Do You Drink Alcohol?

[Pup Tentacle]

I drink a beer or two a couple times a week.

I drink a bunch of beer every couple of months, not wasty drunk, just nice and buzzy.

I probably wind up good and ripped about twice a year. Rarely planned, it generally stems from some very social and jovial celebration. (This tends to happen more often in the company of druids for some reason.)

Overall I prefer cannabis and see myself just kind of stopping drinking over the next 5 years or so... but cold beer is awfully nice.

 

[universecannon]

Not really. I did most of my drinking freshman year of high school and then it all sort of plummeted from there. I'll have maybe 1 locally brewed beer a few times a year now.

Not sure how accurate this image is, but I had it lying around.

 

[anon_003]

I drink a lot. Certainly too much for a 20 year old. But hey, all of my friends at school (my true friends with similar interests) all get wasted 3 days a week, and to be honest, I like the effects in certain situations. I don't like blacking out, which seems to happen more and more often. I don't like hangovers. I don't like gaining weight and saying stupid, half-contemplated idiot things that I have anxiety attacks over the following day. But I also like going to parties, which would be impossible to do without consuming alcohol (before you say thats ridiculous, have you ever been to a college party?). Give up drinking and be a social outcast (no way id be able to be around it if I wasn't drinking), or continue to be a functional alcoholic. At some crossroads. It really sucks how deeply entrenched drinking is in our social culture

 

[zhoro]

No, I find it uninteresting at this point. I used to drink a lot in my younger years, my cup is full for this lifetime.

I had a five-year period of intense yoga practice when I abstained totally. Then I studied Kabalah for a while with a group for which drinking socially was a part of the spiritual practice. I left that group and shortly thereafter quit drinking again. I haven't had alcohol in years and intend to keep it that way through this form's expiration.

 

[universecannon]

I drink a lot. Certainly too much for a 20 year old. But hey, all of my friends at school (my true friends with similar interests) all get wasted 3 days a week, and to be honest, I like the effects in certain situations. I don't like blacking out, which seems to happen more and more often. I don't like hangovers. I don't like gaining weight and saying stupid, half-contemplated idiot things that I have anxiety attacks over the following day. But I also like going to parties, which would be impossible to do without consuming alcohol (before you say thats ridiculous, have you ever been to a college party?). Give up drinking and be a social outcast (no way id be able to be around it if I wasn't drinking), or continue to be a functional alcoholic. At some crossroads. It really sucks how deeply entrenched drinking is in our social culture

I had a great time in college and I hardly drank at all really, although I did spend a lot of time on my own tripping. A lot depends on who your friends are. My friends smoked more marijunana more than they drank alcohol, and if we went out it was mostly to see local bands or to house parties that I wouldn't mind being at stoned...I couldn't stand frat parties or ones of that sort/bars sober, and stoned made me far too sensitive to the superficiality and shallowness... So I can relate to your feelings on alcohol being unfortunately infused with out social interactions. It is something that took me many years to break away from. The impulse to drink and fit in is a hard thing to break away from when immersed in it, but with some distance and true friends that you don't need to be drunk with to enjoy their company, it's been mostly effortless.

 

[112233]

I drink a lot. Certainly too much for a 20 year old. But hey, all of my friends at school (my true friends with similar interests) all get wasted 3 days a week, and to be honest, I like the effects in certain situations. I don't like blacking out, which seems to happen more and more often. I don't like hangovers. I don't like gaining weight and saying stupid, half-contemplated idiot things that I have anxiety attacks over the following day. But I also like going to parties, which would be impossible to do without consuming alcohol (before you say thats ridiculous, have you ever been to a college party?). Give up drinking and be a social outcast (no way id be able to be around it if I wasn't drinking), or continue to be a functional alcoholic. At some crossroads. It really sucks how deeply entrenched drinking is in our social culture

Damn, son, if you're only twenty and blacking out from booze, I'd say it's time to take a step back and reevaluate your situation.

And if you have to drink to have fun at a party, that should tell you something right there. College parties don't look like any fun to me, just an exercise in excess. Being a "social outcast" can be a great thing. Pulling out of the drunken haze can be a revelation.

Naturally you'll do what you feel, but ask yourself: keep this up and where do you imagine you'll be in five years? Besides sporting a massive beer gut and watching all your "true friends" sink further down the alcohol hole?

