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Binge drinking - can you justify it?

Bunny Colvin

Well, I've been thinking about it recently and I have made a commitment not to drink for the remainder of November and all of December - a late hope on the sober November bandwagon!

I find I'm wasting too many Sunday's being hungover, taking days at a time to recover and spending money I can't afford, with absolutely nothing to show for it. One week in, I feel grand with that decision and couldn't give a damn about not being drunk for Christmas parties and all that goes with it. It's a feeling of being there, done that. Of course I could always moderate my drinking but I think that would be more of a struggle than abstaining for me personally.

We can all safely say that a lot of people in Ireland binge drink on a weekly basis. If you're in that category, how do you justify it to yourself? Or if you're like me last week, do you just not think about it too much?

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dubstarr

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Most people dont tell the doctors the truth anyway.They always underplay teh amount tehy smoke,drink,eat

MadYaker

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I have absolutely no doubt that its very bad for me and I'm sure if I told my GP how much I drink I'm sure they be telling me to cut down significantly. But its my body I can do what I want.

CruelCoin

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Jaysus, better not tell you about the 10 coffees and 4 hours sleep or you might have a stroke altogether.

ballsdeep69

Never ever Drink and Drive

There's a very high chance you'll spill it

Galwayguy35

I can justify it the night of the xmas party when there is a free bar.

bucketybuck

CruelCoin wrote: »

Not sure what the correct term is.

I think what you are doing is binge drinking, but what i am doing is not.

I really wouldn't class a bottle of wine (4 pints rough equivalent beer) as "binging" and that's the doctors/HSE being a bit loose with the term.

You are both binge drinking and deluding yourself.

CruelCoin wrote: »

I'm 6ft 2, and 18.5 stone (1/2 / 1/2 mix of muscle and gut)

Such a shock.

ceadaoin.

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Im always amused by people arguing that doctors/the HSE are being loose with the term binge drinking or that their limits are too low to be sensible.

Ive seen numerous posters on this site makes claims that they drink prodigious amounts on some occasions and when you point out that they might be drinking 7 or 8 times the recommended weekly allowance they tell you that the allowances arent practical. When you tell them they should run those numbers past a GP they tell you theyd be laughed at going to a GP to talk about those kinds of numbers and that everyone is drinking that amount. Its actually frightening the amount of denial out there.

I try to stay within my 11 units limit most weeks. Occasionally Ill have up to 14 units in a given week. And then very very occasionally Ill binge drink, possibly twice a year.

The fact is that the recommended guidelines are an arbitrary amount which err on the safe side. The vast majority of people can drink a lot more than that and have no long term damage at all. But some people could have unknown medical conditions where a relatively small amount could cause damage so they say 11 units or whatever to be safe.

Humans have been consuming alcohol for a long time, it's pretty well known the amounts that cause problems and 1 bottle of wine in one sitting occasionally is not it. Having the limits so low do cause people to disregard them completely because most people know from experience that they will most likely be completely fine at many more times the recommended units.

McCrack

Deedsie wrote: »

The bottom line is drinking alcohol suits some people but not others. Ever read the court briefings in your local district court? 90% of cases are drink related. Paddy Ogorman does a report from district courts nationwide on the SeO'rourke show on radio 1. Every case almost, drink drink drink.

Public order do feature but nowhere near 90%. Road traffic offences feature most in the District Court.

Beanybabog

I'm pregnant so not drinking at all right now, but even after my first baby I found I couldn't justify it much. A combination of being in my 30s, sleepless nights with a baby, and an anxious disposition that's made a million times worse by alcohol, mean that me and alcohol don't mix well. After having a baby I enjoyed a few nice dinners out with wine and cocktails, probably by units it counted as a binge but I was still home and in bed by 11

I don't miss it much. The thing that sucks the most about being pregnant and not drinking is the clear head on Saturday / Sunday mornings... people who are used to binging and being hungover at the weekends tend to have a new lease of life on Saturday and Sunday mornings if they quit drinking, whereas my pregnancies make me feel like I have the worst hangover ever, constant nausea, shakes, puking exhaustion for weeks, without the benefit of having had a good night out!

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sbsquarepants

ceadaoin. wrote: »

. Having the limits so low do cause people to disregard them completely because most people know from experience that they will most likely be completely fine at many more times the recommended units.

Same thing with drugs in general - it would serve everybody better if all this stuff was scientifically honest. Don't go telling people that popping an e is akin to playing Russian roulette, when the facts are it's about as dangerous as eating a peanut! It just makes them doubt everything else you say, it's very counter productive.

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seamus

If "binge" drinking is 4 pints, then yes I can justify it. Because it's only 4 pints.

sbsquarepants

Renee Hundreds Elf wrote: »

If you're genuinely not drunk after a bottle of wine then you drink too much.

Some people just handle things differently to others.

I have a mate roughly the same size and build as me, but I eat at least twice as much as him and weigh about 3 stone more. To look at us you'd say we are the same, but yet I can process twice as much food. If I ate his diet, I think I'd probably collapse with the hunger!

