't see the point in getting blind drunk where you can't remember your night. Merrily drunk is much better!!

OP I agree with you. I don't see the point in going out to get deliberately drunk and especially not every weekend. I suppose it's good that everyone's different but I'll stay the way I am

I have no problem getting a bit pissed.
I too don't understand going out with the sole intention of getting completely smashed. It seems like the opposite of fun.
I know a few people who do this. Their stories of nights out always seem to invoke fights, losing stuff and waking up not knowing where they are.

There is a difference I think between going out with your mates to have a laugh knowing you will get pissed along the way and going out to get hammered.

I don't understand the latter either.

Depends on how old you are I guess. Now that I'm a sad old mum of three I'd be inclined to agree with you.

But I had a Hell of a good ride when I was younger.

From talking to friends, it seems to me that being competitive with the hangovers is part of the "fun".

I gave up drinking to excess, because I never get hangovers, so I could be bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 7am the next day with no after effects, and it got soooooo boring hearing friends talking about their hangovers so much.

Plus I always had something more important to spend money on.

Modern British Groupthink!

Because it's fun. But it stops being fun when you drink so much you can't remember anything and just end up feeling shite.

I can't drink anywhere near as much as I used too. The hangovers last days now whereas I didn't used to suffer much from them. More to the point I can't afford it. I'd rather spend the little cash I do have on a day out with the kids.

Now that I'm old and past it I see what you are saying.

I have no idea.

I never found it fun personally.

I always felt out of control and I hated it.

I get where you're coming from, I don't deliberately go out to get legless, I hate hangovers. That said, some of the funniest things that have ever happened to me were the result of alcohol. I suppose some of the worst too.

I think most people tend to go out to get pissed, but end up getting shitfaced, and then,I agree it's not so fun. Does tend to happen to me on my rare nights out though, start off having a blast, then someone gets the shots in,I think..yeah! Why not! And it's always the beginning of the end

There's drinking and there's hangovers.

When I was younger a few years ago certain things like shots and no food before drinking would make me throw up. I also learned that lots of wine was very good at getting me vomity. So I rarely touch wine apart from mealtimes at dinner parties.

I now have food before I go out, drink more to get merry and it's fun.

ambien you can drink while breastfeeding. So long as you're sober enough to look after the baby, you're sober enough to feed so enjoy your strawberry daquiri!

I'd never want to get out of control or puking and I can't stand hangovers but it is fun to get pissed every now and again. Drunkenness is never my aim though - justa fun by product of going out!

I drank myself into oblivion on Saturday. Unplanned, and not good. The depressed shameful feeling of "oh no I blacked out, did I do anything mad or stupid" has only went away today. Spent all day yesterday feeling sick and awful, and with that on edge feeling you have when you're a kid and have done something wrong but haven't been caught out yet. I think it would be classed as anxiety? I often plan to go out, have a few, enjoy myself. And do. But maybe once or twice a year I get greedy (when I'm drunk) and forget my limits. This usually makes me go off alcohol for a while. Still very about it this time, but feeling better knowing I only did one really embarrassing thing/everyone drinking with us had done it too at some stage. Don't understand myself why people plan every weekend to drink as much as they're bodies can hold. Anytime I do it, I seriously regret it.

Because there is a vast amount of unacknowledged alcoholism in this country, IMHO.

And this might be a bit controversial, but when I smoked grass, it relaxed me, gave me a buzz, made me hungry or sleepy. But I always felt in control, and never ever blacked out while under the influence of it. The worst I would do is ring a taxi, go home and sleep (without bed spinning). I think personally I am much more mental/likely to put myself in danger or really embarrass myself when I'm drunk than stoned. Don't understand why it is a class B illegal substance, but alcohol is considered fine. For example, known people to wet themselves when very very drunk, but never known anyone stoned to do that!

And maybe because I'm quite introverted in public, and alcohol makes me very extrovert, I'm uncomfortable the next day, knowing I have said or done things I usually would never dream off. Even though I have friends that would say the same thing completely sober and not think anything off it.

Oh I'm with you OP I don't get it when people set out to get blind drunk (and then compete over the hangovers, yawn)

I drank too much in my 20s, a combination of enjoying the actual drinking part (I love wine), peer pressure, and a lot of very late nights where you could get through a scary amount of alcohol over the course of an evening, without really registering it. But I never liked being drunk - I hated that awful feeling of the room spinning, and I HATED wondering if I'd been rude or embarrassed myself (- pretty likely, as I get opinionated and loud when drunk ) - and I hated the hangovers which got worse and worse.

One night when I was 29 I went to DP's work friend's house for drinks. I got so, so drunk and it was largely because DP's colleague - a professional academic in her 40s, so not young and irresponsible - kept badgering me to drink more and more, giving me whisky (I didn't really understand how strong it was) and checking to see if I'd drunk it and refilling it. Why, I have no idea but the next day I was so ill and I just felt disgusted that the whole point of the evening had been to get as drunk as possible. I made a conscious decision not to end up like that woman and still be drinking ridiculous amounts in my 30as and 40s. I cut right back. Then I had DC so stopped altogether through pregnancy and BF - and now I can only handle two drinks max. So much happier this way. I'll have one, occasionally two glasses of wine on a night out. My younger self would have felt so deprived at the thought!

But, now I'm in my 40s ands still have friends my age who do this. One friend had a wild night out, and woke up covered in injuries with no clue what had happened

However there was a radio report recently that said binge drinking and excessive drinking are falling among younger people. It's older ones who are more likely to do it now.

I'm 23 soon, so still youngish, but probably old enough to know better