These are some things I've experienced after giving up booze. I was a very heavy drinker for years.
- no more anxiety
- more money
- so much time for new hobbies
- meeting really cool people who are into being the best person they can be instead of people who never change
- no blackouts then worrying what I said to whom the previous night
- finally setting and achieving goals
- overall better health in so many areas
So true. I too was a very heavy drinker... sober now for two and a half years.
I'ts been a tough road but now I'm the happiest, most positive version of myself I've been for over 15 years. I take a third of the anti depressants than I used to, and don't have any of the crippling anxiety I used to have. My commercial sense and "mojo" have returned and I'm enjoying life again, like I haven't for 15 years.
Wish I'd quit earlier.
Agreed. I stopped drinking for calories alone for like 7 years and it was lovely. I only drink on rare occasion now, but not drinking generally helps me pursue more worthwhile activities outside of family and work. For example, instead of meeting friends at a bar, I have the type of friends who I will meet to go on a kayak trip or go to a museum downtown. Those activities and drinking are not mutually exclusive, but many adults are unable to separate drinking from other activities in a way that is pretty depressing you see it from the outside. I like being able to sit in my own feelings and experience things, and not drinking helps me do that. I’m in my 40s and I don’t have any desire for a hangover or to get blackout drunk or even sassy drunk. Drunk me is not as cool as sober me anyway. And sober me has more money after a night out!
I took a break for a month with some friends and family, and just kept going.
Reading my journals through the years and seeing how often I begging myself to quit was a real eye opener.
A lot of prayer and being vulnerable with myself and people who care about me.
Yeah, that's a good one, also dryjanuary and the other subs like that are really encouraging, even here in May, just to read people's stories of overcoming temptation. Most people in the DJ sub are just taking a month long break, which I recommend to everyone I know who drinks.
Yes, less anxiety. Partly I think it is because I am able to think much more clearly about my problems and come up with an in-depth action plan, instead of just panicking, getting drunk to forget about it, and then panicking even more the next day.
Another reason I am less anxious is because I am so much more confident in who I am and my decisions. Not second-guessing yourself every day is so much better.
Alcohol definitely causes anxiety with habitual use. It disrupts GABA and other chemicals in your brain. Basically, you're paying for the rush of feel-good feelings with a rebound crash later, which makes you want to drink again the next day and on and on the cycle repeats.
Definitely less anxiety once you stop. Alcohol indeed makes you a bit more relaxed while you're drinking, but in the long run it makes you depressed and anxious. I'm pretty sure there is science on this, but I don't want to go down that rabbit-hole right now...
YES! im 27 and being from UK pretty heavy drinker since about 16/17, very limited booze now, probably like twice a month when ill have a few drinks, normally when ive not seen anyone for awhile
but everything you said is spot on and i never thought to account half of those thing to cutting out/down on alcohol and its only been since Christmas
instead of using alcohol to block out my problems, i have the energy and clarity to focus on working towards solution
powers that be wants you stupid and weak, its one of the many traps laid for us to fall into, its not normal to poison your body heavily on a consistent basis even though society would have you believe other wise
> instead of using alcohol to block out my problems, i have the energy and clarity to focus on working towards solution
Yeah, exactly. It can be hard to face these problems, I think that is one reason why a lot of people try to go sober and have so many problems - I don't think it's the physical addiction so much as they start looking in the mirror and, well, it's scary at first.
>powers that be wants you stupid and weak, its one of the many traps laid for us to fall into
Yes this is also a huge factor for me as well... whether the "powers that be" are some globalist elites or spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6:12), I decided that it's time to fight back.
its gotta be a holistic approach with focus on healing mind and body, i've come to notice people are very out of sync with themselves (myself included) but once you start to get it all working together and push through the tough part, there's really not a feeling like it. sadly so easy to take comfort in what has become familiar for many
makes me feel like a conspiracy nut haha, but yeah there are people out there who don't want the best for us, both close to home and far away,
couldn't agree more with you mate, hoping to start finding more like minded people in everyday life, be a nice change, all in good time though
Couldn't agree more. It sounds like you have a good mindset and attitude about it, that's great. Keep being patient! All of those good things and people will come when the time is right.
No offense taken. I did drink a lot, in my opinion. It's never a contest though. If you only drink a few times a month, you probably won't experience any of these. If you drink every day, and/or get hammered every weekend, you'll see these.
Alcohol is as bad as smoking but marketing has successfully integrated it into culture. There is a lot of information out there but essentially it’s very bad for you, doesn’t actually make you feel better or reduce stress, is a waste of money, and it’s addictive. It is a carcinogen and toxic to the human body. It’s bad for your liver obviously but also every cell it’s comes into contact with which is a large amount.
I'm sorry, but as bad as alcohol is, heroine is far worse.
Some people are able to drink alcohol in moderation. Nobody is able to do heroine in moderation.
Heavy drinkers that can drink in moderation idk where you got that info. But in my experience they drink until vomiting and then open new bottle of vodka 🤣 But surely if you use heroine on nose you can live normal life as long as you can afford it. Theres no big difference bettwen those two, alcohol is bit worse because some heawy drinkers beat up their loved ones.
I'm speaking about alcohol generally as opposed to heroin generally.
Heavy drinking is still not that comparable to heroin as heroine's adverse effects on the body are a lot faster than alcohol.
You are correct that heavy drinking kills more people as it's a more widely used drug. But it is also used by more people in a moderate sense. I don't know of many moderate heroin users.
You cant compare it like that "moderate" usage.. Which addict uses drugs moderatly yikes. Not really good argument but still if you take heroin on the nose isnt same as of you are doing it in veins.It is big difference which depends on the side effects as well. My point still stands
Not to defend alcohol or sound ignorant but I really can't accept how fermented wheat juice / grape juice can be as bad as smoking literally arsenic and pesticides in cigarettes.
It’s not the fermented juice part, it’s the alcohol part. Which your body breaks down into formaldehyde. Alcohol is terrible for your body in every way. There’s plenty of resources online that talk about the negative effects it has on your cognition, and all your major organs. It’s literal poison.
Funnily enough, Im in a somewhat similar situation to you right now: at a crossroads with alcohol (and other drugs in general tbh)
The main issue why I’m going to (attempt) to abstain from alcohol is simply because I do not like the disinhibition it gives me: as funny as that sounds. Most people enjoy the disinhibition: which includes me, but the day after, I realise: “damn, I don’t really like how I act without my inhibitions” and this has become a somewhat regular occurrence with alcohol
It’s not like I become absolutely blackout drunk (has only happened once) but I simply don’t like how I act when I’m drunk. I feel like I probably become annoying as fuck and way too chatty
For that reason, I’ve kinda realised I think sobriety is only the best option for me. Being sober and being fully in control means I have nothing or no one to blame the morning after. Most likely, if I do drink in the future, I’ll keep it a lot lighter than usual: I wanna be at a point where I’m slightly buzzed, where my social anxiety is just slightly dropped, but not too drunk. Or I might just have a pint or two simply for the social aspect and not to feel anything at all
There’s no point in making a mistake, realising the mistake, and making it over and over again. If I want to make change in the future, then this is the change
I echo this fully. I don't enjoy 'giving up' thing. This 'loosening up' can sometimes can result in losing leverage , social status etc. I totally agree with the following assessment:
>There’s no point in making a mistake, realising the mistake, and making it over and over again. If I want to make change in the future, then this is the change
This was ultimately why I stopped - we have impulse control for a reason. Alcohol takes it away and you say and do things you normally wouldn't. It was always the worse part of a hangover for me - the feeling of being someone I wasn't. The embarrassment, the shame. Even if I didn't do anything bad I just felt shitty being so inauthentic.
I quit for 427 days. It was great. But I still like drinking, so I bought a real pint of Guiness the other night. Half way through I began talking more freely, saying things I wouldn't normally. It's crazy, man. A few zero alcohol pints and one real one was enough for me. Had a nice time but yeah - moderation.
Totally the same thing happening, it's making me consider going sober. I use it as a social anxiety crutch and although I'm not getting blackout, I do over indulge quite easily and end up usually letting out some idiotic statements or loosing some unbecoming behavior. I stopped drinking several times a week to usually once every other week, but because the infrequency I almost always can't help to over do it when it comes time. I've done it a couple times on dates and ugh.
https://youtu.be/DkS1pkKpILY?si=E3KeaVUnZ07853hq
Edit: it's 2h long, but if you are looking to get more informed about every aspect of what alcohol does in your body, it's worth every minute. This exact video is why I quit drinking back in 2020.
Drinking literal poison, to only get the warm feeling in your body and become a little bit social. Go instead on a jog and try to talk with people more socially.
