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On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

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Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#11

Post by derekp7 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #5

> Those nights with friends I had known for years felt no different now that I was sober. As I didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable around them, and drinking together wasn’t the only activity or situation we saw each other during. Relationships with people who I only ever drank or partied with definitely started to fade away, but I never felt like I lost anything as a result of that. The nights where I was stinging f…

I can say it helped me in my early 20's. I was "in my shell" up until I started going to bars and dance clubs once I hit about 21 to 22. Having just enough alcohol in me to not be shy helped build a social group, but it was still fun to go out even on nights that I would stick to soda or water.

However depending on the bar I went to, some of them were more pleasant if I was drinking. When I was sober, I really couldn't stand to be around a bunch of less-than-sober people (they were no longer funny or interesting). But I had the opposite experience with other crowds. Weird how that works out sometimes.

Now at my age (and without being a regular drinker), if I have one drink I'm ready to go to bed.

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#12

Post by gsich »

chihuahua wrote: post #7

I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.

This is normal, especially with beer/wine. That's why some people switch to cocktails or mix stuff with Red Bull/Coke, the sugar keeps you awake.

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#15

Post by oggadog »

derekp7 wrote: post #11
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #5

> Those nights with friends I had known for years felt no different now that I was sober. As I didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable around them, and drinking together wasn’t the only activity or situation we saw each other during. Relationships with people who I only ever drank or partied with definitely started to fade away, but I never felt like I lost anything as a result of that. The nights where I was stinging f…

I can say it helped me in my early 20's. I was "in my shell" up until I started going to bars and dance clubs once I hit about 21 to 22. Having just enough alcohol in me to not be shy helped build a social group, but it was still fun to go out even on nights that I would stick to soda or water. However depending on the bar I went to, some of them were more pleasant if I was drinking. When I was sober, I really couldn…

I definitely noticed this with a lot of people I worked with in engineering. They were quite shy and a bit hard to crack, but once they had a drink or two at a work event they were very sociable and easy to talk to. And outside of these situations they never really drank. So I think for them, alcohol was never really an issue.

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#16

Post by pcurve »

chihuahua wrote: post #7

I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.

Everybody also gets the tiredness and narrowing field of vision.

How much do you drink?

For an average 175lbs male to feel buzzed, he would need to drink 2 pints of beer (or close 1 1 liter) on relatively empty stomach quickly.

To feel drunk, it would require at least double that amount if not more.

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#17

Post by kingforaday »

justinator wrote: post #13

I gave up drinking in my early twenties because of cycling. By the end of my 20's, I had visited 9 countries by bike and crossed the US by bicycle three times.

Wow, nice accomplishment! If you have a blog on your travels, I'd be interested to read.

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#18

Post by issa »

This sounds very strange to the uninitiated, but I grew up in a part of the punk music scene that was rebelling against drugs and alcohol. As someone who has never had a drink, I've never seen the appeal, and I always wonder why more people don't give it up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#19

Post by fanso99 »

chihuahua wrote: post #7

I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.

You have most likely done that already… but have you tried many different kinds of alcoholic drinks? Beer affects me exactly as you describe it so I almost never drink it.

Single malt scotch, on the other hand, has a very different effect - gives me energy, makes me more sociable, lifts my spirit. Red wine affects me differently from white wine, cocktails also have a different effect (can’t have sugar with alcohol!). Basically, at least for some people different kinds of alcohol have a very different effect.

Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties

#20

Post by orthecreedence »

chihuahua wrote: post #7

I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.

> I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.

I feel a sense of euphoria when I drink. I also have a bell curve where drinking enough removes a layer of fear which allows me to do things I couldn't previously do while still retaining my coordination. For instance when I was younger and lived in Santa Cruz, I'd often bomb hills skateboarding. On the nights I was 3-4 beers in, I'd have no problem whatsoever. If I drank less than that or more than that, I'd be a meat crayon.

On a general note, be happy alcohol does nothing for you. It's one of the most addictive, vile, and damaging drugs that exists. The withdrawl for alcoholics is worse than heroin, and one of the most deadly. The people I've met in my life that are addicted to it have a really hard time.

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