Britain's drink culture

[WBA1955]

We have always been a nation of boozers, two Kings drank themselves to death, and we have had some right pissheads in our sportsmen, writers, actors, poets and politicians.
But the drink culture among the young people today seems to be getting worse.
I used to get drunk when I was younger but only on beer. Today young people drink shots as well as beer and lager.
Women and not just young women drink things with exotic name's like **** Star and *** on the Beach as well as the traditional gin and vodka.
You rarely saw a drunken woman in our day, I have never seen my wife drunk in over 40 years of being with her. A good thing too because she drove the car while we visited the pub's. But women today in pubs are more drunk than sober. I reckon most of them have those awful tattoos while they are p issed.
I only have a few pints with friends these days, but when the pub had the Christmas party the other week I had the three course Turkey dinner, followed by cheese and biscuits and got through, five pints of lager, four real ales, three glasses of red wine, three whiskies and a rum and coke.
Cheers.

[Omegstrat6]

Back in the day I used to be able to drink like a fish (and mix my drinks beers/lager/wines/spirits) and eat like a horse and never got a hangover or put on weight. Sadly, got to about 36 and this began to change😥. Tbh, simply cannot afford to go to the pub these days! Long gone are the days when you could get a couple of pints and a bag of crisps for under a tenner!
Think the biggest change to the drinking culture the past decade or so is the girlie one where most city centres see crowds of young girls wearing very little but their tattoos pissed out of their heads and spewing up. The old "lager lout"/Stella-r-**** lad culture was bad enough but just gets worse now.

[mickd1961]

I mentioned this a few days ago on here Des.

I’m amazed at the number of people I know who have a serious drink problem who either don’t realise that they have or who are in denial.

There’s quite a few on here who talk blithely about their drinking, it’s regular to see people post that they “sank a bottle or two of red” or a few pints of this or that.

The facts are simple, if you reach for the vino most nights of the week to have a couple or more glasses to help you “relax” then there is a problem.

I’m no saint, I have the very same problem when it comes to reaching for a “sweet treat” that I don’t need mid evening, I’ve gotten into a bad habit of eating c r a p around 9.00pm at night over the last decade and I can’t seem to break it.

Alcohol comes under the same banner, the brain becomes trained into expecting it at certain times or certain places, it’s treated as a “reward”, something we deserve apparently, I saw a documentary on this very subject.

The brain/body enjoys the rush of the sugar and alcohol and the brain then expects it because it becomes programmed to expect.

My sons last boss was I guy I knew and he died in 2020 at the age of 51 from liver cancer.

Loved a few pints and a few shorts, life and soul of the party. You never saw him drunk though.

I spent a lot of time at Stourbridge matches chatting to him and he was utterly delusional even when they were pumping 30-40 litres of fluid from his body every couple of weeks as his liver and kidneys were shot.

The liver is an amazing organ, it can take a tremendous amount of punishment and be down to 15-20% working capacity and still lull you into a state of falseness in thinking that you’re fine.

Then “bang”, you find that one day it suddenly won’t play ball and you’re f u c k e d.

I’ve got my own demons with food that I’ve had all my life, I fight my overeating with exercise but to those friends on here who are drinking please take a good look at your situation.

If you need to open the wine bottle each night you’ve got a problem, same if you need 2/3/4 pints a night or you reach for the shorts.

The people I know like my wife, who have a couple of drinks at a social event or our at a meal are the ones who treat this stuff correctly, it should be a treat and not a daily occurrence.

I’m so glad I don’t drink because based on my addiction to sweet food I do think it’d be a problem for me.

[Leicesterbaggie]

Of course, as youngsters we drank and were 'out of our heads' on occasions but not to the extent that youngsters do today. From a personal point of view I was never a big drinker but enjoyed a pint and still do. By the age of thirty though I was very moderate. Now I'm not defending the behaviour of some men but girls these days don't help themselves when they get so drunk that they put themselves into awkward situations. I may be old fashioned but I don't like to see women the worse for drink.

[WBA1955]

I have drank since I was 15, I don't drink much these days. I usually have tea and Oxo when I don't go out, I usually go out a couple of times a week.
I sleep better when I have had no alcohol. Mick makes interesting points and I think it is true what he says.
I am lucky that I have never been addicted to anything. Last year I went from October to March without a drink even at Christmas.
I smoke one pipe or a cigar a day, but often go a couple of days or longer without.
Of course as Mick says, that doesn't guarantee that I won't get cancer or liver disease but I think it's a bit late for me to worry about those things now lol.
I think it's the luck of the draw, the same as with Covid.
Lillian Board a super fit athlete died of cancer at 21, while Winston Churchill with a bottle of scotch and endless cigars a day lived to be ninety.
My mom started smoking at 11 and is still going at 88, though she hasn't smoked for the last ten years.
My uncle started when he was 9 and lived until he was 82.
Another uncle wrote a poem that won a prize when it was printed in the E&S, it was called everything in moderation. He died last year aged 95, I think he got it right.