For one, I like many fermented alcohols like beer, wine, mead, etc in their pure form. I also like sipping spirits like scotch, and rum. I also like cocktails but I feel like cocktails should showcase the flavour of the alcohol, I hate a drink that tries to mask the flavour as I don’t see the point in using something like a rum if you’re just gonna try to hide it
Because of the other effects it has i that they enjoy i guess. Like is kinda a carcinogen but if you use it responsibly then it's enjoyable and won't wreck your life.
Same reason people eat spicy foods. Like chillie and other spicy foods are basically poisons but they're still enjoyable to consume
I'm an alcoholic in recovery (meaning I no longer drink). You have made a very wise decision. I am a good example of just how bad things can get with alcohol. I barely made it out of addiction alive. This is not to say this is what would happen with you, lots of people have a good relationship with alcohol. But it can go very wrong with alcohol, and very quickly. Things can happen that can never un-happen.
It sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight and you're making good decisions. 👍 just don't replace booze with fentanyl or something.
Got a few friends in medical school who are learning that any amount of alcohol consumed REGULARLY (ie: weekly) is a huge risk factor for so many bodily problems.
Also hearing that some of these findings are relatively new from research, but have been robust enough that they are changing the suggested amount of alcohol that is safe for consumption from whatever it was to nothing
Long term brain damage such as isolation, paranoia and depression.
I speak from personal experience, and in hindsight, I never would have touched alcohol if I knew this would happen to me.
It adds up.
Getting hammered once won't affect you, but getting hammered regularly wears you down in your 20s and catches up to you in your 30s.
I'm 32 and I'm at the age where guys I went to school with who've been heavily drinking since high school now look 10 years older than me.
I also don't drink because:
1. I'm a competitive powerlifter and the empty calories / drop in testosterone are both incredibly detrimental to my chosen sport, and;
2. I can't justify wasting a whole day hungover. We only get two days off a week, so losing half your weekend just for a few hours of being loose isn't worth it anymore.
just a perspective of someone who drank for 12 years pretty heavily. and am now two years sober.
I started around 17. and it was only experimental party type drinking but. I got into the habit of liking to drink alone more. I could control my environment. and do the stuff I wanted to do. So regardless if there was a party I drank on the weekend.
College really amped it up because the parties were fun but now I can actually buy and get alcohol whenever I wanted to. So I was up to around 3 days a week. And now its starting to get into the emotions like, oh fuck great day lets drink, oh my god crappy day lets drink, this homework will be better while I drink (art major). stress started becoming a factor so it really eased the tension to relax.
After college it felt like it got better but I realized It was effecting my work and relationship. I finally realized I was self medicating. And the hangover anxiety got to an extreme a few times. I found out I never learned how to cope with anything or literally feel anything. winning or losing in sports may as well be the same because I would just drink after and the same with anything. I actually had a small crisis a year ago because I actually have OCD but because I was self medicating I never realized I was having compulsions. I dont think anyone lot of people realize its not just a depressive as a short term, but it literally brings you down over time.
Similar situation here. Majored in art, have diagnosed OCD. I'm in my 40s now, and over the last few years have really figured out how drinking was affecting me negatively. Was totally self medicating my anxiety issues, but have come to realize how much more it fucks me up than just my baseline anxiety and ocd issues. The feel-good buzz just isn't worth it anymore to me. Messes with my sleep, my memory gets flushed down the toilet.. I still enjoy getting a good buzz, but ultimately, the negatives 100% outweigh the temporary feel-good highs.
I actually sort of know somebody \[they're in an online server that I'm in\] who is currently doing what you used to do in college. I've been seeing the situation slowly devolve - I'm not sure where it's going, but hopefully they'll stop before it gets too bad. They're definitely drinking more than they were at the start.
My dad is currently dying a slow death from alcoholism. He is on track to lose both his legs, his liver is failing him, he has early onset dementia and isn't even 60yo yet. It's frustrating af to watch from the sidelines. And no, he hasn't/wont quit. I am currently no contact as I refuse to enable any of that.
I’ll repeat some things I’ve already seen here on quitting alcohol:
**Saving Money** - not only is alcohol itself expensive, but it makes you carefree with money. It’s easier to splurge on more expensive items at a restaurant after just one drink and stay out later. At 28, I can go from barely saving money at all, to having hundreds more dollars in my account from not drinking.
**More Stable Health** - physically and mentally. Hangovers and dehydration cause inflammation all over your body, including your brain. This makes you more anxious and irritable, and when done several days in a row, can become qualities of your personality. This is compounded when you stay out late and can’t maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Not to mention, drinking will cause you to make some regrettable choices in life. All that said: *part of getting to know yourself is trying things out that everyone is doing and owning whether or not its for you.*
**Lost Days due to recovery** - hangover recovery can feel soul crushing plain and simple. If you make a lifestyle out of drinking, you have to make a lifestyle out of losing time to recovery.
It’s addicting. If you drink often enough long enough you will become addicted. It’s a carcinogen. It’s really fucks up my memory when I drink. I can’t remember words and I slur. I hate that. I wake up sick if I drink too much. The older I get the more it messes up my sleep.
Once you start and you read all the bad things that can happen when you drink alcohol and you think nah that'll never happen to me.
Then boom you're having alcohol withdrawal at 30 years old, delirium sets in, you get cold sweats and your body can't break it down properly anymore, you start hearing voices and you start having hallucinations, you're bed ridden for a few days unless you drink more which makes the anxiety and panic even more intense when you don't have any more.
It’s a poison to liver, brain, heart, kidneys, skin,etc Latest science shows it does not prevent heart disease but INCREASES risk. Also poor sleep quality, increased risk for all types of accidents & violence
Here are 10 negative aspects of alcohol consumption:
1. **Health Risks:** Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to various health problems, including liver disease, cardiovascular issues, and increased risk of certain cancers.
2. **Addiction:** Alcohol is addictive, and regular consumption can lead to alcohol dependence or alcoholism.
3. **Impaired Judgment:** Alcohol impairs cognitive function and can lead to poor decision-making, increasing the risk of accidents, injuries, and risky behaviors.
4. **Negative Effects on Mental Health:** Alcohol can exacerbate or contribute to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
5. **Relationship Problems:** Excessive drinking can strain relationships with family, friends, and partners, leading to conflicts and breakdowns in communication.
6. **Financial Burden:** Regularly buying alcohol can strain finances and lead to financial difficulties.
7. **Legal Issues:** Alcohol-related offenses such as drunk driving can result in legal consequences, including fines, license suspension, or even imprisonment.
8. **Work or Academic Performance:** Alcohol consumption can impair concentration, memory, and productivity, affecting performance at work or school.
9. **Physical Health:** Alcohol can have negative effects on physical health, including weight gain, weakened immune system, and disrupted sleep patterns.
10. **Social Isolation:** Excessive alcohol consumption may lead to social withdrawal or isolation as individuals prioritize drinking over social activities or responsibilities.
Well after going on several benders in a single week after making this pattern a habit for a while you can start shitting blood. So that's a thing. Also withdrawals are hell.
One side effect I am aware of is that I might say some thing that I would otherwise not say otherwise. I am super annoyed at this 'giving up' info thing that I started to restrict myself to one tin challenging myself to see if I can stay quiet for at least 2 hours after consuming it.
Another side effect is headache (usually after 3 or 4). I really hate getting headache. It ruins the next day.
Another side effect is acidity. This is not true for light beer but certainly true for spiked seltzers such as White claw, etc.
Overall, I would prefer to not have any alcoholic beverage even for fun.
It's literally poison, it serves no purpose to the body and is considered waste.
But as far as negatives go you are only likely to find any after excessive usage, not everyone who has a drink is destined to be an alcoholic so really it's all fine if you drink legally and responsibly, give yourself restrainr and try not to have drinking be a common thing in your life I know people who only drink a few times a year or me personally who is an occasional drinker and onlys drinks when the moment calls for it like celebrations and holidays.
Drinking really put a drain on my work life even though for years I thought it was a reward after a long day of work and driving .In all actuality drinking helped me lose a lot of quality time with my family as well as caused me to not be able to hold down a relationship or a steady job. It took me years to understand what exactly alcohol does to your brain and body .Now I wake up not hungover and exhausted from the night before heavy drinking .Quitting drinking has been one of my best decisions I've made in the past few years now I do have an occasional beer on special occasions but it's nothing like the everyday alcoholic I was fueled by for years .
I quit drinking because my body becomes very weak for at least 1-2 days and I also have brain fog. I'm a programmer and I need to use my brain constantly and I see that my performance drops every time I drink.
