Drinking alone at home

Snickers Man

With respect the original question and the way it is phrased reveals as much about our attitude to alcohol consumption as any of the answers.

"Do you drink alone at home?"

This does not distinguish between somebody who has a can of beer or maybe a glass or two of fairly ordinary wine with their evening meal and somebody who pours a half a bottle of whiskey over the cornflakes every morning.

There is a material difference between those two scenarios. Yes, I do the first. Frequently.

No. I don't do the second. Ever.

I think a better question to reveal Irish attitudes would be:

Do you EVER drink alcohol without the intention of getting drunk?

It would be very interesting to compare a fair sized sample of replies to that with replies to the identical question from some of our European neighbours.

Leftist

Snickers Man wrote: »

With respect the original question and the way it is phrased reveals as much about our attitude to alcohol consumption as any of the answers.

"Do you drink alone at home?"

This does not distinguish between somebody who has a can of beer or maybe a glass or two of fairly ordinary wine with their evening meal and somebody who pours a half a bottle of whiskey over the cornflakes every morning.

There is a material difference between those two scenarios. Yes, I do the first. Frequently.

No. I don't do the second. Ever.

I think a better question to reveal Irish attitudes would be:

Do you EVER drink alcohol without the intention of getting drunk?

It would be very interesting to compare a fair sized sample of replies to that with replies to the identical question from some of our European neighbours.

kind of see where you're coming from, the rephrased question reveal more about the irish perspective.

If take someone from a continental european country, where alcohol is cheap and in some cases, available 24hrs a day, where they don't have much anti-social issues with alcohol, and you asked them do they drink at home, would you consider a need to split that question in two: as a) a refreshment or b) to get drunk?

Probably wouldn't. IMo.

The need to further define that question is more certainly pertinent to Ireland and the UK.

Fighting Irish

lisar816 wrote: »

I don't see a problem, drinking during the day alone now that's a different story.

I don't do either, but it's the same thing drinking at night or during the day

TeddyTedson

Of course it's fine. I've rarely done it myself, and then only for a cure.
There's clearly many or factors to consider before calling it a "warning sign".

Bergkamp 10

I've done it plenty but I do drink to get drunk. I've never really drank many times whilst staying sober, I have a bad relationship with alcohol though.

andym1

Deleted User wrote: »

How does drinking alone show a dependency on alcohol?

Maybe nobody there to mention ''that's your 15th can or 4th bottle of wine''
I see no harm in it

P_1

Another curtain twitcher who is sticking their nose in where it isn't wanted.

Why is this country so full of them?

Paz-CCFC

You could say that drinking at home is a lot safer than drinking in the pub/club. At home, you can drink what you want. If you only want to drink one, then you can have that one, and head off somewhere else in the house to do something else. I often have a bottle with my dinner, and then head away on my laptop without any craving for another.

In the pub/club or drinking at friends', however, it can be a lot different. There's the peer pressure - you might get people pushing you to play a drinking game, "who can down their pints the quickest?", "shots, let's have shots!", "kings, down that toxic mix of lager, vodka and whiskey!" etc. The pub/club might be blaring their music, making it harder to talk, so people drink more instead of talking. Many people don't stop at just one on a night out.

If I were to wager, when people fall into their beds locked out of their minds in the early hours of the mornings, the vast majority of them would have been coming from a pub/club or a house party. And the majority of people that wake up the following morning with banging headaches and bent over a toilet won't be those who stayed in on their own to have a drink.

Leftist

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

You could say that drinking at home is a lot safer than drinking in the pub/club. At home, you can drink what you want. If you only want to drink one, then you can have that one, and head off somewhere else in the house to do something else. I often have a bottle with my dinner, and then head away on my laptop without any craving for another.

In the pub/club or drinking at friends', however, it can be a lot different. There's the peer pressure - you might get people pushing you to play a drinking game, "who can down their pints the quickest?", "shots, let's have shots!", "kings, down that toxic mix of lager, vodka and whiskey!" etc. The pub/club might be blaring their music, making it harder to talk, so people drink more instead of talking. Many people don't stop at just one on a night out.

If I were to wager, when people fall into their beds locked out of their minds in the early hours of the mornings, the vast majority of them would have been coming from a pub/club or a house party. And the majority of people that wake up the following morning with banging headaches and bent over a toilet won't be those who stayed in on their own to have a drink.

and not to mention the cringe factor.

Rarely end up cringing the next day if I just have a few beers in the house.

Lucena

The problem with pubs in this country is that the range of beers available is pish-poor. I like my fancy beers and most country pubs have only the holy GBH trinity (Guinness, Budweiser, Heineken).
Drinking at home means I get to choose decent beer. I’m also unlikely to drink more than two, as drinking beyond that means not getting the full taste off the beer. Also some strong/heavy/hoppy beers are like a meal in themselves, and so tastefull (sic) that you don’t feel like another one after!

Shelflife

The problem with statements like that made on the radio is that there are usually vested interests behind it.

while i do enjoy a drink at home, i do recognise that it can become a problem if it progresses.

Now i own an off licence so its in my interests to promote drinking at home, the Vintners assoc have an interest in stopping people drinking at home.

