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America has a drinking problem

theatlantic.com

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Re: America has a drinking problem

#581

Post by [deleted] »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #545
TameAntelope wrote: post #261

I'm going to generalize, but the US is more diverse (rank #90 vs #151 for Germany, #169 for France, #111 for Croatia [0]) and we also have a very painful past and present that makes us acutely aware of our inability to socialize. America also has a cultural obsession with self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue which makes "socializing" a bit of a taboo concept, in a weird way. It's a crutch to "need" to be around…

>we also have a very painful past and present that makes us acutely aware of our inability to socialize. What are you talking about?

[deleted]

Re: America has a drinking problem

#582

Post by dantondwa »

Barrin92 wrote: post #135

Article mirrors my experience. For context I'm German, my wife's French and we've got family in Croatia who own a vineyard so I'm used to being around alcohol and people drinking. My first impression when I spent time was in the US was indeed how bipolar drinking is compared to Europe. We probably drink a hell of a lot more in raw terms than the average American does.Two glasses of wine for dinner, another one in the…

I think it is necessary to distinguish between generations, at least in Italy, but I’ve seen similar patterns in other countries I’ve lived.

My generation in Italy (millennials) tends to drink a lot more and with the precise purpose of getting drunk. The way they/we do it resembles much more the American way than the way our parents used to drink.

Of course, this is based on personal experience, but I’ve seen this pattern across different social classes and it seems to be mainly linked to age, more than education or economic condition.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#584

Post by Auracle »

jnathsf wrote: post #425
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #153

It's hard to reduce the US to a single culture. Alcohol consumption habits vary greatly from region to region, or even city to city depending on where you live. I've noticed that heavy drinkers tend to cluster with other heavy drinkers. The more you see your friends and coworkers binge drinking regularly, the more you feel it's an acceptable and even common behavior. Likewise, non-drinkers tend to cluster with each o…

Many have gone California sober [0] - moving away from alcohol to cannabis and psychedlics as a way to be more healthy and sustainable [0] https://www.addictionresource.net/blog/california-sober/

Totally anecdotal, but from knowing heavy lifelong drinkers and heavy lifelong pot smokers, it seems to me that alcohol is worse for your body and marijuana is worse for your brain.

Neither are 'healthy' in any sense of the word.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#585

Post by bernardlunn »

This article highlights how the pandemic accelerated the alcoholism of people who previously only “had an alcohol problem”, but that is only part of the story.

I am alcoholic Brit who has “not touched a drop” for nearly 5 years. I have also lived in America, Europe and Asia. My personal experience is still that America has way less of a drinking culture than UK.

Most people who drink alcohol do NOT become alcoholics. This is unlike smoking where almost everyone becomes addicted.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#586

Post by 6foot4_82iq »

rkk3 wrote: post #557
6foot4_82iq wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you drink 4-5 medium beers everyday, you'd need to drink at least 10 to induce a hangover.

hangover's get worse when you are older, or when you are older you drink less regularly so you get a worse hangover?

The "hangovers get worse when you are older" tripe is a miscorrelation. Any ageing alcoholic can attest to that.

The majority drink hardest when they're in their 20s, start slowing down in their 30s, and all but teetotal as they progress through their 40s. Hangovers are all just a product of your tolerance.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#587

Post by TRcontrarian »

kenneth wrote: post #493
jnathsf wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many have gone California sober [0] - moving away from alcohol to cannabis and psychedlics as a way to be more healthy and sustainable [0] https://www.addictionresource.net/blog/california-sober/

Cannabis is in no way healthier than alcohol. It's hard to quantify the damages done by one vs. the other; but there are very serious social and psychological downsides to regular cannabis use.

I've had the misfortune of several alcoholic roommates, and it's disturbing. They'll yell at you, threaten you, get emotional, violent, cry, the whole works, and then deny it all the next morning.

In contrast, every regular marijuana user I've known long enough to form a judgement about their habit is very inoffensive to the people around them. It doesn't seem to bleed out into their work and emotional lives as much.

The evidence doesn't support marijuana being more dangerous than alcohol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness#/media/File:D... Alcohol is moderately more habit forming, and several orders of magnitude more dangerous.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#588

Post by lotsofpulp »

sk5t wrote: post #528
lotsofpulp wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the pediatricians and dentists I meet say juice is basically as bad as soda due to sugar content. I never imagined juice falling victim to new knowledge about health, but it makes sense considering sugar (and carbs) are basically public enemy number 1 for almost everyone in the world.

Fruit is nature's candy. So it tastes good! But it really is nature's _candy_, so it also harms your teeth.

Solid fruit is not the problem, juice is. You wouldn't eat 10 oranges at once, but you can drink 10 oranges worth of sugar in a glass of orange juice.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#590

Post by fnord77 »

nick__m wrote: post #368
galaxyLogic wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't meth just plain destructive, what it does to your body, and brain?

It's somewhat more subtle, pure medical grade methamphetamine (desoxyn) taken orally is theoretically the best ADD medicine available but it's almost never prescribed for political reasons. Meth has lot less sympathetic side effects than dextroamphetamine per unit of dopaminergic stimulation, this simple difference enables abuser to consume ridiculously large dose and those high doses are destructive. https://astralc…

I was prescribed desoxyn for adhd - didn't seem particularly hard to get...
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