I don't drink anymore. I used to, but became a bit too fond of it and gave up. Was much easier than I thought it would be - I was a bit of a binge drinker rather than a daily drinker.
I know I binge drank because I was anxious. Alcohol is a bit of a bastard in that way - enough of it tends to obliterates anxiety (in the short term!!)
Anyway, I have a friend who pretty much drinks every day. He drinks in the evenings and if I ring him or he rings me past about 8pm, he's usually slurring a bit - sometimes a lot. If he talks a lot of rubbish, I'll often get a text the next morning to apologise. He's never horrible or mean.
My friend insists that he's happy, never anxious or even stressed. He says he just likes the feeling of being drunk. He reckons he's not masking anything and occasionally goes a few days without drinking just to show himself he can. He's in his fifties, doesn't have kids and is single. He lives quite a full life - holidays, hobbies etc.
I've always assumed that people who drink often/to excess do so because they're sad or anxious, trying to block things out. AIBU? Is this judgemental of me? Do some people get drunk just because they like it or are there almost always underlying issues (loneliness, guilt, trauma, anxiety, depression etc) do you think?