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Irish, alcoholism, drugs and dealing with emotions.

  • 13-05-2013 07:23AM
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,131 ✭✭✭


    This is something I've always been acutely aware of. And the recent thread about the terminally ill teen who was highly criticical people who attempted/committed suicide.
    As a nation we seem to be terrible at dealing with negative emotions. I think a lot of it is due to our parents and grand parents instilling an unfeasible stoic mentality. I often wonder is this partly responsible for our problem with alcohol abuse, and to a lesser extent, drug abuse.
    To me it seems we never learn how to grieve or deal with negative emotions but burying them inside is unhealthy and we often use alcohol as a means to deal with our personal issues.


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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,666 ✭✭✭Corkbah


    there are not enough services available, blame the government !!

    some people do not seek help .... should the government treat them for their addictions ? regardless of their own opinion?? should the government put people at risk of suicide into care so they can be monitored ?? there is not enough places for half the country to be put into care.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,798 ✭✭✭✭hatrickpatrick


    Corkbah wrote: »
    there are not enough services available, blame the government !!

    some people do not seek help .... should the government treat them for their addictions ? regardless of their own opinion?? should the government put people at risk of suicide into care so they can be monitored ?? there is not enough places for half the country to be put into care.

    The OP literally had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with attacking the government. O_o
    I think you might be happier over at the Politics forum. Board 99. Don't tell them I sent ya! ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,359 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    Well known fact that "pull yourself together"will cure all personal problems.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,296 ✭✭✭Frank Black


    I think the OP's assertion is a little unfair.

    We also like to get drunk when we're happy, so you know, swings and roundabouts.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,131 ✭✭✭Azure_sky


    I think the OP's assertion is a little unfair.

    We also like to get drunk when we're happy, so you know, swings and roundabouts.

    I was referring to long term alcohol and drug abuse rather just the odd piss up.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,427 ✭✭✭RustyNut


    I think the OP's assertion is a little unfair.

    We also like to get drunk when we're happy, so you know, swings and roundabouts.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    As a nation we seem to be terrible at dealing with negative emotions. I think a lot of it is due to our parents and grand parents instilling an unfeasible stoic mentality. I often wonder is this partly responsible for our problem with alcohol abuse, and to a lesser extent, drug abuse.

    I blame the parents!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,666 ✭✭✭Corkbah


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    I was referring to long term alcohol and drug abuse rather just the odd piss up.

    and I was referring to the way the government do not provide enough services due to the amount of monies the state intakes due to said abuse, the services are not there or badly funded.

    How many people die from alcohol related deaths - how many die from road/traffic related deaths ... yet they throw money at road deaths and advertising campaigns to try prevent road deaths.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,903 ✭✭✭Napper Hawkins


    Hint: it begins with a C and ends with atholicism.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,152 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    Stopped reading after 'as a nation'


    because sweeping generalisations are utter nonsense


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,359 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    listermint wrote: »
    Stopped reading after 'as a nation'


    because sweeping generalisations are utter nonsense

    In general.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,246 ✭✭✭Tazz T


    Sure it'll be grand


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 109 ✭✭SolarFlash


    It's a myth that depressed and anxious people don't talk about their problems. They do talk about what's troubling them to friends and family often to a tedious obsessive degree that only angers and alienates those people. It would be a lot healthier for mentally ill people to stop focusing on what's getting them down and try to think about other things.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,473 ✭✭✭Wacker The Attacker


    Hint: it begins with a C and ends with atholicism.


    I dont think I've ever heard the irish drinking culture blamed on them before.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,380 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    I was referring to long term alcohol and drug abuse rather just the odd piss up.

    They can be symptoms, more so than a cause. It's a rather simple view you've got over this. Similar to that kid with cancer giving out about suicide.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,473 ✭✭✭Wacker The Attacker


    SolarFlash wrote: »
    It's a myth that depressed and anxious people don't talk about their problems. They do talk about what's troubling them to friends and family often to a tedious obsessive degree that only angers and alienates those people. It would be a lot healthier for mentally ill people to stop focusing on what's getting them down and try to think about other things.