[Omegstrat6]

Agree with you Mick. When I was younger I never saw the point in drinking until you were pissed or sick like my mates but then I never got hangovers but it was later on that I went through a **** patch like most of us do and stupidly could drink a bottle of scotch a day. Finally realised this was no solution and now just drink the odd beer/cider whatever or glass of wine when I fancy it and only the odd glass of spirits at Xmas. I had a mate who used to drink a lot to mask his social issues and to help him "fit in" (he has since been diagnosed very belatedly as being on the AS spectrum) whilst an ex ended up drinking more and more in response to dealing with the crap that was going on in her life but her addictive personality led her to becoming an absolute nightmare to live with. She'd always say stuff but couldn't remember later or accuse me of saying stuff that I didn't and even ended up getting really paranoid and having panic attacks about things she thought she might have done. Thankfully she managed to give it up but does not drink at all now as worries she might get hooked again I suppose. Couple of things about addiction though are 1) you have to recognize yourself that you have a problem and 2) you need to have the desire to stop. They can support you but no-one can do it for you or make you stop.
Like you, my addiction now is the biscuit tin or the crisp packet! But, oddly enough, if there are none in the house I don't bother and wouldn't go out of my way to buy them. Wierd.🤔

[baggieal]

If people enjoy a drink then that’s entirely their decision. I have known two guys now who have not drunk and dropped dead of heart attacks - one was a tennis coach in his forty’s and fitter than fit. Some doctors say a glass of red in moderation can be good for you!

As long as people don’t go stupid people have got to live and do what they enjoy!

If a person wants a good drink then fine - if a person does not want to be jabbed then fine - if a person wants to better their education after school then fine - if a person wants to s hag the same s ex person then fine - if a guy wants to dress as a girl then fine.

Nobody should be judged and do what they want to do to enjoy their life. Some could say playing chess, train spotting or not drinking alcohol is boring too - I still would say if a person enjoys this then fine too!

Each to their own!

[mickd1961]

My point is really about denial when it comes to drinking.

I’ve seen in the past and still see now huge numbers of friends and acquaintances who casually talk about their drinking habits, I feel that a lot of them don’t have a clue how quickly you can go from being okay and functioning as normal to suddenly falling off a cliff with your health.

I watched my sons ex boss go from being a perennial “one of the lads” to dead in a very short time.

From being “normal” and drinking every day to carrying 30-40 litres of excess fluid and having to have drains in an absolute flash when his organs suddenly started to fail.

A year and a bit after starting the drains he was dead.

I don’t mean to be holier than thou about this, I have plenty of my own demons to deal with, I’m just concerned for friends who I think are a bit “blind” to the alcohol issues.

I think a simple measure of whether you have a bad relationship with alcohol is the simple test of how you feel by 10pm tonight if you’ve been denied access to it today.

Do you become twitchy, anxious and bad tempered, if you do then those are symptoms of withdrawal!?

If you can go tonight and tomorrow night without thinking about drink and you then have three of four glasses on Saturday night and then don’t think about it Sunday then you don’t have a problem.

I get those same symptoms if I deny myself the chocolate chip cookies at 9.00pm😏

Look after your liver and kidneys boys, they are truly amazing organs.

Best of health to all, it’s only because I care about you lot that I mention this.

[Dubbag]

Thankfully the Irish never got into that whole boozing culture you have over there.....

[baggieal]

My point is really about denial when it comes to drinking.

I’ve seen in the past and still see now huge numbers of friends and acquaintances who casually talk about their drinking habits, I feel that a lot of them don’t have a clue how quickly you can go from being okay and functioning as normal to suddenly falling off a cliff with your health.

I watched my sons ex boss go from being a perennial “one of the lads” to dead in a very short time.

From being “normal” and drinking every day to carrying 30-40 litres of excess fluid and having to have drains in an absolute flash when his organs suddenly started to fail.

A year and a bit after starting the drains he was dead.

I don’t mean to be holier than thou about this, I have plenty of my own demons to deal with, I’m just concerned for friends who I think are a bit “blind” to the alcohol issues.

I think a simple measure of whether you have a bad relationship with alcohol is the simple test of how you feel by 10pm tonight if you’ve been denied access to it today.

Do you become twitchy, anxious and bad tempered, if you do then those are symptoms of withdrawal!?

If you can go tonight and tomorrow night without thinking about drink and you then have three of four glasses on Saturday night and then don’t think about it Sunday then you don’t have a problem.

I get those same symptoms if I deny myself the chocolate chip cookies at 9.00pm😏

Look after your liver and kidneys boys, they are truly amazing organs.

Best of health to all, it’s only because I care about you lot that I mention this.

Good points but denial is not just down to alcohol. I have seen more people destroyed by gambling than alcoholism. Still say everyone to their own but alcohol becomes more serious with heavy spirits.