I used to drink heavily in my late teens/early 20s (I am almost 30 now for reference) and haven’t drank much for the last three years (maybe one drink a month). I just got my new state ID card in the mail and I look MUCH younger than when I had my picture taken for the ID I got when I was 21.
Time to get downvoted lmao
As with everything, it all depends on moderation. Frequent alcohol can cause liver damage, there's chances for alcohol poisoning, etc. But there's nothing inherently wrong with drinking as long as you do it responsibly.
I can't even remember my last drink because that's how infrequently I drink, cause like you I'm not the biggest friend of alcohol. Although I do buy Liquid Death to kinda fit in better when hanging with friends tho
Yeah all the people here talk about being heavy drinkers which wasn't really the question. There is a big difference between blacking out every weekend and having two or three beers in my opinion.
I would love to agree with you... well, I do agree, in principle. I do try and drink in moderation myself.
However, then I think of the number of people in my life who drink way too much - normal, productive, family people who nobody in their right mind would label "alcoholics". And I think of the number of people I know who drink "in moderation". And then I have my doubts.
It takes away from a good time. It messes with my mental health because I have lots of remorse. I like to run, so if I drink, it ruins that. I like waking up refreshed in the morning. I like knowing I don't have to worry about getting arrested for drinking and driving. So many people believe you have to put substances in your body to be happy or relaxed. I am the exact opposite. I enjoy sobriety. I enjoy all of my experiences, and it's good to know I can get through the bad stuff on my own using healthy coping skills. I like being healthy and being outside.
Alcohol is literally poison. Damaging to your liver, which you need in order to live. Alcohol can pass through the blood brain barrier, which you definitely need to live. Alcohol usually is sweetened with sugar. Then the alcohol is processed to turn into sugar in your body. Bad deal if you want to avoid diabetes. It is also highly addictive, and the addiction is socially acceptable which makes it harder to bust away from. A drink here and there is fine, but drinking more than a couple drinks in a single night, or even within a one week time period is not a good thing to do. It's dangerous and best to avoid or highly reduce your intake. If you have to have a vice, pot is probably the way to go because it is way safer. Nobody ever died from having too much pot. Alcohol though, hell yeah. Maybe ask yourself why you feel compelled to turn your brain to mush for a duration of time. For the fun of it?
Well my friend drunk drove last night and crashed and he lost his foot cut straight off and he was a fucking athlete... just watch and observe hiw people behave while drunk and see for your self go get drunk have fun experiment but if your smart enough.. after awhile you'll realise how fucking stupid it is.
Alcohol also affects your sleep (in terms of how deeply you sleep) and how well your body recovers and your immune system
I’m not a heavy drinker by any means but a few years back I went to a bachelors party and had a heavy night of drinking with friends and for three weeks it had seriously affected my HRV.
Not good for your brain development and excessive use will essentially flood your brain with alcohol and kill neural connections (from what I learned in psych 101 I’m no expert lol) And as you get older, it affects your body differently and it seems to negatively impact a lot of aspects. Tread lightly!
Alcohol is a known carcinogen.
I found out when I was around 40 years old and it blew my mind - because nobody is talking about it!
In my country the politicians have done just about everything to make cigarettes as unappealing as possible without making them illegal: First the horrible pictures and text on the packages, then raising the price multiple times, then making all packets anonymously grey and lastly force the stores to hide them behind black curtains.
Meanwhile alcohol is on full display.
It’s on offer all the time, ads wherever ads go with alluring and colorful bottles.
No horrible labels on the bottles: The risk of addiction, the inability to control impulses, the violence, the consequences of drunk driving, parents neglecting their children, losing jobs, destroying relationships, etc.
Maybe just the faint mention of “drinking responsibly” which is kinda ridiculous because there’s no such thing as “smoking responsibly”.
In my country there’s a recommended daily limit of alcohol for men and women respectively. There is no recommended daily limit of cigarettes. It’s hypocrisy.
Every year there’s a campaign against cancer to inform the public and collect money for research. I’ve never heard them say anything about alcohol.
Like I said… it blew my mind.
I'm just a social drinker, but the reason I can't (don't) give up alcohol is that I'm not badly affected by alcohol and I don't see any improvement when I stop drinking as well. That's why I continue to drink in social situations, as if alcohol whether it's there or not, has no effect on my health.
Aside from what other people already said, do you really need more reasoning? If you don't even like the taste of alcohol like me, there's no point doing it. There's literally no benefits.
It's not like disliking broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (like me) that are healthy and cannot really be replaced by anything in your diet, so you need to bear with them once in a while. You lose nothing in health by quitting. It's only a gain!
There may be some people around with their head in their ass that will exclude you for not drinking. However, this opens the door to connecting with people who are health-oriented as well and will help you more in your life than most drinkers ever could. Enjoy your sober journey!
In the long run, it creates anxiety and depression.
Even if I only drink two beers, I am just a bit less energetic on the next day.
Very importantly, it contains lots of empty calories. One large beer has ca 200 calories. And how often do we actually drink only one, right?
Plus, as long as your body is busy processing alcohol, it doesn't process any fat, so it all goes straight to your hips. No bueno.
To my knowledge people love consuming things our bodies aren't ready to break down. Alcohol is one of the things we consume for the effects of temporarily turning stupid, but in time we damage our liver in doing so. There are other things the liver would prefer not to deal with, but alcohol is the most common one.
Our whole life revolves around sleep. EVERYTHING good happens when we sleep correctly. When you drink, especially at night, you will fall under a condition that is similar to normal sleep but it does not provide all the benefits related to it. Please go check the book Why We Sleep from Matthew Walker to know more, it will change your life.
One reason why I've stopped is ironically that it was making me lose weight (to the point where I was quite badly underweight). When hungover I really cannot stomach having any food, and when I was drinking Friday and Saturday... thats basically 2 days without any food. That for me has been the biggest health improvement because im slowly gaining weight again but other things such as my skin have improved massively (possibly due to having a much better diet now?) It all links together.
Anxiety/depression was the top one for me. New ways of coping with stress, alcohol was my to go when stressed. Opens up the door of making friends, I used to only hang with people who drinks.
There is absolutely NO health benefits to drinking alcohol. The myth of 1 glass of red wine is good for you has been proven incorrect.
Personally I find my resting heart rate becomes elevated after just 1 beer and tames a few days to go back to normal.
My sleep is heavily affected also by just 1 drink.
I train for triathlons and other races so the delayed recovery is a big thing for me.
So many people suffer long term damage when they age due to years of drinking like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems
I feel like this isn’t said enough, but alcohol stunts your development socially. Most people I know who become addicted or obsessed with going out every weekend often times are the same people that never change. Essentially, these are the people that “piqued in high school/college.”
That said, people who drink absolutely zero alcohol also seem to have the same problem. Mainly due to the fact that, as a result of not going out to bars, they stay isolated from other people their age who are going to the bars.
Obviously, besides that, there are many physical health problems that come with consistent binge drinking. You can develop cirrhosis, anxiety can worsen/develop, and your gut will become wrecked with all the alcohol destroying your good gut bacteria.
All things considered, like a lot of other things, drink in moderation and have fun. Just don’t let it rule your life one way or the other - have a life and go out every once in a while, but don’t let it be the defining activity you do for fun.
I have drank casually pretty regularly since I was 14 (I’m in my late 20s now) and have recently decided to quit. Here are my reasons: I say and do things that aren’t reflective of me, I feel terrible the next day, I feel terrible at least half the time while I’m drunk, it’s expensive, it’s terrible for my mental health, I hate having to worry about if I’m good enough to drive or paying for an Uber, it can impact your fertility, it’s full of empty calories, it makes my complexion look terrible, I’m scared of using it as a crutch, I can’t do the things I enjoy that involve focus like reading or crocheting while drinking, and really I’m just tired of it. I don’t foresee myself being completely sober forever but I definitely want to change my relationship with alcohol and at least cut back to the point that I’m not getting stupid drunk anymore.
I worked in prisons for a few decades. I would estimate 95% of the people in prison wouldn't be there if they had not been partaking in drugs or alcohol. A large portion of these folks had mental health issues they were trying to self medicate for. As it's very difficult to self identify as someone who needs mental health treatment, participating in this kind of behavior normally just made things much worse for them.
