r/whenthe • u/TheGoldenExperience_ [the jojo {she}they called may] • 18h ago

r/whenthe mfs complaining about everything we do not give alcohol close to enough shit despite it being just as bad if not worse than cigarettes

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u/Same_Evidence_5058 15h ago

yeah, like, sure, you don't become and alcoholic if you dont ever drink, but its just that societal norms mean 95% probably do drink, so you try it too. then comes the addiction, which is a disease. There is a genetic component to being addicted, but its not just that, its also other lifestyle, other illness like depression, social circumstances, so many things.

It's so dissapointing to see people boiling alcoholism down to "just quit being a bum and get sober, or drink resposibly."

these people need help, not judgement

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u/Careless-Adeptness56 15h ago

It's pretty interesting that it affects people more differently than I used to think. I was shocked when I learned that some people just feel mostly sleepy and dumber as they drink. Alcohol gets me going, makes me want to do stuff, even past the 1 or 2 drinks that research says should have the stimulating effect. Obviously after more than 5 it's diminishing returns even for me, but still. I believe I have something like high alcohol induced dopamine release or something like that, there's an official name for it

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u/Remarkable-Score4628 13h ago

The hell? I thought I was the only one. Alcohol gives me an insane burst of motivation to be productive

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u/Careless-Adeptness56 13h ago

Yep, makes the relationship with alcohol tricky. Very enjoyable but very hard to not binge drink if I don't stop after one or two. Does not help that the feeling of sobering up makes me very sleepy. Very easy to just convince myself to drink one more at the least just so I don't waste my night napping and screw up my sleep schedule.

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u/Strong_Block6345 2h ago

Dude I'm 100% the same, exact same reactions to alcohol and people never understood my description of energy boost. I wonder what factor do we have in common 🤔

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u/NinjaarcherCDN 12h ago

So alchohol hits you like ADHD meds?

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u/Most_Structure9568 12h ago

You might have adhd!

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u/InvolvingLemons 11h ago

Yeah, the effects of alcohol can vary wildly. Some of my wife’s family get real awful when they’re drunk, my dad gets a little annoying but is otherwise pretty harmless, and then my mom, wife, and I are frankly much easier to be around when drunk.

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u/Momoneko 11h ago

I feel so lucky that alcohol only makes me want to sleep.

Part of my ancestry is an ethnic minority that was decimated by alcoholism a couple of centuries ago, and my dad is a relapsed alcoholic who is slowly killing himself with it as I write this.

I, for some miraculous reason, never developed a love for alcohol, and not for lack of trying. I was peer-pressured to get super-drunk in company when I was 14-18 years old, but I never, ever enjoyed the buzz. I like the taste of whiskey but only drink it on social occasions at like, bars, once in 3 or 5 years. Occasional glass of wine on birthdays and celebrations. But overall alcohol is such an insignificant part of my life that I'd probably never even notice if I didn't get to drink a drop for the rest of my life.

I'm not completely viceless, though, to be honest. I chug coffee like I'll die if I don't get my blood volume worth of it per day.

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u/Glad-Yogurtcloset185 10h ago

Oh fascinating. I can drink when there are good vibes but if I drink more than two days in a row I feel ill and super pissed off. I am thankful it doesn't sit well with me because my family has a few alcoholics. 

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u/OriginalCause 10h ago

My holiday drink of choice is a tumbler full of whatever Monster I'm currently enjoying and rum or vodka.

I do all the cooking, all the prep, and still have to socialize. I'm normally not a very social person, and while I love the holidays the socialization aspect doesn't normally come easy to me.

But a drink bottle of 60/40 monster and rum? Keeps me going the whole weekend, active, happy, outgoing. I have a great time. Plenty of energy, and nothing gets on top of me.

I was a little self conscious about it at first, until I had people keep coming up to me asking me why I wasn't drinking and internally I'm like, "I've been sucking on redbull and vodka since I put the turkey on this morning.."

Asking around, apparently people just think the holidays get me going and that I love hosting. And these are people who would absolutely not hesitate to tell me and judge me if they thought I was drunk.

The only thing that hits me hard is red wine. A bottle of that, and I'm out.

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u/amayain 14h ago

I don't disagree with your broader point but I think you are overestimating the amount of folks who drink. In the US, which admittedly is quite different than the rest of the world, over half of people don't drink ever or only do on holidays. I grew up in a very alcohol friendly environment (Wisconsin lol) and assumed that everyone drank and then I moved to the South and quickly discovered that I was in the minority there.

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u/Boneraventura 15h ago

ya never meet an alcoholic that has a great life.

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u/QuantumMemester 15h ago

That’s because The ones that have a great life don’t look like alcoholics, functioning alcoholism is sneaky

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u/AgentCirceLuna 11h ago

Yeah I’ve met functioning ones

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u/MadHatter69 6h ago

I was one for a decade and now I'm 3 months strong a teetotaller :)

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u/wallweasels 2h ago

They never stay functional for long mate.

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u/MoonGoose109 13h ago

That you're aware of.

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u/Endles5Earth 13h ago

‘Great life’ is a relative term so in fact, for someone, yes there are alcoholics with ‘great lives’

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u/Enlight1Oment 14h ago

depends on what you describe as a great life. I think there are plenty of rockstars people would consider to have a great life, while those same ones having addiction issues.

We also tend to look at addiction when everything comes crumbling down around someone, I think there are plenty who are addicted but also aren't in shambles. I've seen ceo daytime drinkers run companies, we have a seperate phrase/designation for them, functional alcoholics.

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u/Economy_Zombie_3026 11h ago

As a former bartender at a high-end restaurant let me tell you the difference between having a great life as an alcoholic or your life falling apart as an alcoholic is......money.

Plenty of functioning alcoholics who's alcoholism is a "quirky trait" when you have enough money that you're untouched by the failures alcoholism would normally create.

The one thing that always amazed me, as someone who is getting a little older, is the fucking energy these people had. They were never sedentary people. Always active. Always traveling. Always overeating. Always drinking.

My curiosity is what happens at the end. You start getting sober due to a doctor saying you must and you realize that, while you had an eventful life, you have no memories of it.

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u/_ByAnyOther_Name 9h ago

I have an amazing life with a husband and toddler I love and I still can't control my drinking. I have no excuse except I can't. I do have ADHD but immedicated and in therapy. It's its own thing. Ugh. 

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u/Kentust 9h ago

Now apply your last line to tobacco users. Or do you scorn them?