What is a 'normal' drinker?

[Dagnabbit]

I was wondering if people could explain their thoughts on what a normal drinker is.

I am English, much of my family is Irish. From a very young age drinking was a very big part if life.

Every Saturday at Aunts or Grandma's the family would meet. Adults would go to the pub, kids stay at the house. Then back home a litre bottle of Bells would be opened.

Sometimes it'd be the social club where kids could go and Aunts and Unclez would slip me a wink and hand me a 'doctored' coke. Sometimes I'd get cups of tea with a shot of scotch. From about the age of 13...,

My dad and I would take the dog for a walk, which meant the pub.

None of this was uncommon. Many of these people and my cousins are still heavy drinkers. Way exceeding the govts advised limits.

I see people all over the world like that. They cannot go through life without drink. They have physical cravings for booze yet they seperate it from 'work life'.

Are these people 'normal drinkers'? They are certainly damaging their health and they know it. They cant stop yet they have reached a balance with their addiction where they can maintain a job and relationships.

I dont think I know many normal drinkers. One girl I lnow from school is an author and every now and again it'll be "ooops drank 2 bottles of wine last night".

This seems the norm to me. The person that just had the occasional drink seems to be the exception.

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[Xircal]

Somebody who doesn't get plastered every time they go out for a pint or two.

[Sheryl]

I think it is best not to try to define "normal" since norms will depend on the reference population (which in your case seems to be people with drinking problems).

 

A better criteria than "normal" is: is the person's drinking is a problem or not?

Problem = drink to an extent that is harmful to health and/or drinking interferes with normal functioning (sometimes or often) and/or drinking causes problems with relationships/problems to others

 

If it's a problem, then it's a problem, and it doesn't matter how many others in a person's social group have the same problem.

 

[meatboy]

i would class myself as a more than a normal drinker,although i have never had a drinking problem i do [did] like a drop.

all through my working life it was,fri.night,sat.night and sunday morn.through the week not that often.

since my mini stroke and the seizure in the last 2months,which i put down to,not getting enough sleep and DRINK.

enjoying a drink  before food and cooking the dogs food,i found myself having 3-4bottles every day.[4PM]

so with the last scare that has me revalue-ing my life i have decided to call it a day.

now its over 5weeks and havent touched a drop.

its been a long rd.over 55yrs.so i can count myself lucky and hope it doesnt run out.

meatboy [SOBER]

[Johnniey]

If I could drink normally, I'd get drunk every night.

 

Of course your relatives who are damaging their health and unable to stop are not normal drinkers. They sound like normal alcoholics to me.

[manxninja]

i drink untill i get drunk. Not often, it does you good.

 

i think some people are just programmed to drink. I feel sorry for them such a waste of health & money.

 

Binge drinking will gradually go down as education increases.

[Dagnabbit]

On 9/18/2016 at 9:39 PM, Sheryl said:

I think it is best not to try to define "normal" since norms will depend on the reference population (which in your case seems to be people with drinking problems).

 

A better criteria than "normal" is: is the person's drinking is a problem or not?

Problem = drink to an extent that is harmful to health and/or drinking interferes with normal functioning (sometimes or often) and/or drinking causes problems with relationships/problems to others

 

If it's a problem, then it's a problem, and it doesn't matter how many others in a person's social group have the same problem.

 

 

Well I'd say normal means the "norm" the common type.

 

So if 99 people our of a hundred jumped off cliffs, then that would be normal.

 

So - we are talking about 'normal' drinker. How many of these people are drinking within the healthy range?

 

I seem to have come across mostly people that either don't drink or overdo it. Those that drink within the healthy range seem to be the exception.

[Johnniey]

It's amazing the tricks alcohol playing on our logical thinking so we feel it's ok to have drink a lot.

[tifino]

 

I'd normally drink more - but I'm down to the last half of my last bottle of Mehkong 

[richard_smith237]

I'd normally not reply to a thread such as this... However, I've been drinking !!!.... 