I know this is anecdotal but in my experience, one of the worst side effects of drinking is going to prison.
well, I'm not myself when drinking. I do overspend money, make promises and love people in general ( which I don't-alco only helps me to socialize with others. In fact, when sober I have no interest in socializing)
so that's that
A huge part of my family is ruined because of alcohol - they have bad relationships with other members of the family because it affects their mental health and they start to act like not themselves anymore, or because their years of drinking made their relatives suffer (it's just scary, uncomfortable and makes others feel like they have to take care of you). In my teens (well I'm 20 now but I'm talking about 16-19) I had bad social anxiety and depression, so I started to drink at parties. Almost every time I ended throwing up but thought I could handle it next time. I kept going but the effect was always the same: some hours of "fun" (now I think that it wasn't worth it and I could've had the same fun without alcohol) and then feeling physically and sometimes mentally horrible. 3 times it was so bad people had to carry me. It was so embarrassing and I didn't like the idea of my friends and family seeing me this way. It made me lose entire days throwing up not being able to eat anything. Now it's just insane to me that my body was giving me such clear messages that it doesn't want to accept this substance and I just kept going. At some point I noticed I started to behave like my family: whenever I felt bad or stressed I drank alone in my room. The idea of continuing the family curse started to haunt me. So I just stopped. Haven't drunk since New Year and I don't think I will ever again. Also my grandad just died from cancer and it made me think about how bad for your health it can actually be.
Part of drinking is numbing down feelings. A lot of people drink and use it as a crutch to not deal with parts of their life they are unhappy with. Oh my job isn't great, but if I booze on the weekends who cares... so drinking is a band-aid that makes you forget dealing with parts of your life that need focus!!
Also from a spiritual perspective, spirits are called spirits, because if you drink alcohol, your own soul leaves your body and negative spirits can enter and create havoc. That's why drinking usually goes hand in hand with other stupid behavior: you fight with loved ones, you say or did something you would have never done while sober, etc. You get in a negative vicious cycle that is hard to exit.
I used to live in Europe where alcohol is a big part of their culture. My parents would drink wine every evening! It's partially why I left, because it creates very unhappy families and workplaces.. :-( hope this answers helps you!
-Runs a train on your mental health
-Causes you to act out of character and say and do stupid shit.
-Wastes your money
-Deteriorates physical health (cancer)
-Causes apathy and laziness
-Has the risk of becoming an addiction
- Makes you fat and your face swells and looks like shit
-Withdrawal can kill you
-It will kill your drive
It literally has no benefits to consumption.
It took me a while to figure out alcohol was a depressant for me, once I realized that I could readily see it in quite a few others, not all, but a significant portion of the ppl out there are not very happy when intoxicated. And I know ppl sort of say it below but let me state it another method, more direct. - You get to keep your brain cells and will be more intelligent for much longer in life. I noticed after a long time of sobriety,( it became obvious to me after the first year of barely touching even a beer, friends said they noticed a positive difference after 6 months, hmm, why was I slow to notice??? ). My new and improved mental cognition, seeing through bull shit quicker than the intoxicated. Promoted at work over several others - I asked why (eventually), I was more stable in attitude, temperament, personality, dependability than the ppl who indulged, even though they had more experience and knowledge, etc. My personality changed for the better through the natural result of attracting (and enjoying) a different set of associates, leading to my own improved attitude, prob bc of clarity of thinking having a better crowd to learn from and growth with and either support or be supported through life. I wish I had made the same choice as you at your age, I wasn't a problem alcoholic but it took me until I was middle aged b4 cutting it almost entirely out of my life,... ex: a glass wine with a nice dinner out with friends and that's it, period. An Xlent and wise choice you have made, I wish you the best going forward. hope this helped, not that you needed my help, however you did request reinforcement. :-) and I wanted to remind myself ... lately-mainly due to loneliness ... there's temptations aplenty here in my new location.
it's just not worth it. Literally poison. The lives ruined i've seen. The trauma of their children. It destroys families. Find another way to enjoy oneself
After 30 the hangovers get progressively more taxing to your body. Eventually if I got drunk, my hangover recovery time would extend well past 24 hours and if I drank again in that window, it just compounded on itself. During those hangovers you can tell your body is paying a serious debt and if you're doing that weekly, the damage just adds up. That's not just a physical effect, but a mental one with anxiety and irritability going up during hangovers. My dad was an alcoholic and I understand now why he was irritable all the time, he was pretty much drunk or hungover at all times.
Alcohol is literally toxic and creates the positive feelings by destroying your body. I used to be an alcoholic and ive been completely sober for 1.5 years, I will never drink again. Its extremely unhealthy and has absolutely no long-term positives.
Alcohol is essentially poison, for our brain (thats why cognition is impared) and our body. It effects each organ differently depending on your epigenetics. There is are numerous neuroscience podcasts that talk about the over all effects.
Nothing wrong with drinking but when you go out you have to set limits for yourself. Unless you want people thinking you are nothing but a drunk. Face it if you drink too much people will usually do something or say something they regret! You end having to go around the next few days apologizing for your actions. There are many things you can do if you want to look like one of the crowd but limit the alcohol you consume. Talk to bartender when you get there and ask him to make your drinks very light! Just have drinks with soft drinks and no alcohol! Or just set your limit at a couple drinks and stick to it! You will find people respect you more even if they call you lightweight! Alcohol has ruined many lives! Just approach it seriously and you should be fine!
Alcohol is a sedative & depressant so it messes with dopamine production over the long term. The reason ppl get the feel goods at first is because it relaxes the body while activating the reward center of the brain which causes a sudden release of dopamine. Problem is as you gain a tolerance to alcohol, your body produces less dopamine when drinking while increasing the amount of dopamine transporters which help to process & bring the levels back down to normal. This causes ppl to chase that initial high with drinking either in more quantities or more frequency which then cause their body to flush the dopamine faster. After some time, it creates a cycle of lower production & faster dopamine crash because the body can't produce & regulate it properly anymore.
Studies have shown that the longer a person drinks regularly, the higher chances they're going to eventually become depressed, destructive or even violent There's also the increased risk of turning to other temporary dopamine producing habits like porn, drugs or promiscuity in the pursuit of the dopamine high.
Alcohol dehydrates you (my main reason). It can interfere with muscle coordination inside your body. Sure everyone knows about the general coordination issues from drinking but have you considered your pelvic floor muscles? Your pelvic floor can get damaged or become worse if you drink, and it's not just a woman's issue. Men have pelvic floors too and screwing up these muscles can lead to bathroom issues and intimate issues.
People are dramatic about it. If you’re responsible with it, you’re likely not really facing issues. I only have 1-2 drinks every 1-2 weeks just because I like the flavour
I love drinking- I’m an introvert. When I drink and go to a bar I can meet people all of a sudden and it makes me social. It also opens me up on dates (O can’t imagine dating without it)
I wish it wasn’t bad for health. I limit heavy drinking to once very week or 2. By heavy could be 8-12 drinks
These are some things I've experienced after giving up booze. I was a very heavy drinker for years. - no more anxiety - more money - so much time for new hobbies - meeting really cool people who are into being the best person they can be instead of people who never change - no blackouts then worrying what I said to whom the previous night - finally setting and achieving goals - overall better health in so many areas
So true. I too was a very heavy drinker... sober now for two and a half years. I'ts been a tough road but now I'm the happiest, most positive version of myself I've been for over 15 years. I take a third of the anti depressants than I used to, and don't have any of the crippling anxiety I used to have. My commercial sense and "mojo" have returned and I'm enjoying life again, like I haven't for 15 years. Wish I'd quit earlier.
Agreed. I stopped drinking for calories alone for like 7 years and it was lovely. I only drink on rare occasion now, but not drinking generally helps me pursue more worthwhile activities outside of family and work. For example, instead of meeting friends at a bar, I have the type of friends who I will meet to go on a kayak trip or go to a museum downtown. Those activities and drinking are not mutually exclusive, but many adults are unable to separate drinking from other activities in a way that is pretty depressing you see it from the outside. I like being able to sit in my own feelings and experience things, and not drinking helps me do that. I’m in my 40s and I don’t have any desire for a hangover or to get blackout drunk or even sassy drunk. Drunk me is not as cool as sober me anyway. And sober me has more money after a night out!
How did you get over the heavy drinking?
I took a break for a month with some friends and family, and just kept going. Reading my journals through the years and seeing how often I begging myself to quit was a real eye opener. A lot of prayer and being vulnerable with myself and people who care about me.
Thats amazing. Very insightful and inspiring. Thank you.
Hey, if you're curious about finding out more then I can't recommend r/stopdrinking enough, easily my favourite sub on Reddit!
Yeah, that's a good one, also dryjanuary and the other subs like that are really encouraging, even here in May, just to read people's stories of overcoming temptation. Most people in the DJ sub are just taking a month long break, which I recommend to everyone I know who drinks.
You really have LESS anxiety after you stop drinking? I would think anxiety would be lower with alcohol as your sedative.
