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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To rant about alcohol and the way it's normalised?

704 replies

CheapSausagesAndSpam · 04/01/2018 11:53

It's EVERYWHERE and it's poisonous. People normalise it..."Oh...wine o'clock already tra la la!"

And all that shite.

It's responsible for thousands of deaths and injuries and trauma every year and yet it's the first thing people think of when they want to celebrate something.

Get this

3 May 2017: New figures released today show that hospital admissions due to alcohol are at their highest ever levels.

The data, summarised in a release from NHS Digital, shows that alcohol-related hospital admissions in England have increased by 64% over the last decade, with an extra 430,000 people being admitted due to alcohol-related causes in 2015/16 compared with 2005/06.

This takes the total number of alcohol-related hospital admissions to over 1.1 million in 2015/16.

And this

Alcohol is linked to over 60 illnesses and diseases, including heart disease, liver disease and cancer. Figures from the local alcohol profiles for England show that admissions due to liver disease have gone up 57% over the last decade, and that the number of people diagnosed with alcohol-related cancer has increased 8%.

How is this a lovely drink? How is this something that is ok to do in front of children and even to allow children to partake of?

People on MN often say "Oh I let my 12 year old have half a glass of wine...it's a good way to introduce it!"

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO!?

And new research points to the fact that it causes irreversable damage to stem cells, scrambling DNA and eventually causing cancers.

www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/03/alcohol-can-cause-irreversible-genetic-damage-to-stem-cells-says-study?CMP=fb_gu

Think about it. Society is not doing itself any favours.

OP posts:
peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers · 07/01/2018 20:13

I wasn't referring just to comments made on this thread

So the consensus from POSTERS you mentioned was not referring to their comments on this thread?

Hmm
Gwenhwyfar · 07/01/2018 20:13

stop - We don't all binge drink though. Why tar us all with the same brush?

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 07/01/2018 20:14

I think people are fine with drinking until they are not - if that makes sense

Like a PP Cauliflower I have got to the stage where I realise

I am alcohol dependant
I drink 50% more than I should
It’s affecting my health

So now I am going to try and cut down

But many people are not there yet . They are defensive about it . That’s fine ! I have been drinking for decades

But it’s got to the stage that the pleasure is offset the displeasure

I expect my livers fucked Sad

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 07/01/2018 20:16

Gwen I was speaking for
Myself and the people who have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol

If you are a moderate drinker and happy then I salute you ! I don’t think moderate drinking is a problem at all

But I look at the world and I think there are way more problem drinkers than moderate IFSWIM ?

peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers · 07/01/2018 20:18

But many people are not there yet . They are defensive about it

No. They are not defensive, because they do not have a problem and have nothing to defend.

Why is this so hard for people to understand? Saying that moderate drinking is normal and perfectly fine is not defensive, it is not confused, it is not justifying binge drinking. It is just a simple FACT. That's all.

Tessliketrees · 07/01/2018 20:18

So, the pro and anti drinking people... thoughts on illegal drug use?

MuseumOfCurry · 07/01/2018 20:18

stop I’m sorry to hear this but 50% above rec, while not ideal, would not necessarily fuck your liver? Have you had your liver function tested?

peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers · 07/01/2018 20:19

So, the pro and anti drinking people... thoughts on illegal drug use?

Bit of a large question, but ok. Bit of weed now and again, perfectly fine. Heroin, bad idea. Was that what you wanted?

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 07/01/2018 20:19

So, the pro and anti drinking people... thoughts on illegal drug use?

Its illegal and would cost me my job and so I wouldn't do it.

Heartoffire · 07/01/2018 20:20

Most people don’t abuse alcohol or if they do they rein it back in.

Most people am have w bet without loosing their homes etc.

