Drinking by yourself

Funkstard

Is it alright to relax with a few beers watching a movie? Or to finish off your cans by yourself at home, even though you're just going to go to bed when you're finished?

Two nights in a row now I've ended up drinking by myself, last night I got quite merry watching 'Friday Night Lights' (****ing brilliant film), and tonight I had some cans left over from tonight, so I drank one, then felt a bit sad and threw the other one out.

I'm 17.

Our man in Havana

Drinking alone is the start of being an alcoholic.

RobertFoster

Eating alone is the start of obesity too, so watch out.

Rb

I've had the odd can by myself, think it's fine.Just don't get drunk by yourself.

alastair_doom

drink makes bad tv good.... go to lidl or aldi, 24 cans for ~20euro... problems solved

Royale with Cheese

Hah, I live in Germany. You can get about 80 500ml bottles from Lidl for €20 here. Ah the few advantages of living in Germany.

Dont Ban Me

There's nothing wrong with having a few quiet ones on your own, its when you end up in the pub/night-club on your own thet you realise you've got a problem!!!

AARRRGH

I don't see a problem with it as long as -

You don't get depressed when you drink on your own
You don't get too weird when you drink on your own
It doesn't affect your work/social life

Rabies

Dont Ban Me wrote:

There's nothing wrong with having a few quiet ones on your own, its when you end up in the pub/night-club on your own thet you realise you've got a problem!!!

*cough*

Having one or two drinks alone is fine. More than that could lead to problems.

Boggle

Dunno - I've always enjoyed an odd can in an evening after a hard days work and I don't see anything wrong with it... even if the others don't feel like one.

In saying that I'd have a few cans and unwind rather than trying to get drunk - and I wouldn't do it every night.

(Nothing more relaxin than coming home aftere a hard night, throwing on some crap movie, puttin the feet up and crackin a few cans...)

Tar.Aldarion

Only ever drank once on my own, few days ago downed a bottle of cognac in my bedroom.Suppose it wasn't on my own..therer were other people somewhere in the house...
Anywho,no, don't think I will drink on my own again.It does seem a little odd to me but I don't see any problem with it I suppose.

copacetic

if you live on your own and have a few bottles of beer/glasses of wine while watching a film or the football or whatever than seems prefectly normal to me, what are we turning into ?an american tv show where all of a sudden anybody who has a beer and enjoys it is an alcoholic?

having said that at 17 the OP prob isn't savouring a tasty cold beer after a hard days work so be careful...

Binomate

I drink on my own all the time. Nothing like playing Call of Duty with a nice cold beer.

Ruaidhri

I dont really see a problem with drinking on your own.
saying that drinking on your own when you are 17 means you need to get yourself some new friends.

Pigman II

Hell yeah. Nothing like grabbing a couple tinnies out of the fridge and watching one of the SW dvds for the 100th time. God knows I still can't watch Ep2 sober.

Pighead

Of course its alright buddy.Pighead highly recommends it and tries to set aside at least 1 night every couple of weeks to have some Pighead time.But you do have to make an effort whilst doing it.
I think my main focus is to make my environment as pleasant as I can before I start drinking, so I can properly enjoy my can of Harp. I make sure I am comfortably seated in a nice atmosphere, with everything i'm going to need on hand—beer mats, scampi fries, newspaper,and napkins.
And I have no rule whatsoever against doing something else while I drink. In fact, I am usually doing something else whilst drinking, whether it’s engaging in political debate with my boards buddies, reading a book or a magazine or even watching TV or a DVD—as long as it’s something I truly enjoy. My favorite way of spending an evening on my own is to eat a carefully home-cooked dinner for one, drink a bottle of fine(ish)wine and sit back and watch UK Gold.And a little chocolate rounds this out beautifully. In my opinion this just heightens the pleasure of the Harp.

D

It's ok to drink as long as you're not alone or having food.

Kiera

Cant say I’d do it myself. I probably get lonely and end up ringing everyone in my phone (not a good idea when you drunk)

cianr

downed a bottle of cognac in my bedroom

Now that's a little worrying . . .

If you come home from a hard day and have one or two cold beers to relax that's one thing, but as has already been intimated drinking on your own with the whole aim of getting drunk on your own deserves careful consideration/reflection . . .