    Sometimes the scale and nature of the issue at hand means that this is not always possible.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,131 ✭✭✭Azure_sky


    listermint wrote: »
    Stopped reading after 'as a nation'


    because sweeping generalisations are utter nonsense

    Well I obviously didn't literally mean everyone-it's a figure of speech. It's not utter nonsense to assume that people are effected by the culture they inherit; and to think that we don't have a drink culture in Ireland is naïve.
    They can be symptoms, more so than a cause. It's a rather simple view you've got over this. Similar to that kid with cancer giving out about suicide.

    I think you may have misinterpreted my point. I actually agree that alcoholism is a symptom of the culture of not addressing issues and negative emotions.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,359 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    SolarFlash wrote: »
    It's a myth that depressed and anxious people don't talk about their problems. They do talk about what's troubling them to friends and family often to a tedious obsessive degree that only angers and alienates those people. It would be a lot healthier for mentally ill people to stop focusing on what's getting them down and try to think about other things.

    You may be mistaking depressed persons with moaners.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,903 ✭✭✭Napper Hawkins


    I dont think I've ever heard the irish drinking culture blamed on them before.

    Booze is a great cure for the emotionally repressed.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,456 ✭✭✭fishy fishy


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    This is something I've always been acutely aware of. And the recent thread about the terminally ill teen who was highly criticical people who attempted/committed suicide.
    As a nation we seem to be terrible at dealing with negative emotions. I think a lot of it is due to our parents and grand parents instilling an unfeasible stoic mentality. I often wonder is this partly responsible for our problem with alcohol abuse, and to a lesser extent, drug abuse.
    To me it seems we never learn how to grieve or deal with negative emotions but burying them inside is unhealthy and we often use alcohol as a means to deal with our personal issues.

    are you speaking about the whole country or just your own family? Whats this "as a nation" thing. As a nation...what? Do you know something the rest of the country doesn't. Or are you just following the "hype" that "as a nation" we are a crowd of alcoholics. :rolleyes:


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,131 ✭✭✭Azure_sky


    SolarFlash wrote: »
    It's a myth that depressed and anxious people don't talk about their problems. They do talk about what's troubling them to friends and family often to a tedious obsessive degree that only angers and alienates those people. It would be a lot healthier for mentally ill people to stop focusing on what's getting them down and try to think about other things.

    To an extent I agree that wallowing in misery is counter productive than being pro-active. However my point is how many Irish people seem to ignore all grief and real issues totally with drink as a form of emotional cloak.
    Also I never said anything about this being an issue regarding mentally ill people exclusively.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,131 ✭✭✭Azure_sky


    are you speaking about the whole country or just your own family? Whats this "as a nation" thing. As a nation...what? Do you know something the rest of the country doesn't. Or are you just following the "hype" that "as a nation" we are a crowd of alcoholics. :rolleyes:

    I'm referring to society. If you read my post properly you'd know that.:rolleyes:
    Anyone who thinks there's not an unhealthy drink culture in Ireland...well all I can say is that denial is not just a river in Egypt.
    It ain't hype, it's fact.

    http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=20342


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,456 ✭✭✭fishy fishy


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    I'm referring to society. If you read my post properly you'd know that.:rolleyes:
    Anyone who thinks there's not an unhealthy drink culture in Ireland...well all I can say is that denial is not just a river in Egypt.

    don't believe all the hype is what I'd say to you. Where exactly are you seeing these problems with people not dealing with their emotional issues - maybe you should start opening your eyes and looking around - you may be hanging around with the wrong crowd. :)

    Sometimes I despair.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,075 ✭✭✭Wattle


    kneemos wrote: »
    Well known fact that "pull yourself together"will cure all personal problems.

    And don't forget 'ah sure have a few pints it'll be grand'.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 41,232 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    SolarFlash wrote: »
    It's a myth that depressed and anxious people don't talk about their problems. They do talk about what's troubling them to friends and family often to a tedious obsessive degree that only angers and alienates those people. It would be a lot healthier for mentally ill people to stop focusing on what's getting them down and try to think about other things.

    If they didn't talk about whats getting them down then they would bottle it up and that would be worse for their mental health

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,131 ✭✭✭Azure_sky


    don't believe all the hype is what I'd say to you. Where exactly are you seeing these problems with people not dealing with their emotional issues - maybe you should start opening your eyes and looking around - you may be hanging around with the wrong crowd. :)

    Sometimes I despair.