This thread is polarised with ex alcoholics, non drinkers and in reality most people are just fine

Bubba1234 · 07/01/2018 20:22

I feel sorry for people that their lives revolve around alcohol. It’s the last thing I would think of doing especially on a weekend. What’s the point in going out to get trollied & die all the next Day sure you don’t see the weekend. I like doing days out or staying in a hotel or go to a spa things like that. Drink is a waste of money 💰

Tessliketrees · 07/01/2018 20:23

Was that what you wanted?

It was but now I actually have to go which is a pain in the arse.

peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers · 07/01/2018 20:24

I like doing days out or staying in a hotel or go to a spa things like that

So do I. But I sometimes like a gin and tonic while doing any of those things.
Some of you are picturing us rolling around on the floor clutching a bottle of cheap cider, clearly.

Gwenhwyfar · 07/01/2018 20:29

"If you are a moderate drinker and happy then I salute you ! I don’t think moderate drinking is a problem at all "

OP is against all drinking though. Valerrie even wants it banned. I'd agree with you if the thread was about excessive drinking.

"But I look at the world and I think there are way more problem drinkers than moderate IFSWIM ?"

That's probably just the circle you're in. Either that or you see everyone as being similar to you.

Gwenhwyfar · 07/01/2018 20:29

"What’s the point in going out to get trollied "

Aren't you able to have a few drinks without getting trollied?

Heartoffire · 07/01/2018 20:34

i like staying in a hotel

Only if it’s a good hotel and yes a glass or 2 of wine at dinner is very welcome.

For goodness sake it’s not total abstinence or absolute drunkenness.

Surely adults on this thread can see the difference ffs

MsGameandWatching · 07/01/2018 20:36

I wasn't referring just to comments made on this thread

Oh are we allowed to do that then? Because I seem to remember various descriptive posts from a certain poster on this thread where they describe being beyond pissed, having to be carried up stairs incapable and unable to walk unaided and being next to useless through hangover the next day. Sadly they can't be linked to as they no longer exist and I suppose that's not really the done thing anyway but people do remember these things.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 07/01/2018 20:58

Gwen you might be right !

Me Friend and I were saying we assumed that Everyone got wasted in their 20s , took drugs and slept around

But no ! I am 44 and it’s pretty clear that for my age group there are Huge amounts of people that drink a lot

But yes maybe the younger folks have a far healthier relationship

Museum thanks for the kind words which I don’t deserve ! I feel so awful when I drink that I am assuming it’s liver damage . It might be age !!

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 07/01/2018 21:01

Also reading the OP she is NOT talking about moderate drinking

So I think any moderate drinkers shouldn’t take umbrage as there is nothing in her post about this

TheOtherGirl · 07/01/2018 21:34

Twin what I'm saying is that adding alcohol to the occasion doesn't enhance my enjoyment.

peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers · 07/01/2018 21:35

read it again, you've missed half of it. She talks about alcohol being bad full stop.

Gwenhwyfar · 07/01/2018 21:37

"Me Friend and I were saying we assumed that Everyone got wasted in their 20s , took drugs and slept around "

Wow. Not true at all. I did get drunk a few times in my twenties, never slept around or took drugs. None of my friends took drugs either, except maybe a one-time try of weed or mushrooms.

I'm 40 so same age group as you.

Gwenhwyfar · 07/01/2018 21:38

stop - she's talking about alcohol being 'normalised' in our culture. She's against it full stop.

TheOtherGirl · 07/01/2018 21:39

Ms at no point have I said I don't drink, or that I have never been drunk. I do, and I have.

But I certainly don't have to rely on having a drink in order to enjoy the party, or the company of my friends/DH. I'll sometimes go to a party and not drink because there's nothing there to my taste. I still enjoy the party just as much.

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 07/01/2018 21:49

Twin what I'm saying is that adding alcohol to the occasion doesn't enhance my enjoyment.

Really, so having a drink of something that you admit to enjoying doesn't add to your enjoyment of an occasion. You seem so desperate to say that you don't enjoy something that you do enjoy. It is odd @TheOtherGirl