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

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

#31

Post by awb »

tyfon wrote: post #22
awb wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've personally had a difficult time for not doing so (professionally, socially, etc.) It was the same for me for about 6 months, maybe a year. Then people stopped offering drinks or asking why I didn't drink and things felt normal again. I think part of it was not going in to how bad it is for you because people who drink already know. I don't get uncomfortable without a drink, but if I feel like other people are…

> I've found that most 30+ yrs old people that asked why I don't drink don't really like drinking either and feel like they won't have fun or enjoy the party as much or fit in if they don't drink, but that they don't like the bloating or hangover effects if they have more than a drink or two. I'm about to cross 40 and I've stopped drinking completely. I don't enjoy the feeling and even after one beer I get depressed…

> There are lots of comments when I'm doing something socially but I just don't care

I can see how people might feel abandoned when social bonds that formed in and around drinking now have to adapt. Keep going though, your body will appreciate it even if your friends don't right now. And if the friendship can't survive you not drinking, it might not be that healthy of a friendship anyway.

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

#32

Post by WhompingWindows »

kerkeslager wrote: post #9
randlet wrote: post #7

Alcohol is really weird. It's unquestionably a pretty hard drug and yet it's (ab)use is completely normalized in our culture. It's also a drug who's abuse regularly kills people other than those using it.

> It's also a drug who's abuse regularly kills people other than those using it. I don't think this is unique to alcohol. Nicotine and driving seems pretty okay, but I can't think of any other deadly drugs out there which wouldn't impair your driving. EDIT: As other users have brought up, nicotine kills plenty of people other than those using it, in the form of second-hand smoke.

It's a very hard to scientifically compare drugs and their effects on driving...alcohol use is VERY widespread, so is driving, therefore alcohol use + driving is very widespread and we know just how terrible that is.

Opioids and hallucinogens and THC/CBD probably all negatively effect driving, but it's much harder to compare due to less study, less scale, and less data (federally illegal/obstacles abound to study many of those things).

Nicotine is not really a problem with driving, it's like caffeine in that sense...stimulants aren't as dangerous for machinery operation.

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

#34

Post by pstuart »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #27
dranktoomuch wrote: post #20

Hey gang. I've been an HN member for a long time, fairly prominent Bay Area tech executive, rich in the sense of both bank accounts and family. Alcohol brought me to my knees in my late 20s / early 30s. It started out as the typical "social lubricant" to help a natural introvert be better at connecting with people and was wonderful at that - I was the life of the party. Over a decade it leaked into a "requirement" fo…

How religious is AA?

Step 3 of the 12 steps: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

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

#35

Post by [deleted] »

quickthrowman wrote: post #14
kerkeslager wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's also a drug who's abuse regularly kills people other than those using it. I don't think this is unique to alcohol. Nicotine and driving seems pretty okay, but I can't think of any other deadly drugs out there which wouldn't impair your driving. EDIT: As other users have brought up, nicotine kills plenty of people other than those using it, in the form of second-hand smoke.

Cocaine, methamphetamine don’t impact your ability to drive well, but they may make you drive more impulsively. Opiates, benzos, and alcohol all affect technical driving skills in a negative way. I’m not opening the THC and driving can of worms.

[deleted]

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

#36

Post by rjkennedy98 »

> With the increases in alcohol use among women, there's been increases in harms for women including ER visits, hospitalization and deaths

Do people not care if men die? I do not understand why these snippets are almost always put in press releases, even when the actual numbers show that men are astonishingly more likely to die from the disease. I've seen articles about how women's rates are rising faster, when the increase in men's death over the same period is greater than the absolutely total number of women affected! Its almost as if we have to mention that women are affected or people will just ignore the problem all together. So sad.

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

#37

Post by noname120 »

big_chungus wrote: post #4

Opioid issues are easy PR, which is why they get the limelight. The perception is that only junkies abuse opioids, but lots of people drink alcohol; it's "normal", unlike opioids. As someone who doesn't drink, I've personally had a difficult time for not doing so (professionally, socially, etc.) because there's very much an expectation that everyone does. It's the typical "other guy is bad" strategy, and serves as a…

> As someone who doesn't drink, I've personally had a difficult time for not doing so (professionally, socially, etc.) because there's very much an expectation that everyone does.

To a lesser extent so is smoking in Paris. When you go out smoking brings a lot of bonding opportunities that you miss if you don't smoke (standing awkwardly on the side isn't the same + passive smoking).

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

#38

Post by opportune »

dranktoomuch wrote: post #20

Hey gang. I've been an HN member for a long time, fairly prominent Bay Area tech executive, rich in the sense of both bank accounts and family. Alcohol brought me to my knees in my late 20s / early 30s. It started out as the typical "social lubricant" to help a natural introvert be better at connecting with people and was wonderful at that - I was the life of the party. Over a decade it leaked into a "requirement" fo…

After going sober, how did you deal with social situations where either other people were moderately drinking or you were expected to be gregarious?

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

#39

Post by mlrotter »

tempsy wrote: post #26

microdosing LSD has apparently been shown to extremely effective in curbing alcoholism

I think microdosing is more a part of the nootropics world. Regular dose of LSD or Psilocybin is associated with getting a new perspective on one's addition, possibly by opening new pathway connections in the brain.

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

#40

Post by AAanon »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #27
dranktoomuch wrote: post #20

Hey gang. I've been an HN member for a long time, fairly prominent Bay Area tech executive, rich in the sense of both bank accounts and family. Alcohol brought me to my knees in my late 20s / early 30s. It started out as the typical "social lubricant" to help a natural introvert be better at connecting with people and was wonderful at that - I was the life of the party. Over a decade it leaked into a "requirement" fo…

How religious is AA?

If I had to give you a number, 20% (with a church being 100%)?

But it really depends on the group. There non-religious modifications to the AA program. They don't say a prayer every 3 minutes. It definitely worth going to a meeting or two just to listen to their stories.

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