Tar.Aldarion

cianr wrote:

Now that's a little worrying . . .

No it's not, only ever happened the once and circumstances!!!!plus I was bored of sober tetris....

eirebhoy

cianr wrote:

Now that's a little worrying . . .

If you come home from a hard day and have one or two cold beers to relax that's one thing, but as has already been intimated drinking on your own with the whole aim of getting drunk on your own deserves careful consideration/reflection . . .

I do it all the time. My weekends consist of getting out of bed and heading to the pub, talk to the barman for a while and slowly but surely my tied-down friends come wandering in.

The Sweeper

It depends why you're drinking.

If you're drinking because you can't stand being alone and you're trying to take the edge off feeling down, it's a bad idea.

If you're drinking because you quite like your own company, you fancy a few beers to unwind and you are going to have a couple of tipples with some food, that's another thing entirely.

Roen

Bond-007 wrote:

Drinking alone is the start of being an alcoholic.

Yeah and **** alone is the start of being....well.....a wanker
Seriously though I usually head out by myself and have a few on my own. I'll usually meet up with a few regulars or mates, but I don't think that drinking alone is the problem. The problem is not IF you drink alone but HOW. As other wiser posters have said here, if it makes you depressed or weird, or negatively impacts on work/school/college then you're not the type of person suited to drink alone.
There will be times when there's nothing better than curling up with a flick or MOTD with a heap of cans (and) or a bottle or two of wine and then there will be times when nothing other than a full compliment of mates around will suffice. I'm sure you'll find a level thats suited to your personal make up.
Best of luck

el Bastardo

I dunno, I drink at home more often than I do in a pub/bar, mainly because I don't like the pub scene as much as I used to - I even get drunk on occasion All I can say is, I didn't do it at 17.

theCzar

I drink alone from time to time, it's great after work with a DVD, some people like reading and drinking but i find they don't complement. Putting on a good CD and relaxing with a whiskey 'n' ice is cool too.

I wouldn't bother going to a pub with the express purpose of drinking alone though, but if I was in town and I was due to meet friends in 2 hours, i'd buy a paper and head to the pub and have a slow pint of Guiness or something...

saying it leads to Alcoholism is nonsense, it no more leads to Alcoholism than drinking with friends does, but once you are an alcoholic, then you'll probably drink alone.

So all you've got to ask yourself before you crack open a brew is "am I an alcoholic already" if not no prob.

skywalker

Roen wrote:

Yeah and **** alone is the start of being....well.....a wanker

made me laugh out loud.

Canis Lupus

I prefer a joint. Cheaper and easier and all you need is one.

Dave

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's not like I go on the piss on my own. I have one or two ice cold bottles and a ciggy while watching a dvd or playing poker, mmm fcukin' delish man.

Funkstard

Pfffft... all of you worrying!

On Sunday I had two bottles of heineken whilst watching Friday Night Lights, and last night I had a can purely because I didn't want to throw it out, and it was absolutely lovely. Then I fell asleep. Might have been a little drunk from drinking earlier

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

BossArky

I cannot read and drink at the sametime. The next day I come back to the book and cannot remember a thing from the pages I "read" the night before.

Do remember once drinking a flagon of Linden Village once whilst waiting for someone, then ended up going to bed locked. It was great!

Bond-007

Bond-007 wrote:

Drinking alone is the start of being an alcoholic.

Drinking with people is a sign of a social missfit :eek:

Jimi-Spandex

It's okay depending on the context, I've had a few beers by myself watching TV/Movie or playing a game, the objective being to relax, not to get drunk. I like doing this, but don't really do it that often. I used to do this quite often with the auld smokity smoke as well, not so much anymore.

I have also been down the other route as well. I was bored so I went into the town to have a drink and read a book but I kind of started to drink a little too fast. Soon enough I couldn't really focus my eyes enough to read the book so I just drank a few more and chatted to the barman. Que me stumbling around the city pissed as a fart at 3pm in broad daylight listening to aphex twin at full volume and acting like an all-star weirdo. At the time I thought it was hilarious, but when i sobered up later that day (you know you've drank too early when you go from sober to drunk to sober in daylight) I kind of realised that it was probably not the smartest thing I could do and have avoided it since.