I've been there, the blackouts (or Time Traveling as I called it), it sucks, trying to piece the night together through drunken texts (my drinking days was before the ubiquitous nature of texting, thankfully), wondering if you pissed anyone off, waking up in strange places. Not fun at all.

 

[Jox]

anon_003,

I recognise your bravery and honesty in expressing what you do, as almost none of heavy drinkers did, even though they said it in the poll.

EDIT: the first ^ sentence for clarity,

Entheogenerator, I prise you for being honest and upfront about your drinking habit. At the time of writing this, 56% responded that they drink a lot or regularly, but only one explained what is his relationship to alcohol. Mostly outspoken were the ones who don t drink.


And you are right about the social conditioning of drinking, every where people drink even it is just a glass of vine for dinner. But these people bore me to death... I am too old to go for any BS. It does limit our social interaction, indeed...

But just curious, how does work with psychedelics fit in your life style? Which ones do you do, it will be interesting to know.

 

[--Shadow]

I did the usual weekend drinking in my 20's, then only binged in my early 30's

I eventually stopped when i woke up in my hotel room, no remembering walking to the bottle-O to get a 2nd bottle, and deciding to throw all the table and chairs out the 2nd story window...

Now I only have 1 or 2 ciders every blue moon (other than a glass of wine at a dinner just as rarely)

 

[hug46]

I recognise your bravery and honesty in expressing what you do, as almost none of heavy drinkers did, even though they said it in the poll.

I don"t understand this statement. Can you elaborate?

Maybe there is a parralel universe where psychedelics are legal, alcohol is illegal and there is a forum called Inebriated Nexus where all the members are moaning about how bloody pious and socially conditioned all the tripheads are. This statement is not aimed at anyone on this forum, it is just an observation about humanity.

I think that if you are a sober person drunk people get on your nerves. I also think that if someone is not on drugs and someone else is, that the person who is straight at the time generally finds the other a bit boring.

It is not the drug that is the problem, it is the intention behind the partaking of. It is possible to cultivate a positive relationship with alcohol.

A shamanic perspective on wines and other spirits

 

[anon_003]

Thank you everyone for all of the thoughtful replies! You all haven't a clue how much hearing your unbiased perspective means.

Psychedelics have completely restructured every aspect of my life, and I have done then regularly since I was 14 years old (to varying degrees). I have the most experience with LSD, using up to two times weekly for almost a year of my life. Mushrooms, salvia and DMT have been used, but nothing but DMT has been used as frequently. I use psychedelics for many reasons, but the primary reason I trip is to appreciate things such as music, art, and the intricacies of the human mind (thru analyzing myself and others by means of conversations and facebook profiles). I also use it to analyze the world around me in ways that might not be as obvious whilst sober. And also, I occasionally use them for pure recreation, and see nothing wrong with it! I have a better time than almost with anything else, an often times am given incredible insight as a bonus. Through trial and error, I have cultivated a healthy relationship with them that has overall benefitted my life.

However, a side effect of this is that I now permanently reside deep inside my head and can be really socially awkward at time, drastically overthinking everything. This is a blessing, and also a curse. In certain conversations and social interactions, I feel paralyzed without alcohol as a lubricant. The way I use alcohol is almost as an anti-psychedelic, it takes my drastically overthought thoughts and reduces them into an intuitive, almost impulsive one (though not always a bad thing!). Alcohol makes me loud and talkative, something I am not when sober. It shuts off my mind, it grounds me and makes me mesh with general society better. After I quit alcohol, which will eventually happen, I will have to find another way to do this, without drugs, if I wish to easily participate socially. Again, not necessarily a problem, I just need to grow up and learn how to use this new thought process I have been given and quit lazily relying on alcohol to randomly pick out the best thoughts. I need to use my new mind as an advantage all the time, not just some of the time.

Just as a closing thought, I have nothing against alcohol! Like hug said, it isnt the drug, but the user. I know many people who really enjoy and benefit from it in moderation. However, the way I am wired simply makes it *impossible* for me to have this kind of relationship. With me, its all or nothing, most of the time all, and I have tried sososo many times to moderate that I am sure it can't happen. It needs to go, just at this point in my life, where *EVERYONE* drinks, it is hard to envision an alternative.

Sorry for the ramble.

 

[Aegle]

Entheogenerator

I perhaps drink only a few times a year and in moderation during birthdays and special occasions. It is lovely to have fruit beer or berry ale, although entheogens captured my heart and mind eleven years ago and have been my priority ever since.