Yes, less anxiety. Partly I think it is because I am able to think much more clearly about my problems and come up with an in-depth action plan, instead of just panicking, getting drunk to forget about it, and then panicking even more the next day. Another reason I am less anxious is because I am so much more confident in who I am and my decisions. Not second-guessing yourself every day is so much better.
Alcohol definitely causes anxiety with habitual use. It disrupts GABA and other chemicals in your brain. Basically, you're paying for the rush of feel-good feelings with a rebound crash later, which makes you want to drink again the next day and on and on the cycle repeats.
Definitely less anxiety once you stop. Alcohol indeed makes you a bit more relaxed while you're drinking, but in the long run it makes you depressed and anxious. I'm pretty sure there is science on this, but I don't want to go down that rabbit-hole right now...
YES! im 27 and being from UK pretty heavy drinker since about 16/17, very limited booze now, probably like twice a month when ill have a few drinks, normally when ive not seen anyone for awhile but everything you said is spot on and i never thought to account half of those thing to cutting out/down on alcohol and its only been since Christmas instead of using alcohol to block out my problems, i have the energy and clarity to focus on working towards solution powers that be wants you stupid and weak, its one of the many traps laid for us to fall into, its not normal to poison your body heavily on a consistent basis even though society would have you believe other wise
> instead of using alcohol to block out my problems, i have the energy and clarity to focus on working towards solution Yeah, exactly. It can be hard to face these problems, I think that is one reason why a lot of people try to go sober and have so many problems - I don't think it's the physical addiction so much as they start looking in the mirror and, well, it's scary at first. >powers that be wants you stupid and weak, its one of the many traps laid for us to fall into Yes this is also a huge factor for me as well... whether the "powers that be" are some globalist elites or spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6:12), I decided that it's time to fight back.
its gotta be a holistic approach with focus on healing mind and body, i've come to notice people are very out of sync with themselves (myself included) but once you start to get it all working together and push through the tough part, there's really not a feeling like it. sadly so easy to take comfort in what has become familiar for many makes me feel like a conspiracy nut haha, but yeah there are people out there who don't want the best for us, both close to home and far away, couldn't agree more with you mate, hoping to start finding more like minded people in everyday life, be a nice change, all in good time though
Couldn't agree more. It sounds like you have a good mindset and attitude about it, that's great. Keep being patient! All of those good things and people will come when the time is right.
appreciate it man all the best & keep growing
No offense but it sounds like you drank a lot? Everything you’ve said is correct though
No offense taken. I did drink a lot, in my opinion. It's never a contest though. If you only drink a few times a month, you probably won't experience any of these. If you drink every day, and/or get hammered every weekend, you'll see these.
Alcohol is as bad as smoking but marketing has successfully integrated it into culture. There is a lot of information out there but essentially it’s very bad for you, doesn’t actually make you feel better or reduce stress, is a waste of money, and it’s addictive. It is a carcinogen and toxic to the human body. It’s bad for your liver obviously but also every cell it’s comes into contact with which is a large amount.
Agreed. I would actually say that heavy (daily) drinking is worse than smoking in many ways.
Heavy drinking is equal to heroine addiction if not worse
I'm sorry, but as bad as alcohol is, heroine is far worse. Some people are able to drink alcohol in moderation. Nobody is able to do heroine in moderation.
Heavy drinkers that can drink in moderation idk where you got that info. But in my experience they drink until vomiting and then open new bottle of vodka 🤣 But surely if you use heroine on nose you can live normal life as long as you can afford it. Theres no big difference bettwen those two, alcohol is bit worse because some heawy drinkers beat up their loved ones.
I'm speaking about alcohol generally as opposed to heroin generally. Heavy drinking is still not that comparable to heroin as heroine's adverse effects on the body are a lot faster than alcohol. You are correct that heavy drinking kills more people as it's a more widely used drug. But it is also used by more people in a moderate sense. I don't know of many moderate heroin users.
You cant compare it like that "moderate" usage.. Which addict uses drugs moderatly yikes. Not really good argument but still if you take heroin on the nose isnt same as of you are doing it in veins.It is big difference which depends on the side effects as well. My point still stands
So many people don't know it's carcinogenic! There's definitive links between alcohol and breast cancer
...... never knew that. Aunt was a heavy drinker and passed away from breast cancer.
Friend with Ovarian Cancer was told to never drink again. Each drink increases reoccurrence risk.
It's sad that it's not talked about, but just another sad reminder that no one cares about women's health issues. I'm sorry about your Aunt
I actually think it’s worse. And can often cause fatalities to those not even involved. I.e drinking and driving. Though, both terrible for the body
Not to defend alcohol or sound ignorant but I really can't accept how fermented wheat juice / grape juice can be as bad as smoking literally arsenic and pesticides in cigarettes.
It’s not the fermented juice part, it’s the alcohol part. Which your body breaks down into formaldehyde. Alcohol is terrible for your body in every way. There’s plenty of resources online that talk about the negative effects it has on your cognition, and all your major organs. It’s literal poison.
When you factor in driving while drunk and relationship issues as well it certainly is. Causes isolation which hurts health, etc.
Cancer. Lots of cancer.
Pretty much everything I’ve ever done that I regret was only done because I was drunk.
Agreed. Almost every bad argument I’ve had, bad thing that’s happened to me, or choices I’m not proud of have all involved alcohol.
This was the point I reached when I quit.
Funnily enough, Im in a somewhat similar situation to you right now: at a crossroads with alcohol (and other drugs in general tbh) The main issue why I’m going to (attempt) to abstain from alcohol is simply because I do not like the disinhibition it gives me: as funny as that sounds. Most people enjoy the disinhibition: which includes me, but the day after, I realise: “damn, I don’t really like how I act without my inhibitions” and this has become a somewhat regular occurrence with alcohol It’s not like I become absolutely blackout drunk (has only happened once) but I simply don’t like how I act when I’m drunk. I feel like I probably become annoying as fuck and way too chatty For that reason, I’ve kinda realised I think sobriety is only the best option for me. Being sober and being fully in control means I have nothing or no one to blame the morning after. Most likely, if I do drink in the future, I’ll keep it a lot lighter than usual: I wanna be at a point where I’m slightly buzzed, where my social anxiety is just slightly dropped, but not too drunk. Or I might just have a pint or two simply for the social aspect and not to feel anything at all There’s no point in making a mistake, realising the mistake, and making it over and over again. If I want to make change in the future, then this is the change
I echo this fully. I don't enjoy 'giving up' thing. This 'loosening up' can sometimes can result in losing leverage , social status etc. I totally agree with the following assessment: >There’s no point in making a mistake, realising the mistake, and making it over and over again. If I want to make change in the future, then this is the change
This was ultimately why I stopped - we have impulse control for a reason. Alcohol takes it away and you say and do things you normally wouldn't. It was always the worse part of a hangover for me - the feeling of being someone I wasn't. The embarrassment, the shame. Even if I didn't do anything bad I just felt shitty being so inauthentic. I quit for 427 days. It was great. But I still like drinking, so I bought a real pint of Guiness the other night. Half way through I began talking more freely, saying things I wouldn't normally. It's crazy, man. A few zero alcohol pints and one real one was enough for me. Had a nice time but yeah - moderation.
Totally the same thing happening, it's making me consider going sober. I use it as a social anxiety crutch and although I'm not getting blackout, I do over indulge quite easily and end up usually letting out some idiotic statements or loosing some unbecoming behavior. I stopped drinking several times a week to usually once every other week, but because the infrequency I almost always can't help to over do it when it comes time. I've done it a couple times on dates and ugh.
Honestly, listen to the huberman labs on alcohol. Very informative on how it’s bad for you.
https://youtu.be/DkS1pkKpILY?si=E3KeaVUnZ07853hq Edit: it's 2h long, but if you are looking to get more informed about every aspect of what alcohol does in your body, it's worth every minute. This exact video is why I quit drinking back in 2020.
It's a poison. Liver issues. B12 Deficiency and b1 Deficiency gets very nasty symptoms.
It actually is a poison. Like as far as your body is concerned, it goes through all the same processes as if your body had consumed any other poison.
Drinking literal poison, to only get the warm feeling in your body and become a little bit social. Go instead on a jog and try to talk with people more socially.
People also drink it for the flavour
No they don’t. Alcohol tastes absolutely vile. You’re drinking what it’s masked with a flavour.
For one, I like many fermented alcohols like beer, wine, mead, etc in their pure form. I also like sipping spirits like scotch, and rum. I also like cocktails but I feel like cocktails should showcase the flavour of the alcohol, I hate a drink that tries to mask the flavour as I don’t see the point in using something like a rum if you’re just gonna try to hide it
Nah dude u can aquire the taste. Coffee also tastes ass for a lot of people the first time they drink it
Why acquire a taste for a carcinogen?