    It seems pretty endemic. I've seen it in pubs, on the streets. It's gotten worse since the recession.


    http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=20342


    Irish adults binge drink more than any other European country, with one-quarter of Irish adults reporting that they binge drink every week, the report reveals.
    The Steering Group said if every adult (15+ years) restricted his/her alcohol consumption to the recommended maximum low-risk limit on every week of the year, the actual per capita consumption would be 9.2 litres of pure alcohol per adult (15+ years), or 23 per cent less than was consumed in 2010.
    Over half of drinkers here have been identified as having a harmful drinking pattern. This equates to nearly 1.5 million adults in Ireland drinking in a harmful pattern.
    The report says Irish children are drinking from a younger age and drinking more than ever before - over half of Irish 16 year old children have been drunk and one in five is a weekly drinker.
    The average age of first alcohol use in children decreased from 15 years for children born in 1980 to 14 years for children born in 1990, according to the report.
    The Steering Group identifies cheap off-licence sales as a contributory factor to alcohol misuse.
    It says there was a 161 per cent increase in the number of off-licences operating between 1998 and 2010 and over the same time period the number of pub licences decreased by 19 per cent.
    In 2010 the average cost of a 500ml can of lager from the off-licence was €1.77 while the average price of a pint of lager in the on-trade sector was €4.35.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,359 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    To an extent I agree that wallowing in misery is counter productive than being pro-active. However my point is how many Irish people seem to ignore all grief and real issues totally with drink as a form of emotional cloak.
    Also I never said anything about this being an issue regarding mentally ill people.

    What emotional issues are you talking about,I think grief is one thing we are pretty good with.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,380 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    I think you may have misinterpreted my point. I actually agree that alcoholism is a symptom of the culture of not addressing issues and negative emotions.

    It seems I did in part, fair enough. But I think commenting on it "as trying not to address the issue," can be a bit of a miss.

    Are you suggesting that those affected turn to alcoholism to not address it?

    Or, turn to it as a result of frustration from a lack of support provided?

    Because I'm not too sure who/what you are referring to by culture.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,456 ✭✭✭fishy fishy


    Azure_sky wrote: »
    It seems pretty endemic. I've seen it in pubs, on the streets. It's gotten worse since the recession.


    http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=20342


    Irish adults binge drink more than any other European country, with one-quarter of Irish adults reporting that they binge drink every week, the report reveals.
    The Steering Group said if every adult (15+ years) restricted his/her alcohol consumption to the recommended maximum low-risk limit on every week of the year, the actual per capita consumption would be 9.2 litres of pure alcohol per adult (15+ years), or 23 per cent less than was consumed in 2010.
    Over half of drinkers here have been identified as having a harmful drinking pattern. This equates to nearly 1.5 million adults in Ireland drinking in a harmful pattern.
    The report says Irish children are drinking from a younger age and drinking more than ever before - over half of Irish 16 year old children have been drunk and one in five is a weekly drinker.
    The average age of first alcohol use in children decreased from 15 years for children born in 1980 to 14 years for children born in 1990, according to the report.
    The Steering Group identifies cheap off-licence sales as a contributory factor to alcohol misuse.
    It says there was a 161 per cent increase in the number of off-licences operating between 1998 and 2010 and over the same time period the number of pub licences decreased by 19 per cent.
    In 2010 the average cost of a 500ml can of lager from the off-licence was €1.77 while the average price of a pint of lager in the on-trade sector was €4.35.

    nightclubs and teens/students/young adults go out at weekends to have a drink and to socialise - they do it everywhere - nothing wrong with it. But of course its told to us everyday that it is bad - its like something out of the bible. Kids go out and socialize - people are going to have to deal with it - it has been going on for a very long time. Have you ever enjoyed a few drinks with your friends/students/young adults or do you wish everyone was a pioneer.

    Oh....wait ....it must be because they are all emotionally f**cked up that they go out to enjoy themselves. How silly of me.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 43,038 ✭✭✭✭SEPT 23 1989


    We like to bury our heads in the sand

    drink and drugs are perfect for this


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