Do you drink beer alone or with others?

I've always said that was a particularly silly drinking myth, and now that I am older, I find it even more ridiculous. Drinking alone does not make you an alcoholic--drinking too much, too frequently does. When I was younger, I mostly drank with friends, and in that environment, I was a binge drinker at the time. If I had persisted in that sort of behavior, there is no doubt I would have become an alcoholic.

Now, as a grown ass man with a wife, two jobs, full time attendance in grad school, internship and my position as a graduate assistant, I rarely have any time to drink with others except when I am on vacation. Every once in a blue moon my wife drinks with me. The funny thing is, I drink a lot less, and a lot more responsibly now that most of my drinking is done alone. So again, the idea that drinking alone makes you an alcoholic is silly. I'd prefer to drink more with friends, as it tends to make a nice get together even better, but circumstances generally prevent it. But oftentimes, when I drink with others I tend to drink a little more. Of course I no longer funnel beers or do kegstands even with others, so, it evens its self out. lol

 

Me too. I've simply cut my beer drinking in half and in the last 4 weeks I have lost 10 lbs. My doc is totally happy.

 

Good stuff, that.

 

That is too funny, I guess never thought of it that way.

 

One item I forgot to say was another reason I drink solo more is that my options are better at home. Most bars have the cookie cutter choices and if you want a killer beer its usually from a bottle store so that also dictates a lot of my drinking habits.

 

While my preference is to drink with others, my current adulting situation as father of a toddler means that a majority of my consumption these days is having 1-2 beers in the evening after bedtime. My wife may try to enjoy a beer occasionally with me, but her thing is usually to open a beer, have 2-3 sips and then fall asleep.

When i travel for work I seem to take a hybrid approach - I'll go to a bar or brewery alone, but usually end up in conversation with someone.

 

No, it doesn't. That makes you a heavy drinker ("excessive alcohol use" is the phrase used by the CDC). An alcoholic (a person with a "severe alcohol use disorder" to use the CDC name) has specific symptoms, and in fact, may be completely sober if they are in recovery. According to the CDC,

"A severe alcohol use disorder, previously known as alcohol dependence or alcoholism, is a chronic disease. Some of the signs and symptoms of a severe alcohol use disorder could include:

Inability to limit drinking.
Continuing to drink despite personal or professional problems.
Needing to drink more to get the same effect.
Wanting a drink so badly you can’t think of anything else."

 

I used to take my daughter to breweries and bars with me. She loved it. Not trying to encourage you to do the same, but your post reminded me of those days.

 

Here's my issue with that definition. What you've described is a psychological disorder, not the physical manifestations of prolonged alcohol use on the human body.

 

Right on. My daughter would just sit there. We'd do a tour and I'd have a couple tasters afterwards or she'd just sit next to me at the pub and we'd have lunch and I'd have a pint. Happy days, those.

 

You are correct in the most literal sense. I suppose I could have worded it better--I could have said something along the lines of "Drinking too much, too frequently, and longevity of the behavioral pattern of heavy drinking over time can lead to the development of alcoholism." And of course the frequency and amount drank over time is not the only factor. Genetics for one, have been found to play a heavy role in whether or not one progresses to full blown alcoholism, among other factors. Generally, though, my statement has the ring of truth even without these qualifications, but I was speaking colloquially as opposed to clinically.

 

Well, they are different. Excessive alcohol use can destroy your liver and cause other health problems. Alcoholism is a physical dependency. Neither are healthy, but they are different.

 

Indeed.

 

I would argue that this is more of a "nurture" issue than a hardwired "nature" one.

 

My belief is that there is enough evidence to conclude that it is a case of both nature and nurture, and whether one or the other has a bigger impact on a particular individual is on a case by case basis. If you pinned me down and forced me to make a call on the issue, I'd probably say that nurture likely has a bigger impact for most, but I do believe that there is a biological component as well, although the idea of citing sources as to why I believe this in not particularly appealing at this time. But generally, in the fields of psychology and counseling (the latter being the field I am studying) there is a pretty broad consensus that there is a biological component to it.

 

The introvert "usually drinks alone" population is large on this thread. The scientist in me wonders if the reason for that is because extroverts tend to be with people more and discuss beer less on the interweb. The "likes to be alone and drink beer while bullshitting on the web" population of this site is probably too high to get a good sample of all beer drinkers.

 

I think you bring up a really important distinction that doesn't get enough play. And not because "heavy drinker" allows one to dodge the "alcoholic" label, but because it makes it clear that there are health issues involved with alcohol even when you're not an alcoholic (which brings a whole other set of social, psychological, and physical problems into the mix).

I'm definitely not an alcoholic, but I also definitely should drink a bit less. There's no arguing with my belt.

 

There is nothing, I repeat nothing on this site that will get you anything even resembling a sample of all beer drinkers. We are a niche in a niche if you will.

 

99% of the time I drink beer alone. Just like when I light up a cigar it's my time to unwind and let the world fade away for an hour or two without any interruptions.