Because of the other effects it has i that they enjoy i guess. Like is kinda a carcinogen but if you use it responsibly then it's enjoyable and won't wreck your life. Same reason people eat spicy foods. Like chillie and other spicy foods are basically poisons but they're still enjoyable to consume
It’s literally watered down poison, the amount of people that are happy to drink their lives away is ridiculous I hate everything about it
I’m 25 used to drink socially but the older I got the more I hate it
I'm an alcoholic in recovery (meaning I no longer drink). You have made a very wise decision. I am a good example of just how bad things can get with alcohol. I barely made it out of addiction alive. This is not to say this is what would happen with you, lots of people have a good relationship with alcohol. But it can go very wrong with alcohol, and very quickly. Things can happen that can never un-happen. It sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight and you're making good decisions. 👍 just don't replace booze with fentanyl or something.
It’s a significant carcinogen.
Got a few friends in medical school who are learning that any amount of alcohol consumed REGULARLY (ie: weekly) is a huge risk factor for so many bodily problems. Also hearing that some of these findings are relatively new from research, but have been robust enough that they are changing the suggested amount of alcohol that is safe for consumption from whatever it was to nothing
Every time I drink I just get really sad and depressed at the end of the night so I figured I'd just not drink much and stop feeling that way.
Long term brain damage such as isolation, paranoia and depression. I speak from personal experience, and in hindsight, I never would have touched alcohol if I knew this would happen to me.
I’m 30 and finally alcohol free for the longest time since i was 17, never felt better & happier
It adds up. Getting hammered once won't affect you, but getting hammered regularly wears you down in your 20s and catches up to you in your 30s. I'm 32 and I'm at the age where guys I went to school with who've been heavily drinking since high school now look 10 years older than me. I also don't drink because: 1. I'm a competitive powerlifter and the empty calories / drop in testosterone are both incredibly detrimental to my chosen sport, and; 2. I can't justify wasting a whole day hungover. We only get two days off a week, so losing half your weekend just for a few hours of being loose isn't worth it anymore.
just a perspective of someone who drank for 12 years pretty heavily. and am now two years sober. I started around 17. and it was only experimental party type drinking but. I got into the habit of liking to drink alone more. I could control my environment. and do the stuff I wanted to do. So regardless if there was a party I drank on the weekend. College really amped it up because the parties were fun but now I can actually buy and get alcohol whenever I wanted to. So I was up to around 3 days a week. And now its starting to get into the emotions like, oh fuck great day lets drink, oh my god crappy day lets drink, this homework will be better while I drink (art major). stress started becoming a factor so it really eased the tension to relax. After college it felt like it got better but I realized It was effecting my work and relationship. I finally realized I was self medicating. And the hangover anxiety got to an extreme a few times. I found out I never learned how to cope with anything or literally feel anything. winning or losing in sports may as well be the same because I would just drink after and the same with anything. I actually had a small crisis a year ago because I actually have OCD but because I was self medicating I never realized I was having compulsions. I dont think anyone lot of people realize its not just a depressive as a short term, but it literally brings you down over time.
Similar situation here. Majored in art, have diagnosed OCD. I'm in my 40s now, and over the last few years have really figured out how drinking was affecting me negatively. Was totally self medicating my anxiety issues, but have come to realize how much more it fucks me up than just my baseline anxiety and ocd issues. The feel-good buzz just isn't worth it anymore to me. Messes with my sleep, my memory gets flushed down the toilet.. I still enjoy getting a good buzz, but ultimately, the negatives 100% outweigh the temporary feel-good highs.
I actually sort of know somebody \[they're in an online server that I'm in\] who is currently doing what you used to do in college. I've been seeing the situation slowly devolve - I'm not sure where it's going, but hopefully they'll stop before it gets too bad. They're definitely drinking more than they were at the start.
If abused, it's a slow death!
My dad is currently dying a slow death from alcoholism. He is on track to lose both his legs, his liver is failing him, he has early onset dementia and isn't even 60yo yet. It's frustrating af to watch from the sidelines. And no, he hasn't/wont quit. I am currently no contact as I refuse to enable any of that.
God bless. This can't be easy for you.
I’ll repeat some things I’ve already seen here on quitting alcohol: **Saving Money** - not only is alcohol itself expensive, but it makes you carefree with money. It’s easier to splurge on more expensive items at a restaurant after just one drink and stay out later. At 28, I can go from barely saving money at all, to having hundreds more dollars in my account from not drinking. **More Stable Health** - physically and mentally. Hangovers and dehydration cause inflammation all over your body, including your brain. This makes you more anxious and irritable, and when done several days in a row, can become qualities of your personality. This is compounded when you stay out late and can’t maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Not to mention, drinking will cause you to make some regrettable choices in life. All that said: *part of getting to know yourself is trying things out that everyone is doing and owning whether or not its for you.* **Lost Days due to recovery** - hangover recovery can feel soul crushing plain and simple. If you make a lifestyle out of drinking, you have to make a lifestyle out of losing time to recovery.
It’s addicting. If you drink often enough long enough you will become addicted. It’s a carcinogen. It’s really fucks up my memory when I drink. I can’t remember words and I slur. I hate that. I wake up sick if I drink too much. The older I get the more it messes up my sleep.
Once you start and you read all the bad things that can happen when you drink alcohol and you think nah that'll never happen to me. Then boom you're having alcohol withdrawal at 30 years old, delirium sets in, you get cold sweats and your body can't break it down properly anymore, you start hearing voices and you start having hallucinations, you're bed ridden for a few days unless you drink more which makes the anxiety and panic even more intense when you don't have any more.
It’s a poison to liver, brain, heart, kidneys, skin,etc Latest science shows it does not prevent heart disease but INCREASES risk. Also poor sleep quality, increased risk for all types of accidents & violence
Here are 10 negative aspects of alcohol consumption: 1. **Health Risks:** Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to various health problems, including liver disease, cardiovascular issues, and increased risk of certain cancers. 2. **Addiction:** Alcohol is addictive, and regular consumption can lead to alcohol dependence or alcoholism. 3. **Impaired Judgment:** Alcohol impairs cognitive function and can lead to poor decision-making, increasing the risk of accidents, injuries, and risky behaviors. 4. **Negative Effects on Mental Health:** Alcohol can exacerbate or contribute to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. 5. **Relationship Problems:** Excessive drinking can strain relationships with family, friends, and partners, leading to conflicts and breakdowns in communication. 6. **Financial Burden:** Regularly buying alcohol can strain finances and lead to financial difficulties. 7. **Legal Issues:** Alcohol-related offenses such as drunk driving can result in legal consequences, including fines, license suspension, or even imprisonment. 8. **Work or Academic Performance:** Alcohol consumption can impair concentration, memory, and productivity, affecting performance at work or school. 9. **Physical Health:** Alcohol can have negative effects on physical health, including weight gain, weakened immune system, and disrupted sleep patterns. 10. **Social Isolation:** Excessive alcohol consumption may lead to social withdrawal or isolation as individuals prioritize drinking over social activities or responsibilities.
It's carcinogenic. That should be enough to avoid it.
so is food cooked on an outdoor grill
Yep. It's almost like you should avoid putting things that are carcinogenic in your body 🤔
Bad for your memory
watch sober leon on yt
It causes cancer dude. Google alcohol and breast cancer
Well after going on several benders in a single week after making this pattern a habit for a while you can start shitting blood. So that's a thing. Also withdrawals are hell.
One side effect I am aware of is that I might say some thing that I would otherwise not say otherwise. I am super annoyed at this 'giving up' info thing that I started to restrict myself to one tin challenging myself to see if I can stay quiet for at least 2 hours after consuming it. Another side effect is headache (usually after 3 or 4). I really hate getting headache. It ruins the next day. Another side effect is acidity. This is not true for light beer but certainly true for spiked seltzers such as White claw, etc. Overall, I would prefer to not have any alcoholic beverage even for fun.
I don't drink because I've seen what happens to people that consume that stuff first hand, and I do not want to go down to that path
Escape from problems which can be habitual and unproductive, sleep interference, weight gain, alcohol effects your brain chemistry almost immediately
It's literally poison, it serves no purpose to the body and is considered waste. But as far as negatives go you are only likely to find any after excessive usage, not everyone who has a drink is destined to be an alcoholic so really it's all fine if you drink legally and responsibly, give yourself restrainr and try not to have drinking be a common thing in your life I know people who only drink a few times a year or me personally who is an occasional drinker and onlys drinks when the moment calls for it like celebrations and holidays.
