no-go
20-02-2008, 10:42
Swim is frustrated. In all research, resources begin with health issues of excessive drinking, but ultimately advise against alcoholism primarily for its social stigma. Swim notices:
1) When identifying whether the drinker has a problem, alcoholism is taken by a loose definition: You have a problem, if others say so. If you object, even with a reasonable defense, well, of course you deny it: that is a symptom of your alcoholism and evidence of your problem.
2) The amount of alcohol you drink in a day/week/binge constitutes alcoholism. Drinking according to schedule. Drinking alone, or drinking while others do not. Not the frequency of inebriation and negative behavior changes.
3) If you are challenged to quit, and you do not, it proves you are an alcoholic. The request is always reasonable. You are not. If you do quit to appease the accuser, you may not begin again.
Now, swim recognizes there is such a thing as out-of-control drinking which affects others in a real way. Swim is talking in this case about those whose drinking habits do not manifest a negative impact on others, except this: They are bothered to believe he is an alcoholic.
To avoid causing this "problem", the one discovers based on number 2, that there is a standard limit for alcohol and going above it marks you an alcoholic. What is that limit? For males: 1-2 beers a day. Or one glass of wine. Or two ounces of liquor. Period. It does not matter how long it takes to consume the beverages, whether the person does get drunk, has had food, etc. Just tally it up at the end of the day.
For most people, this restriction makes the effect of alcohol negligible, drinking at all pointless. It means you cannot drink for enjoyment except for taste, texture, thirst, etc. not the alcohol. 1-2 beers a day? Seriously.
Swim has taken to drinking 4-6 beers a night, 4-6 nights a week. Beginning around 7pm, and ending around 11pm or midnight. During which time dinner is eaten and there is nothing to do but watch a movie or read a book or make phone calls etc. That roughly comes to one beer per hour. Swim realizes this is unhealthy physically, but seriously, is this a problem otherwise? Swim means is it a moral or psychological problem? Is there such a thing as harmless drinking beyond those ridiculous numbers above?
Swim never yells/gets mean/gets hangovers/skips work/drinks during the day/has blackouts/says embarassing things/slurs words/trips or walks poorly/breaks things/etc etc. Maybe has bad breath occasionally. Otherwise, no real impact on others. Why does swim drink? Because he likes alcohol. Same reason he smokes cigarettes. Swim does not like coca-cola, so being challenged to drink six of those in one night is silly. Though swim used to drink six cups of coffee a day. Does that count?
Is swim crazy?? Even if he were an alcoholic, he would say "So what?" Just like potheads and other users. Just about everyone in modern society uses a psychoactive on a daily basis.
In my opinion, there is an extremely unjust stigma surrounding any alcohol consumption. There is no objective evaluation on a case-by-case basis; just a widespread general understanding that drinking is wrong no matter what, liking alcohol is wrong, you need help, and you don't get a say-so. But no matter how much I research, no one agrees with this.
2 beers. Or else it's bad. That's a joke. "Don't get drunk except once or twice a year. Don't get buzzed. Don't do it every night. Why do you need to do it? You don't want to, you need to. Then you shouldn't want to." Something is wrong with this society.
1) When identifying whether the drinker has a problem, alcoholism is taken by a loose definition: You have a problem, if others say so. If you object, even with a reasonable defense, well, of course you deny it: that is a symptom of your alcoholism and evidence of your problem.
2) The amount of alcohol you drink in a day/week/binge constitutes alcoholism. Drinking according to schedule. Drinking alone, or drinking while others do not. Not the frequency of inebriation and negative behavior changes.
3) If you are challenged to quit, and you do not, it proves you are an alcoholic. The request is always reasonable. You are not. If you do quit to appease the accuser, you may not begin again.
Now, swim recognizes there is such a thing as out-of-control drinking which affects others in a real way. Swim is talking in this case about those whose drinking habits do not manifest a negative impact on others, except this: They are bothered to believe he is an alcoholic.
To avoid causing this "problem", the one discovers based on number 2, that there is a standard limit for alcohol and going above it marks you an alcoholic. What is that limit? For males: 1-2 beers a day. Or one glass of wine. Or two ounces of liquor. Period. It does not matter how long it takes to consume the beverages, whether the person does get drunk, has had food, etc. Just tally it up at the end of the day.
For most people, this restriction makes the effect of alcohol negligible, drinking at all pointless. It means you cannot drink for enjoyment except for taste, texture, thirst, etc. not the alcohol. 1-2 beers a day? Seriously.
Swim has taken to drinking 4-6 beers a night, 4-6 nights a week. Beginning around 7pm, and ending around 11pm or midnight. During which time dinner is eaten and there is nothing to do but watch a movie or read a book or make phone calls etc. That roughly comes to one beer per hour. Swim realizes this is unhealthy physically, but seriously, is this a problem otherwise? Swim means is it a moral or psychological problem? Is there such a thing as harmless drinking beyond those ridiculous numbers above?
Swim never yells/gets mean/gets hangovers/skips work/drinks during the day/has blackouts/says embarassing things/slurs words/trips or walks poorly/breaks things/etc etc. Maybe has bad breath occasionally. Otherwise, no real impact on others. Why does swim drink? Because he likes alcohol. Same reason he smokes cigarettes. Swim does not like coca-cola, so being challenged to drink six of those in one night is silly. Though swim used to drink six cups of coffee a day. Does that count?
Is swim crazy?? Even if he were an alcoholic, he would say "So what?" Just like potheads and other users. Just about everyone in modern society uses a psychoactive on a daily basis.
In my opinion, there is an extremely unjust stigma surrounding any alcohol consumption. There is no objective evaluation on a case-by-case basis; just a widespread general understanding that drinking is wrong no matter what, liking alcohol is wrong, you need help, and you don't get a say-so. But no matter how much I research, no one agrees with this.
2 beers. Or else it's bad. That's a joke. "Don't get drunk except once or twice a year. Don't get buzzed. Don't do it every night. Why do you need to do it? You don't want to, you need to. Then you shouldn't want to." Something is wrong with this society.