 

I enjoyed dinner tonight with friends, I had a bottle of wine (we each did)... we returned to my place... I have a number of different bottles of Whisky, so I opened two...  In two hours I had 1 glass of each (probably less than a shot)... I didn't like the second so I didn't finish it.... 

 

I had a good night, I enjoyed the Wine, I enjoyed the food and I enjoyed a Whisky..... I don't feel I was drunk, however, I most definitely would not have chosen to drive... 

 

Am I a normal drinker ?....... I've no idea... I don't care if I drink more or less than others, I don't care what is considered normal..... I do care if my drinking effects others negatively.... 

Edited September 23, 2016 by richard_smith237

[wtaumme]

Normal drinking cannot be explained as in many of the nations drinking is not good, so then for them the definition for normal drinking is what? So drink healthy and live healthy as nothing is worst then harming yourself by your own. 

[Johnniey]

On 9/24/2016 at 2:14 AM, richard_smith237 said:

I'd normally not reply to a thread such as this... However, I've been drinking !!!.... 

 

I enjoyed dinner tonight with friends, I had a bottle of wine (we each did)... we returned to my place... I have a number of different bottles of Whisky, so I opened two...  In two hours I had 1 glass of each (probably less than a shot)... I didn't like the second so I didn't finish it.... 

 

I had a good night, I enjoyed the Wine, I enjoyed the food and I enjoyed a Whisky..... I don't feel I was drunk, however, I most definitely would not have chosen to drive... 

 

Am I a normal drinker ?....... I've no idea... I don't care if I drink more or less than others, I don't care what is considered normal..... I do care if my drinking effects others negatively.... 

Normal drinkers don't post how much they had to drink on internet forums at 2 am in the morning. 

[Dagnabbit]

On 9/25/2016 at 6:20 AM, Johnniey said:

Normal drinkers don't post how much they had to drink on internet forums at 2 am in the morning. 

 

PMSL!!!

[White Christmas13]

So how to give up drinking could turkey 

I gave up smoking doing this how you do Drinking?

[ExpatOilWorker]

I am surprised that nobody have yet tried to quantify what is "normal" drinking. Most health guidelines suggest 3 units of alcohol per day on average is tolerable. Keep in mind that a unit of alcohol is defined as 10 ml of pure alcohol.

 

A weekly intake of 21 units could be:

1 bottle of wine

6 beers

 

Personally, on average, that is my upper limits.

[Johnniey]

1 minute ago, White Christmas13 said:

So how to give up drinking could turkey 

I gave up smoking doing this how you do Drinking?

It depends how much and for how long you have been drinking.

 

It did it many times with a few valium. It would take me a couple of days before I could eat anything. The valium should only be used for a few days.

Also, glucolin was very useful - pure glucose powder to put in all drinks.

[starfish]

On 26.9.2016 at 9:15 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

I am surprised that nobody have yet tried to quantify what is "normal" drinking. Most health guidelines suggest 3 units of alcohol per day on average is tolerable. Keep in mind that a unit of alcohol is defined as 10 ml of pure alcohol.

 

A weekly intake of 21 units could be:

1 bottle of wine

6 beers

 

Personally, on average, that is my upper limits.

 

You can´t quantify. We´re all different !

Especially me . .  

 

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

3 hours ago, starfish said:

 

You can´t quantify. We´re all different !

Especially me . .  

 

 

 

That is true, even our inner plumbing and chemistry works in different ways and it was very well illustrated in a Horizon documentary.

 

Some, especially Asians are direct allergic to alcohol and flush red when drinking.

The majority just get drunk and have a hangover.

Some have an internal "pressure relief valve" for alcohol and can drink heavily without getting excessive drunk and have moderate hangovers. 

 

Personally, I hate hangovers and that naturally limits my drinking.

[cooked]

On 26/09/2016 at 9:11 PM, White Christmas13 said:

So how to give up drinking could turkey 

I gave up smoking doing this how you do Drinking?