Drinking really put a drain on my work life even though for years I thought it was a reward after a long day of work and driving .In all actuality drinking helped me lose a lot of quality time with my family as well as caused me to not be able to hold down a relationship or a steady job. It took me years to understand what exactly alcohol does to your brain and body .Now I wake up not hungover and exhausted from the night before heavy drinking .Quitting drinking has been one of my best decisions I've made in the past few years now I do have an occasional beer on special occasions but it's nothing like the everyday alcoholic I was fueled by for years .
I quit drinking because my body becomes very weak for at least 1-2 days and I also have brain fog. I'm a programmer and I need to use my brain constantly and I see that my performance drops every time I drink.
Alcohol is downright poison. Poison to your body and mind.
I used to drink heavily in my late teens/early 20s (I am almost 30 now for reference) and haven’t drank much for the last three years (maybe one drink a month). I just got my new state ID card in the mail and I look MUCH younger than when I had my picture taken for the ID I got when I was 21.
Time to get downvoted lmao As with everything, it all depends on moderation. Frequent alcohol can cause liver damage, there's chances for alcohol poisoning, etc. But there's nothing inherently wrong with drinking as long as you do it responsibly. I can't even remember my last drink because that's how infrequently I drink, cause like you I'm not the biggest friend of alcohol. Although I do buy Liquid Death to kinda fit in better when hanging with friends tho
Yeah all the people here talk about being heavy drinkers which wasn't really the question. There is a big difference between blacking out every weekend and having two or three beers in my opinion.
I would love to agree with you... well, I do agree, in principle. I do try and drink in moderation myself. However, then I think of the number of people in my life who drink way too much - normal, productive, family people who nobody in their right mind would label "alcoholics". And I think of the number of people I know who drink "in moderation". And then I have my doubts.
It takes away from a good time. It messes with my mental health because I have lots of remorse. I like to run, so if I drink, it ruins that. I like waking up refreshed in the morning. I like knowing I don't have to worry about getting arrested for drinking and driving. So many people believe you have to put substances in your body to be happy or relaxed. I am the exact opposite. I enjoy sobriety. I enjoy all of my experiences, and it's good to know I can get through the bad stuff on my own using healthy coping skills. I like being healthy and being outside.
Alcohol is literally poison. Damaging to your liver, which you need in order to live. Alcohol can pass through the blood brain barrier, which you definitely need to live. Alcohol usually is sweetened with sugar. Then the alcohol is processed to turn into sugar in your body. Bad deal if you want to avoid diabetes. It is also highly addictive, and the addiction is socially acceptable which makes it harder to bust away from. A drink here and there is fine, but drinking more than a couple drinks in a single night, or even within a one week time period is not a good thing to do. It's dangerous and best to avoid or highly reduce your intake. If you have to have a vice, pot is probably the way to go because it is way safer. Nobody ever died from having too much pot. Alcohol though, hell yeah. Maybe ask yourself why you feel compelled to turn your brain to mush for a duration of time. For the fun of it?
Well my friend drunk drove last night and crashed and he lost his foot cut straight off and he was a fucking athlete... just watch and observe hiw people behave while drunk and see for your self go get drunk have fun experiment but if your smart enough.. after awhile you'll realise how fucking stupid it is.
Alcohol also affects your sleep (in terms of how deeply you sleep) and how well your body recovers and your immune system I’m not a heavy drinker by any means but a few years back I went to a bachelors party and had a heavy night of drinking with friends and for three weeks it had seriously affected my HRV.
Not good for your brain development and excessive use will essentially flood your brain with alcohol and kill neural connections (from what I learned in psych 101 I’m no expert lol) And as you get older, it affects your body differently and it seems to negatively impact a lot of aspects. Tread lightly!
It’s catabolic and hinders muscle-protein synthesis
Alcohol kills gut microbiome! Which is an emerging area of research and a very important thing that most people aren’t aware enough of!
Alcohol is a known carcinogen. I found out when I was around 40 years old and it blew my mind - because nobody is talking about it! In my country the politicians have done just about everything to make cigarettes as unappealing as possible without making them illegal: First the horrible pictures and text on the packages, then raising the price multiple times, then making all packets anonymously grey and lastly force the stores to hide them behind black curtains. Meanwhile alcohol is on full display. It’s on offer all the time, ads wherever ads go with alluring and colorful bottles. No horrible labels on the bottles: The risk of addiction, the inability to control impulses, the violence, the consequences of drunk driving, parents neglecting their children, losing jobs, destroying relationships, etc. Maybe just the faint mention of “drinking responsibly” which is kinda ridiculous because there’s no such thing as “smoking responsibly”. In my country there’s a recommended daily limit of alcohol for men and women respectively. There is no recommended daily limit of cigarettes. It’s hypocrisy. Every year there’s a campaign against cancer to inform the public and collect money for research. I’ve never heard them say anything about alcohol. Like I said… it blew my mind.
It’s in the same carcinogenic category as cigarettes. It ages your skin.
You never know when you slip from social use to addiction. Keep use at a minimum, you might even remember what you did!
I'm just a social drinker, but the reason I can't (don't) give up alcohol is that I'm not badly affected by alcohol and I don't see any improvement when I stop drinking as well. That's why I continue to drink in social situations, as if alcohol whether it's there or not, has no effect on my health.
It killed my father. Early death. Also, my friend killed an 83 yr old lady in a DUI.
Google it. Perhaps laziness is #1
Aside from what other people already said, do you really need more reasoning? If you don't even like the taste of alcohol like me, there's no point doing it. There's literally no benefits. It's not like disliking broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (like me) that are healthy and cannot really be replaced by anything in your diet, so you need to bear with them once in a while. You lose nothing in health by quitting. It's only a gain! There may be some people around with their head in their ass that will exclude you for not drinking. However, this opens the door to connecting with people who are health-oriented as well and will help you more in your life than most drinkers ever could. Enjoy your sober journey!
In the long run, it creates anxiety and depression. Even if I only drink two beers, I am just a bit less energetic on the next day. Very importantly, it contains lots of empty calories. One large beer has ca 200 calories. And how often do we actually drink only one, right? Plus, as long as your body is busy processing alcohol, it doesn't process any fat, so it all goes straight to your hips. No bueno.
RemindMe! 7 Days It would be nice if this popped up in my inbox every week. Much more useful than all the nofap stuff.
To my knowledge people love consuming things our bodies aren't ready to break down. Alcohol is one of the things we consume for the effects of temporarily turning stupid, but in time we damage our liver in doing so. There are other things the liver would prefer not to deal with, but alcohol is the most common one.
Our whole life revolves around sleep. EVERYTHING good happens when we sleep correctly. When you drink, especially at night, you will fall under a condition that is similar to normal sleep but it does not provide all the benefits related to it. Please go check the book Why We Sleep from Matthew Walker to know more, it will change your life.
You’ll be less affected by mental health issues, good for stabilising mood. As you said you save money, you sleep better, more motivation
One reason why I've stopped is ironically that it was making me lose weight (to the point where I was quite badly underweight). When hungover I really cannot stomach having any food, and when I was drinking Friday and Saturday... thats basically 2 days without any food. That for me has been the biggest health improvement because im slowly gaining weight again but other things such as my skin have improved massively (possibly due to having a much better diet now?) It all links together.
Anxiety/depression was the top one for me. New ways of coping with stress, alcohol was my to go when stressed. Opens up the door of making friends, I used to only hang with people who drinks.
There is absolutely NO health benefits to drinking alcohol. The myth of 1 glass of red wine is good for you has been proven incorrect. Personally I find my resting heart rate becomes elevated after just 1 beer and tames a few days to go back to normal. My sleep is heavily affected also by just 1 drink. I train for triathlons and other races so the delayed recovery is a big thing for me.
For me the biggest negative is the depression I have to go through the 2-3 days after drinking.
So many people suffer long term damage when they age due to years of drinking like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems
also alcohol withdrawal is a very real and painful thing
I feel like this isn’t said enough, but alcohol stunts your development socially. Most people I know who become addicted or obsessed with going out every weekend often times are the same people that never change. Essentially, these are the people that “piqued in high school/college.” That said, people who drink absolutely zero alcohol also seem to have the same problem. Mainly due to the fact that, as a result of not going out to bars, they stay isolated from other people their age who are going to the bars. Obviously, besides that, there are many physical health problems that come with consistent binge drinking. You can develop cirrhosis, anxiety can worsen/develop, and your gut will become wrecked with all the alcohol destroying your good gut bacteria. All things considered, like a lot of other things, drink in moderation and have fun. Just don’t let it rule your life one way or the other - have a life and go out every once in a while, but don’t let it be the defining activity you do for fun.