Much Peace and Understanding

 

[arcologist]

I would vote 'No' if there was an option. I used to have a drinking problem for a few years, but I was able to kick that with the help of cannabis and don't drink anymore. I've had a few beers once or twice since then but both times it made me feel sick and gave me a headache. Cannabis is far superior.

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

I would have voted 'no' as well. I used to quite enjoy the feeling of being drunk (vodka was my favorite: got you really drunk, really fast, but oddly clear-headed at the same time), but I finally made the connection between alcohol and rebound anxiety. I suffer from severe anxiety problems normally, and alcohol (while damping it short term) seems to make it worse the next day.

The last time I drank I had between 10 and 12 shots of vodka well as a rather large quantity of beer and wine, and while I had an excellent night, I was a total wreck the next morning. Horrifying intrusive thoughts, tics, crying for no reasons, I couldn't get out of my room all day, let alone get anything productive done. I hadn't felt that bad since my teenage years.

So, no, not alcohol. Just Kava Kava for me. It does all the same stuff short term, but the only morning-after effects are a sort of residual, dreamy calm.

 

[--Shadow]

I would vote 'No' if there was an option. I used to have a drinking problem for a few years, but I was able to kick that with the help of cannabis and don't drink anymore. I've had a few beers once or twice since then but both times it made me feel sick and gave me a headache. Cannabis is far superior.

Here here!

yep... used Cannabis to kick my cigarette addition (thou i used to "mix" my spin), then once I switched to only smoking green with no tobacco, I found a lot of the "addiction" feelings go away...

 

[Entheogenerator]

Thank you all so very much for sating my curiosity with your responses!

 

[hug46]

Entheogenerator, I prise you for being honest and upfront about your drinking habit. At the time of writing this, 56% responded that they drink a lot or regularly, but only one explained what is his relationship to alcohol. Mostly outspoken were the ones who don t drink.

I don"t mean to be argumentative but the above statement sounds like you are implying that the only way to be outspoken about alcohol is by being negative about it.

The last time I drank I had between 10 and 12 shots of vodka well as a rather large quantity of beer and wine, and while I had an excellent night, I was a total wreck the next morning. Horrifying intrusive thoughts, tics, crying for no reasons, I couldn't get out of my room all day, let alone get anything productive done. I hadn't felt that bad since my teenage years.

After a mix like that it is no surprise that you felt this way. The thing about alcohol is that you have to know how to drink it, what to drink and how much to drink. Like any other drug.

Most of the beers in Universecannon"s photo i wouldn"t give to my worst enemy. There is a beer called Stella Artois (a Belgian beer i believe) which is made under licence in the uk and this beer, that you can buy on tap in most pubs, is referred to as "wifebeater". It is rank. If you visit an off licence and buy some under the counter imported "proper" stella it is a completely different animal and quite pleasant to drink. Mass produced beers in the Uk are effluent. It"s like comparing a lovely bit of self extracted DMT to a badly researched, cheaply made research chemical version of it.

I am not saying that the next day will be perfect but if you pick a decent quality alcoholic beverage to journey with, then the effects are better and the next day hangover and neuroses are greatly reduced. I also recomend a pint of water and an aspirin before sleeping if you choose to get heavily intoxicated (but heavy intoxication is not obligatory with alcohol you will be surprised to learn!).

It is lovely to have fruit beer or berry ale,

I wouldn"t say no to a fruit beer or berry ale.

However, a side effect of this is that I now permanently reside deep inside my head and can be really socially awkward at time, drastically overthinking everything. This is a blessing, and also a curse. In certain conversations and social interactions, I feel paralyzed without alcohol as a lubricant.

This is a common problem that comes to certain people with age. I am not sure that it has anything to do with taking psychedelics and i think that it is why so many people get rat-arsed all of the time. I do not believe that we are socially conditioned to drink alcohol, we are socially conditioned in many other ways and some people look to alcohol as a pressure relief valve. What you have written is insightful about your alcohol consumption and this implies to me that you will be ok as far as your relationship with booze goes.

@ Entheogenerator.. If you like drinking, do it. If you don"t like it, don"t do it. Like anything in life it is a balancing act of pros and cons.

Anyway i will stop now as i can see that i am probably pissing in the wind with my proselytizing on the qualities of alcohol.