In my case, I knew for a long time that I should stop drinking, I was developing acid reflux and was puking twice or more a week. Financially, I used up all my savings and realised that if I didn't stop I would have to go back home where I would be much better off financially but still have a drinking problem. During a 10 day stay back home my step-granddaughter started sending me messages in English (for the first time) everyday asking when I was coming back, she missed me and sloppy stuff like that. I had a last beer on the plane back and that was the last drink, 131 days ago (yes I have a count up program on my PC). Now I actually have money at the end of the month and am saving, life has improved.

What it comes down to, as far as I am concerned: knowing you should stop isn't enough, you need to be 100% convinced that you need to, for whatever reason.

Cheers!

 

 

counter.odt

Edited October 1, 2016 by cooked

[Johnniey]

On 10/1/2016 at 0:49 PM, cooked said:

In my case, I knew for a long time that I should stop drinking, I was developing acid reflux and was puking twice or more a week. Financially, I used up all my savings and realised that if I didn't stop I would have to go back home where I would be much better off financially but still have a drinking problem. During a 10 day stay back home my step-granddaughter started sending me messages in English (for the first time) everyday asking when I was coming back, she missed me and sloppy stuff like that. I had a last beer on the plane back and that was the last drink, 131 days ago (yes I have a count up program on my PC). Now I actually have money at the end of the month and am saving, life has improved.

What it comes down to, as far as I am concerned: knowing you should stop isn't enough, you need to be 100% convinced that you need to, for whatever reason.

Cheers!

 

 

counter.odt

That's great, well done "cooked".

[impulse]

Millions of lives and families are destroyed every year when people get caught up in semantics about normal drinking and alcoholism.

 

If my drinking causes problems in my life, I have a drinking problem.  Full stop.  Whether I'm a normal drinker, an alcoholic or anything in between.

 

I wasn't an alcoholic when I darkened the door of my first AA meeting.  It didn't matter.  I stopped drinking and a lot of life's problems get better.  That's what counts.

 

Today, I'm a grateful alcoholic.  

[Peterw42]

Alcoholics, by definition, will always redefine "Normal". They will gravitate to and attract people, were 12 beers a day is normal. Smokers do the same. If all your friends have there 1st beer at 10am and you wait until 11am, you can pat yourself on the back , normal drinking is a beer at 10am, I wait until 11, Im not an alcoholic.

[ding]

"alcoholic" - A man, or a woman, sitting in an AA meeting - trying to figure out if they're alcoholic or not.

 

"normal drinker" - Someone who never ever asks what a normal drinker is...

 

 

LOL

j/k ofc

 

[impulse]

30 minutes ago, ding said:

"alcoholic" - A man, or a woman, sitting in an AA meeting - trying to figure out if they're alcoholic or not.

 

One of my personal favorites:

 

The difference between a drunk and an alcoholic?   Drunks don't have to go to those meetings.

[richard_smith237]

On September 25, 2016 at 5:20 PM, Johnniey said:

Normal drinkers don't post how much they had to drink on internet forums at 2 am in the morning. 

 

Heavy drinkers or alcoholics perhaps wouldn't be able to !!

[Johnniey]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Heavy drinkers or alcoholics perhaps wouldn't be able to !!

Some great pieces of literature has been written by heavy drinker and alcoholics.

[richard_smith237]

18 minutes ago, Johnniey said:

Some great pieces of literature has been written by heavy drinker and alcoholics.

 

Indeed, the same can be said of many substances...  However, this forum no longer offers the 'chain of quotes' making use of context difficult when understanding a response... 

 

 

[Macthehat]

[francofunghi]

Normal drinker is the one who never drinks )

[littlelost]

On 26 September 2016 at 3:15 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

I am surprised that nobody have yet tried to quantify what is "normal" drinking. Most health guidelines suggest 3 units of alcohol per day on average is tolerable. Keep in mind that a unit of alcohol is defined as 10 ml of pure alcohol.

 

A weekly intake of 21 units could be:

1 bottle of wine

6 beers

 

Personally, on average, that is my upper limits.

 

a bottle of wine is about 10-12 units so 2 bottles of wine per week and a pint of beer is 2-3 units so around 8 pints