Why would alcohol be any different? Clearly some people can handle more than others with no ill effect at all.

sbsquarepants

Beanybabog wrote: »

whereas my pregnancies make me feel like I have the worst hangover ever, constant nausea, shakes, puking exhaustion for weeks, without the benefit of having had a good night out!

You must have had at least 1 good night to end up pregnant:D

Congratulations - I've a baby on the way myself (well, technically my missus does!)

kunst nugget

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Same thing with drugs in general - it would serve everybody better if all this stuff was scientifically honest. Don't go telling people that popping an e is akin to playing Russian roulette, when the facts are it's about as dangerous as eating a peanut! It just makes them doubt everything else you say, it's very counter productive.

The problem is that when you're taking pills, you're going on trust that what you're after buying from a dealer is MDMA when it could be a variety of different drugs MDA, PMA or PMMA - the last two have been linked to fatalities in the past.

suicide_circus

justify to who?

kunst nugget

suicide_circus wrote: »

justify to who?

To the voices in your head. But then you drink and it drowns them out so you don't have to justify it to nobody!!!

What are you looking at?!?!

Village Crazy Lady

I was always under the assumption that "binge drinking" is the consumption of a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. Drinking at home before heading out for the night and downing shots etc till you fall over. That's what i always thought binge drinking was, not having 4 pints or a bottle of wine in in an evening

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Cee-Jay-Cee

I’m going out this Friday night on the annual boys nite out. I haven’t had a drink since the same time last year and I will probably be pissed as a fart on a handful of drinks. I’ll suffer all day Saturday and possibly Sunday too. By Monday I’ll have recovered fully...hopefully.

I know technically I’ll be binge drinking on Friday but it’s one day in the year and I’m not going to worry too much about it.

Grayson

kunst nugget wrote: »

The problem is that when you're taking pills, you're going on trust that what you're after buying from a dealer is MDMA when it could be a variety of different drugs MDA, PMA or PMMA - the last two have been linked to fatalities in the past.

I think his point is that even with that risk, the risk is tiny. The number of people who die from MDMA is ridiculously small. Even with the added risk of dodgy pills the risk is still tiny.

elperello

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

I’m going out this Friday night on the annual boys nite out. I haven’t had a drink since the same time last year and I will probably be pissed as a fart on a handful of drinks. I’ll suffer all day Saturday and possibly Sunday too. By Monday I’ll have recovered fully...hopefully.

I know technically I’ll be binge drinking on Friday but it’s one day in the year and I’m not going to worry too much about it.

That reminds me of an old school drinker I knew. He drank everyday, mostly whiskey and could hold it. At Christmas he used to say "by rights a proper drinker should go on the dry at this time of year, pubs full of messers pulling out of each other buying drinks they don't want with money they can't afford".

sbsquarepants

kunst nugget wrote: »

The problem is that when you're taking pills, you're going on trust that what you're after buying from a dealer is MDMA when it could be a variety of different drugs MDA, PMA or PMMA - the last two have been linked to fatalities in the past.

That's a problem alright, at least when you buy Guinness you can be fairly sure you're getting Guinness!

But as for fatalities, you'll struggle to find anything that hasn't been linked to fatalities in the past. You name it, it has most likely killed somebody, somewhere, at some point.

The peanut comparison is quite valid - the first time you eat a peanut you have no idea if it is going to kill you or not, but is that worth worrying about? The odds are overwhelmingly in your favour!

MadYaker

kunst nugget wrote: »

The problem is that when you're taking pills, you're going on trust that what you're after buying from a dealer is MDMA when it could be a variety of different drugs MDA, PMA or PMMA - the last two have been linked to fatalities in the past.

Nobody takes pills anymore. High purity christaline MDMA has become widely available and fairly affordable, about 50e per gram with a normal dose being about 150mg. It has a distinctive taste and appearance (small crystals with a brown hue) so it's quite easy to know what you're getting. Much safe and better value than pills. The coke in this country is still sh!te though :pac:

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rob316

12 months ago I'd have said I love it and there is nothing really else to do.
I would have went out at least 4-6 times month on all night benders.

about 12 months ago I just got absolutely sick of the hangovers, they just get worse as you get older and my kid ends up moping around the house for the day with me which isn't fair. So then I started going out once a month and then I just stopped, I took up MMA and BJJ and went off the drink for 3months and I've never been happier.

You are missing absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong I will still go out and get pissed but to surround your life around it, is just really sad and not to mention a waste of money.

There is so much more to life than the whole pub scene every weekend. If you don't see your friends or hear from them much if you give it up then they are not your friends they are drinking buddies.

sbsquarepants

MadYaker wrote: »

Nobody takes pills anymore. High purity christaline MDMA has become widely available and fairly affordable

That explains the mad yaking so:D

kunst nugget

rob316 wrote: »

So then I started going out once a month and then I just stopped, I took up MMA and BJJ and went off the drink for 3months and I've never been happier.

Strangely enough, Mad Yaker took up MDMA and BJs.

I think he's slightly dyslexic…

MadYaker

sbsquarepants wrote: »

That explains the mad yaking so:D

Festivals only