Short answer, be sensible.

Kingp35

I wouldnt ever go to the pub and drink by myself but I know a couple of mights that would go to the pub and have a pint reading the paper and I cant see a problem with it.

I do like to have a can or two the odd time while watching a dvd at home. It just lets you relax and enjoy the movie more. Plus I like the taste of a cold beer. You cant beat it really. So I see no problem with it.

[InsertHandle]

moved to dublin about 3 months ago ... been drinkin at home most weeknights ... sometimes just the one ... sometimes errr.. a bit more

I do it mostly out of boredom and being broke it's cheaper than going to the pub or even the cinema in this town!

I don't consider myself an alcoholic

Crucifix

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

No it's not, only ever happened the once and circumstances!!!!plus I was bored of sober tetris....

Drunken tetris......was it any good?

Pitseleh

Drinking by yourself isn't really a problem - it's more the setting out to get drunk.

Civilian_Target

Nothing wrong with a few beers in the evening - after a stressful day beer & boards can mix well...

Atrocity

i am drinking a whole sixpack on my own right now.. i do it a lot, it makes life bearable

Sangre

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

No it's not, only ever happened the once and circumstances!!!!plus I was bored of sober tetris....

An alcoholic nerd...there is no hope for you.

Ro: maaan!

Drinking while on the net. It's great fun. Or listening to music or watching a film.

Have never got drunk on my own, but wouldn't be against the idea. Could be fun to do it once...

Cake Fiend

I can quit any time I want.

Royale with Cheese

I did J1 in America last summer but couldn't find a job. Some friends from Ireland who were doing a cross America trip came and stayed with us for 4 days and when they left they gave us 20 bottles of Miller each. So one day when my friends were at work and I was sitting at home bored, I stuck a DVD on and had a beer, then I had another. By the time film ended I'd had about 8. My friends got back just after the film and didn't realise I was wasted for about 10 minutes (I don't know how it was blatantly obvious). That's the only time I've ever drank on my own, but it was fun.

spiderlegs

Ah I'd say you're ok as long as you don't make it a habit.

sprinkles

Pighead wrote:

.........so I can properly enjoy my can of Harp..........My favorite way of spending an evening on my own is to....... drink a bottle of fine(ish)wine and sit back and watch UK Gold.

An evening at home with UK Gold, fine(ish) wine and a can of Harp. You sure know how to live it up.




Now I'm off to polish off the champagne and nestle down in front of Living TV with my 6 dutch..:)

[Jackass]

No big deal as long as you dont crave drink, drink in the morning, or get drunk every day ....

Meh, I've drunk on my own before, don't have a problem with it, so i don't see why anyone else would......

Our man in Havana

It was always on the lists of questions that AA asked,. "do you drink alone?" If so you are an alcoholic.

scojones

Bond-007 wrote:

It was always on the lists of questions that AA asked,. "do you drink alone?" If so you are an alcoholic.

It's not that clear cut, the question is there and represents that you could be on the pathway to becoming one. If you drink alone it doesn't mean you are an alcoholic. An 88 year old woman that touches her first drop of booze when all of her family are dead and does this alone is not an alcoholic. Being alone should not represent your need for booze. Calling someone an alco because they drink alone is quite silly because you are not taking into account their social activities if any.

noby

Absolutely.

I know plenty of people who are always out, always in company who "appear" to have more of a drink problem than me. Not that I would judge them.

I drink alone grom time to time. Kids in bed; feet up; footie on tv; a couple of bottles. Nowt wrong with it in my eyes.
Or buy a paper/magazine, find a nice quiet pub, enjoy one or two pints.


Repeatedly getting drunk alone may be a different issue.

Ag marbh

I've sat and drank up to 21 can's in my computer chair. People who are quick to jump and say "its the beginning of a problem" really don't have any personal view on the matter.
It's only problematic if you're drinking for all the wrong reasons which isn't the case for alot of people. Sometimes I just prefer to have sometime to myself, use IRC and listen to music. I can sit up chatting on IRC all night without it becoming a problem.

JIZZLORD

it all depends on the context, going to the pub because you need a drink is bad, drinking alone in a pub if you're waiting for people = good