Alcoholism - Types of drinks

Barney224

hi, firstly I don't consider myself an alcoholic as I feel I have control over what I drink and when. I've never been a big fan of spirits or shots, and mainly stick to beer and wine on the weekend.

I was wondering if there's a correlation with alcoholism and the type of alcohol people drink? e.g. are you more likely to become an alcoholic if you're drinking large qualities of spirits rather than large quantities of beer?

Lady is a tramp

Barney224 wrote: »

hi, firstly I don't consider myself an alcoholic as I feel I have control over what I drink and when. I've never been a big fan of spirits or shots, and mainly stick to beer and wine on the weekend.

I was wondering if there's a correlation with alcoholism and the type of alcohol people drink? e.g. are you more likely to become an alcoholic if you're drinking large qualities of spirits rather than large quantities of beer?

Nope, plenty of alcoholics never touch spirits! It's one of the classic denial excuses - "I'm not an alcoholic because I only drink beer", or "I'm only an alcoholic because I only drink after 7pm" etc. Not suggesting you're an alcoholic in denial or anything!

Actually, spirits wouldn't be the drink of choice of most alcoholics I know ... beer and wine seem more common. That's only anecdotal though. (But I do know a lot of alcoholics, past and present!)

Kunkka

It's not the taste, it's the affect is has on the person. Any type of alcohol can lead you down the road of alcoholism if it abused & used for the wrong reasons.

Barney224

Thanks for that. yes, I just always had it in my head that moving onto (or replacing beer with) sprits was just going to quickly lead onto a road to alcoholism. But you're right....I do know some people who will easily get silly drunk on pints of beer on a regular basis!

Both myself and my wife like to drink on the weekend (Fri and Sat), mostly at home. And we're both conscious of the fact that we should be regulating our intake. I just never know if I'm drinking too much or exceeding my weekly quota!

The flying mouse

I went through phases of blaming every different sort of alcoholic drink on my behavior, from whisky to vodka from guinness to cider, I said to my self its not me its the type of drink thats making me behave the way i am going, so i went through the menu of every alcoholic drink on the market, ha ha .Of course nothing changed,It does not matter what your drinking its the frequency of the drinking that gets you, imo.

Wanderer78

Alcoholism is due to underlying mental health problems. It's actually very common particularly in Ireland. Look after yourself folks but do enjoy your few drinks

Lady is a tramp

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Alcoholism is due to underlying mental health problems. It's actually very common particularly in Ireland. Look after yourself folks but do enjoy your few drinks

You know, while it very often is, there are many cases where it is a condition in and of itself. In my own case it is linked to underlying mental health problems which began long before I ever tasted alcohol. In some cases alcoholism is the only issue - with no accompanying mental health issues. And in many other cases, alcoholism can in fact cause mental health issues.

It's far more complex than saying it's always due to underlying mental health issues - this is not always the case. Sometimes the addiction itself is all that needs to be diagnosed and treated, and a person can be perfectly mentally healthy before the addiction took hold, and after it has been brought under control.

Confucius say

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Alcoholism is due to underlying mental health problems. It's actually very common particularly in Ireland. Look after yourself folks but do enjoy your few drinks

Really odd post in a thread about Alcoholism, telling people to enjoy a few drinks! I don't think it's to do with mental health issues for all. Some people just like a drink and getting drunk and before they know it they become dependant on it.

salfordseven

I beg to differ, I was a victim of a serious assault in which I was attacked with a machete. I began to suffer from very bad panic attacks and while having a really bad one in Manchester city centre I dived into a pub hoping to go into the toilets till it passed. The bartender told me toilets were for patrons only so I bought a pint of Strongbow seeing as it was a warm summers day. I had two pints and all my anxiety lifted, I thought I had found my magic pill against the panic. The next 13 years have been a different story.