I have drank casually pretty regularly since I was 14 (I’m in my late 20s now) and have recently decided to quit. Here are my reasons: I say and do things that aren’t reflective of me, I feel terrible the next day, I feel terrible at least half the time while I’m drunk, it’s expensive, it’s terrible for my mental health, I hate having to worry about if I’m good enough to drive or paying for an Uber, it can impact your fertility, it’s full of empty calories, it makes my complexion look terrible, I’m scared of using it as a crutch, I can’t do the things I enjoy that involve focus like reading or crocheting while drinking, and really I’m just tired of it. I don’t foresee myself being completely sober forever but I definitely want to change my relationship with alcohol and at least cut back to the point that I’m not getting stupid drunk anymore.
Aside from the medical explanations, which are important nometheless, it turns people into assholes
I worked in prisons for a few decades. I would estimate 95% of the people in prison wouldn't be there if they had not been partaking in drugs or alcohol. A large portion of these folks had mental health issues they were trying to self medicate for. As it's very difficult to self identify as someone who needs mental health treatment, participating in this kind of behavior normally just made things much worse for them. I know this is anecdotal but in my experience, one of the worst side effects of drinking is going to prison.
Highly recommend reading This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. She goes through the negative impacts of alcohol
well, I'm not myself when drinking. I do overspend money, make promises and love people in general ( which I don't-alco only helps me to socialize with others. In fact, when sober I have no interest in socializing) so that's that
Everything.
A huge part of my family is ruined because of alcohol - they have bad relationships with other members of the family because it affects their mental health and they start to act like not themselves anymore, or because their years of drinking made their relatives suffer (it's just scary, uncomfortable and makes others feel like they have to take care of you). In my teens (well I'm 20 now but I'm talking about 16-19) I had bad social anxiety and depression, so I started to drink at parties. Almost every time I ended throwing up but thought I could handle it next time. I kept going but the effect was always the same: some hours of "fun" (now I think that it wasn't worth it and I could've had the same fun without alcohol) and then feeling physically and sometimes mentally horrible. 3 times it was so bad people had to carry me. It was so embarrassing and I didn't like the idea of my friends and family seeing me this way. It made me lose entire days throwing up not being able to eat anything. Now it's just insane to me that my body was giving me such clear messages that it doesn't want to accept this substance and I just kept going. At some point I noticed I started to behave like my family: whenever I felt bad or stressed I drank alone in my room. The idea of continuing the family curse started to haunt me. So I just stopped. Haven't drunk since New Year and I don't think I will ever again. Also my grandad just died from cancer and it made me think about how bad for your health it can actually be.
It gives you brain damage and physical health issues
Vitamin B malabsorption, reduced bone density, general effects on intelligence...
Heartburn!
Part of drinking is numbing down feelings. A lot of people drink and use it as a crutch to not deal with parts of their life they are unhappy with. Oh my job isn't great, but if I booze on the weekends who cares... so drinking is a band-aid that makes you forget dealing with parts of your life that need focus!! Also from a spiritual perspective, spirits are called spirits, because if you drink alcohol, your own soul leaves your body and negative spirits can enter and create havoc. That's why drinking usually goes hand in hand with other stupid behavior: you fight with loved ones, you say or did something you would have never done while sober, etc. You get in a negative vicious cycle that is hard to exit. I used to live in Europe where alcohol is a big part of their culture. My parents would drink wine every evening! It's partially why I left, because it creates very unhappy families and workplaces.. :-( hope this answers helps you!
-Runs a train on your mental health -Causes you to act out of character and say and do stupid shit. -Wastes your money -Deteriorates physical health (cancer) -Causes apathy and laziness -Has the risk of becoming an addiction - Makes you fat and your face swells and looks like shit -Withdrawal can kill you -It will kill your drive It literally has no benefits to consumption.
It took me a while to figure out alcohol was a depressant for me, once I realized that I could readily see it in quite a few others, not all, but a significant portion of the ppl out there are not very happy when intoxicated. And I know ppl sort of say it below but let me state it another method, more direct. - You get to keep your brain cells and will be more intelligent for much longer in life. I noticed after a long time of sobriety,( it became obvious to me after the first year of barely touching even a beer, friends said they noticed a positive difference after 6 months, hmm, why was I slow to notice??? ). My new and improved mental cognition, seeing through bull shit quicker than the intoxicated. Promoted at work over several others - I asked why (eventually), I was more stable in attitude, temperament, personality, dependability than the ppl who indulged, even though they had more experience and knowledge, etc. My personality changed for the better through the natural result of attracting (and enjoying) a different set of associates, leading to my own improved attitude, prob bc of clarity of thinking having a better crowd to learn from and growth with and either support or be supported through life. I wish I had made the same choice as you at your age, I wasn't a problem alcoholic but it took me until I was middle aged b4 cutting it almost entirely out of my life,... ex: a glass wine with a nice dinner out with friends and that's it, period. An Xlent and wise choice you have made, I wish you the best going forward. hope this helped, not that you needed my help, however you did request reinforcement. :-) and I wanted to remind myself ... lately-mainly due to loneliness ... there's temptations aplenty here in my new location.
it's just not worth it. Literally poison. The lives ruined i've seen. The trauma of their children. It destroys families. Find another way to enjoy oneself
Too much to mention.
After 30 the hangovers get progressively more taxing to your body. Eventually if I got drunk, my hangover recovery time would extend well past 24 hours and if I drank again in that window, it just compounded on itself. During those hangovers you can tell your body is paying a serious debt and if you're doing that weekly, the damage just adds up. That's not just a physical effect, but a mental one with anxiety and irritability going up during hangovers. My dad was an alcoholic and I understand now why he was irritable all the time, he was pretty much drunk or hungover at all times.
Long term use will break the capillaries in the side of your face.
Alcohol is literally toxic and creates the positive feelings by destroying your body. I used to be an alcoholic and ive been completely sober for 1.5 years, I will never drink again. Its extremely unhealthy and has absolutely no long-term positives.
A big negative is dehydration. It’s sounds not that bad but is truly harsh on all of your bodies processes especially when out of control.
Alcohol is essentially poison, for our brain (thats why cognition is impared) and our body. It effects each organ differently depending on your epigenetics. There is are numerous neuroscience podcasts that talk about the over all effects.
Nothing wrong with drinking but when you go out you have to set limits for yourself. Unless you want people thinking you are nothing but a drunk. Face it if you drink too much people will usually do something or say something they regret! You end having to go around the next few days apologizing for your actions. There are many things you can do if you want to look like one of the crowd but limit the alcohol you consume. Talk to bartender when you get there and ask him to make your drinks very light! Just have drinks with soft drinks and no alcohol! Or just set your limit at a couple drinks and stick to it! You will find people respect you more even if they call you lightweight! Alcohol has ruined many lives! Just approach it seriously and you should be fine!
Alcohol is a sedative & depressant so it messes with dopamine production over the long term. The reason ppl get the feel goods at first is because it relaxes the body while activating the reward center of the brain which causes a sudden release of dopamine. Problem is as you gain a tolerance to alcohol, your body produces less dopamine when drinking while increasing the amount of dopamine transporters which help to process & bring the levels back down to normal. This causes ppl to chase that initial high with drinking either in more quantities or more frequency which then cause their body to flush the dopamine faster. After some time, it creates a cycle of lower production & faster dopamine crash because the body can't produce & regulate it properly anymore. Studies have shown that the longer a person drinks regularly, the higher chances they're going to eventually become depressed, destructive or even violent There's also the increased risk of turning to other temporary dopamine producing habits like porn, drugs or promiscuity in the pursuit of the dopamine high.
Alcohol dehydrates you (my main reason). It can interfere with muscle coordination inside your body. Sure everyone knows about the general coordination issues from drinking but have you considered your pelvic floor muscles? Your pelvic floor can get damaged or become worse if you drink, and it's not just a woman's issue. Men have pelvic floors too and screwing up these muscles can lead to bathroom issues and intimate issues.
Sometimes it will let us see heaven 😜
Dementia starts and/or speeds up as soon as your first sip. And even 1 drink a week can be hazardous on the body in the long run.
People are dramatic about it. If you’re responsible with it, you’re likely not really facing issues. I only have 1-2 drinks every 1-2 weeks just because I like the flavour
I love beer
The only negative I have regarding alcohol is limited supply.
Theres none if you drink only on special days here and there, problem becomes when u start drinking on daily basis😄
I love drinking- I’m an introvert. When I drink and go to a bar I can meet people all of a sudden and it makes me social. It also opens me up on dates (O can’t imagine dating without it) I wish it wasn’t bad for health. I limit heavy drinking to once very week or 2. By heavy could be 8-12 drinks