 

[Inner Paths]

I oscillate between a few drinks over the weekend to a few a night depending on how stressed I am. Moving house a few months back meant I was having a few glasses of red a night to chill me out. I have cut back to a few over the weekend only for the past month and haven't had a problem cutting back. I very rarely drink to point of hangover the next day anyway, so no dramas. i definitely drank to excess more in my early to mid 20's but the hangovers in my 30's are getting vicious and aren't worth the trouble...

If one is intelligent about their alcohol consumption it can be a positive experience. Try not to mix the grape and the grain, get to know the various synergies of your alcoholic beverages and know your limits. This takes time, patience and dedication.

Alcohol is a useful tool and a social lubricant. The country that i live in at the moment does not speak my native toungue but, when we all imbibe in the bar together, language becomes easier. We enter into a ritualistic consciousness altering state and laugh, sing and dance and have philosophical conversations that those on a more baseline mental plane would never understand. The local barman is a shamanic figure who has a deep understanding of his craft. He has many deep and philosophical anecdotes about alcohol written on posters behind the bar and provides a safe setting where the laws and social constraints of modern society hold no sway.

I always try and bring something from these sessions back to conscensus reality the following day, whether it be a piece of wisdom, a remembered personal connection or something more material such as the contents of my stomach.

This I can vibe with. I find a few glasses of red seem to stimulate my creativity and lubricates my mind to devour interesting ideas and concepts and find I can use it as a useful tool as long as I keep it in moderation.

The main problem with booze is that it is used to excess and that is where the problems start to kick in, my country of origin, Australia, seems to suffer from this problem greatly, it is ingrained in this culture to go out on the weekend and get blackout drunk, hopefully hook up with someone for a casual romp and failing that, get in a nasty punch up... hence the problems but I find, at least IMO, a few quiet drinks in solitude to bring out the most benefit from the devils firewater. As always, your results may vary.

 

[doodlekid]

Lately I tried the proclaimed health benefit of red wine. Just one glass. But after two times in about a week, it didn't seem to have the benefits claimed to it.

Is there any sound research as to red wine is really good for your health and in which dose range? Also how about the anti-radiation effects of it, somehow I have this notion that they let people drink red wine when they went through contaminated areas, but I'm not sure if this is just some fiction...

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

The last time I drank I had between 10 and 12 shots of vodka well as a rather large quantity of beer and wine, and while I had an excellent night, I was a total wreck the next morning. Horrifying intrusive thoughts, tics, crying for no reasons, I couldn't get out of my room all day, let alone get anything productive done. I hadn't felt that bad since my teenage years.

After a mix like that it is no surprise that you felt this way. The thing about alcohol is that you have to know how to drink it, what to drink and how much to drink. Like any other drug.

Most of the beers in Universecannon"s photo i wouldn"t give to my worst enemy. There is a beer called Stella Artois (a Belgian beer i believe) which is made under licence in the uk and this beer, that you can buy on tap in most pubs, is referred to as "wifebeater". It is rank. If you visit an off licence and buy some under the counter imported "proper" stella it is a completely different animal and quite pleasant to drink. Mass produced beers in the Uk are effluent. It"s like comparing a lovely bit of self extracted DMT to a badly researched, cheaply made research chemical version of it.

I am not saying that the next day will be perfect but if you pick a decent quality alcoholic beverage to journey with, then the effects are better and the next day hangover and neuroses are greatly reduced. I also recomend a pint of water and an aspirin before sleeping if you choose to get heavily intoxicated (but heavy intoxication is not obligatory with alcohol you will be surprised to learn!).

You're exactly right, and every single night I drank, I always went in with the intention of only doing enough to make me a little more social and take the edge off my ambient anxiety a little bit. Never more than a beer or two (or maybe two shots).

The problem is, once I get that far, the damage has been done and all I can think is: "this is great, I want more of this, I should totally drink more booze." And because alcohol makes you stupid, several hours later I'll be slumped over on a couch somewhere, plastered to the gills and probably high as balls as well.

It's not good :/ That's why I stopped. If I could drink just a little bit I probably would, but I've learned that I just can't.

 

[endlessness]

Nope, never drink. Don´t like the taste, don´t like the effects, don´t like the industry and neither like the environments where drinking alcohol is the main thing to do.


On a side note, I seriously cringe when people say ¨drugs and alcohol¨, or when people who drink alcohol (or coffee) say they never use drugs.