U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#201

Post by rudedogg » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 8:59 AM UTC

ajuc wrote: post #181

Every measurable escapism mechanism possible in USA is off the charts. People continue to blame them instead of solving the real issue - death of the middle class.

I wonder if the issue is deeper than that. It seems like a lot of people lack a “purpose” in life - something bigger than oneself.

I say this because the people I know who have died from, or have alcohol problems, are (or were) pretty well off financially. I know that’s not typical, but being upper or upper-middle class doesn’t seem to matter in my experience.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#202

Post by whiddershins » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:00 AM UTC

likemybooze wrote: post #158

It seems very difficult to get reliable information about what constitutes problem drinking. I think the best answer might be “if it’s interfering with your life in ways that bother you, you have a problem.” I am what my doctor would term a “heavy drinker” since I probably average 20 units (10g by weight) per week. That’s two cocktails, or half a bottle of wine, or three beers, every night. I would say maybe once eve…

My 2 cents is, if you can drink like that, and it makes you happy, just do! it’s not clear to me moderate drinking is actually bad for you. It might actually be good for you. Also is life a competition to live the longest? Is that the only definition of success?

Just if you find the pattern changing for the worse, stop.

You might also spontaneously stop when you’re older. Lots of people do.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#203

Post by ako » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:00 AM UTC

ronnier wrote: post #12

The state of men in the US is really deteriorating. Men are drugging, drinking, and smoking theirselves to death. And sometimes the death is very explicit, being by suicide which is climbing to rates higher than ever. Prisons are filled with men, universities are increasingly seeing fewer men than women. Men are increasingly sexless much longer than females. Seems we have a big problem on our hands.

Don't forget eating themselves to death, overeating and sugar intake are also a big problem.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#204

Post by ako » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:03 AM UTC

jokowueu wrote: post #2

>The research shows that in 2017, alcohol proved to be even more deadly than illicit drugs, including opioids. That year there were about 70,000 drug overdose deaths — about 2,300 fewer than those involving alcohol, >Only cigarettes are deadlier than alcohol: More than 480,000 people die each year in the U.S. because of smoking-related illnesses. I didn't realise how much worse this is compared to the opioid epedemic…

And to add some perspective, 300000 deaths per year in us due to obesity and overweight.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#205

Post by speedplane » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:06 AM UTC

ronnier wrote: post #12

The state of men in the US is really deteriorating. Men are drugging, drinking, and smoking theirselves to death. And sometimes the death is very explicit, being by suicide which is climbing to rates higher than ever. Prisons are filled with men, universities are increasingly seeing fewer men than women. Men are increasingly sexless much longer than females. Seems we have a big problem on our hands.

> The state of men in the US is really deteriorating. Men are drugging, drinking, and smoking theirselves to death.

It's very strange that the same people who advocated libertarianism and complete freedom years ago when men were in complete control, are now advocating for collectivism and support when they are in trouble.

The conservative/libertarian view should be that if men want to drink themselves to death, the government should not get involved.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#206

Post by yason » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:24 AM UTC

This is completely off-topic but... The article in question gave an accidental glimpse of a better world or, well, better web.

The cookie and data protection dialog asks the usual question. The choices are to agree and continue, or "Decline and Visit Plain Text Site"! What? Someone still does plaintext sites? And to get the plaintext version you also get the privilege of not having to accept any of this:

"...use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. This information is shared with social media services, sponsorship, analytics and other third-party service providers."

This must be a hidden statement of some sort from the web administrators.

Basically they propose whether I want to get screwed in so many ways or, declining that, only get the content I actually want. Nobody genuinely interested in tracking me down and selling my data to the moon and back would do this.

This contrast presented is borderline between hilarious and very depressing, very much underlining what most sites actually offer you but I certainly wish all websites were exactly like this. Decline all shit and get the plaintext version - how much better could things get?!

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#207

Post by balfirevic » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:41 AM UTC

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #200

tasty_freeze wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It always amazes me that casual and habitual drinking is an accepted thing yes, everyone agrees drinking and driving is stupid, dangerous, and selfish. yet there are so many bars that are located such that nearly 100% of the patrons drove to/from the bar. Yes, some may have a designated driver, but I suspect many many simply drink and drive because they feel OK to drive and walking home isn't an option. I'm a 175 l…

"yes, everyone agrees drinking and driving is stupid, dangerous, and selfish. yet there are so many bars that are located such that nearly 100% of the patrons drove to/from the bar. Yes, some may have a designated driver, but I suspect many many simply drink and drive because they feel OK to drive and walking home isn't an option" This has always irritated me. It isn't that the bars are located where they are: It is…

> This is mostly because of public intoxication laws

Public intoxication laws are totalitarian bullshit.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#208

Post by for_the_record » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:48 AM UTC

My father died from alcohol back in November. He could only go a few hours before showing signs of withdrawal. During the last two days of his life. He tried to sober up but was fainting and falling a lot because his heart was so weak. My brother found him on the bathroom floor, the bathroom sink was still running. We guessed he was getting sick over the sink and stood up too quickly, blacked out, fell, hit the back of his head and died. The official death certificate said cause of death: blunt force trauma to the head. It listed the secondary cause as falling. And that was it. No mention of alcohol whatsoever. This study wouldn't include him. I wonder how much worse the problem really is.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#209

Post by watwut » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 9:56 AM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #136

Akinato wrote: post #73

My entire family, outside of myself, has struggled with alcohol. I watched it turn them from brilliant, creative people into miserable wretches that avoided living life like one would an allergy. For every single one of them, they started out drinking heavily at parties. Then they would have a beer after work to 'relax'. Then two. Then four. Then six. And then their livers, marriages, and careers started to fall apar…

Not everyone goes from casual drinking to full-on life destroying alcoholism. Just as not everyone who gambles loses their house to the casino, or even does a line of cocaine and starts turning tricks for their next fix. We tried prohibition during an extremely prude moment in the USA. It failed so miserably that we passed a constitutional amendment to revert a previous amendment, which is pretty incredible. The stor…

It was not so much extreme prude moment, but more of massive problems with pervasive alcoholism moment. People drinking out their whole salaries leaving dependents hungry and obviously a lot of violence - street and domestical.

Prohibition did not worked just like drug war don't work, but it did not started on whim for no reason.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#210

Post by PopeDotNinja » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 10:01 AM UTC

throwaway287391 wrote: post #124

dranktoomuch wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great question, the first year my sponsor said "avoid those events or have an escape plan" avoiding was a non starter so the "escape plan" was I committed to leave, akwardly as it may be, before i picked up a drink. aka if someobdy was pressuring me to drink to the point i felt i had to i would say "ok get me a beer i have to go to the bathroom" and then disappear and blame it on an upset stomach and believe the trut…

> avoiding was a non starter so the "escape plan" was I committed to leave, akwardly as it may be, before i picked up a drink. > aka if someobdy was pressuring me to drink to the point i felt i had to i would say "ok get me a beer i have to go to the bathroom" and then disappear and blame it on an upset stomach I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but I don't understand -- why was pretending to get sick easier th…

Because someone who is pushing alcohol on you is not thinking about you. They are thinking about about how they want you to have alcohol, which has nothing to do with you. You do not owe them an explanation about why their plan for you doesn't work for you. To look at it another way, it easier to explain things to someone who is trying to listen.