The Vintners are a powerful lobby group who if left unchecked will happlily close all off licences and corner the market again, so they will happlily throw their weight behind "issues" like this and gain publicity for it.

Remember it was the Vintners who pushed for the 10pm off licence closing time on the basis of stopping anti socail behaviour. now there is a push to force all off licences in shops to close off the drinks section completly and have a shop within a shop which due to the costs involved many will be forced to close.

The €1 on the bottle of wine in the budget? Id bet my bottom dollar that they were behind that as well.

As another poster said you have to read between the lines, excessive drinking anywhere is bad for you, responsible drinking anywhere is good for you. The idea that we cant control our drinking unless we are in the pub with the wonderful publican watching over us is a joke.

Dont let the Vintners away with any more, drinking at home alone is no different to drinking in a pub.

Tazio

razorgil wrote: »

smallies put to bed, stove glowing, telly switched from the disney channel to sky news to catch up, and a cold beer to hand, at your own pace, nice and relaxed......unwind, can't top it.

Do you live in my house?? This is my life...

Icyseanfitz

id have a beer or two while watching a movie no bother, dont see the problem with that, now getting plastered at home by your self would be a bit different in my opinion

Systemic Risk

Shenshen wrote: »

Nope, I never drink home alone.

I might share a bottle of beer with my husband now and again, maybe once a week or so.
But when I'm on my own, I wouldn't really touch alcohol.

:eek: share a bottle of beer. But they are so small as it is. I might think about sharing a 660 ml peroni with the gf I suppose.

I see no problem drinking on ones own. I do it probably once at the weekend if I'm not heading out, or might have a couple when watching a dvd with the gf and she is not drinking.

I never drink that much when alone though, after a few I have enough. Drink way less and way slower than if was drinking cans with a friend so in a way its a healthier alternative

kingtiger

razorgil wrote: »

disney channel to sky news to catch up

don't you know watching Sky news is worse for your health than drinking

anncoates

razorgil wrote: »

smallies put to bed, stove glowing, telly switched from the disney channel to sky news to catch up, and a cold beer to hand, at your own pace, nice and relaxed......unwind, can't top it.

Tazio wrote: »

Do you live in my house?

You'd probably notice if she did.

razorgil

anncoates wrote: »

You'd probably notice if she did.

whats this "she" business dude??( note to self- i must tone down this feminist side, it's running away with itself again)

crusher000

I drink moderatly at home .
Get lashed when I go out.
Note: not on the same night. Don't fuel up before I go out.

TheUsual

Quite a few things changed the Irish choice of drinking in the past 10 years.

Smoking bans, clamping of cars in Dublin, drink driving fear (nearly everyone needs their car for work so no car = no work), cost of a pint going through the roof, televisions at home with 60 channels and a TV recorder to catch up on stuff.
Internet as entertainment.

Cheaper booze available in supermarkets, means pub prices really look crazy.

Most women/girls went to restaurants/hotels to drink wine and not into pubs - result was the pubs become sausage factories and the lads/men stop going out at all eventually.

I drink at home until pubs start charging 2 euro a pint and the slow sets come back to discos. :pac:

Il Trap

kingtiger wrote: »

don't you know watching Sky news is worse for your health than drinking

It kills more brain-cells, that's for sure!

razorgil

kingtiger wrote: »

don't you know watching Sky news is worse for your health than drinking

well i'm fúcked so, (and i'd better not mention the cindy crawford fitness dvds while sipping bushmills)

smacl

Drink at home alone, God no! Nope, the missus is usually there to drink with me, or at least a child or two to fetch some beers from the fridge. Or barring all else, the telly. The telly does count, doesn't it?

Green Giant

I like the best of both worlds. Feels great to sit down to a Champions League match and crack open a bottle of beer but also love heading out with friends over a few pints.

Nothing wrong with either option in my book

Handsome Bob

Taking it in itself, drinking at home alone or whatever isn't a problem.

On the other hand, if you're drinking every night to numb some personal trauma or using alcohol as a crutch then yes, there may be a problem.

However, if that is the case then the setting you are drinking in really is irrelevant. In this scenario being on the piss with your mates does not make the situation look any better than if you were at home alone doing it. It's still the same problem that you're medicating with alcohol.

Wattle

Did plenty of it in my alcoholism days. Depends on the frequency, the amount and the intention.

beano345

back when i was a foot to the floor raging alco it didnt matter!if i had money id be in a bar if i had just enough for a few cans and a shoulder id be waiting outside the beer store to open...sometimes wouldnt even make it the 15 minute walk to the apartment stopping off at a park along the way,suppose it depends on your reasons for drinking.id prefer company but it didnt really matter as long as it was in my system!

orestes

I think it comes from the American guidelines to what might be indications of drinking too much which can lead to alcoholism, which are a completely different set of realistic criteria to what would constitute a drinking problem in Ireland since both countries have very different attitudes towards drinking. Try telling the Germans, the Dutch or the Czechs that a couple of beers a day is a sign of alcoholism and they'd laugh at you.

Having a couple of beers to unwind while watching a movie isn't a problem, it's when you're only watching the movie as an excuse to drink that it can start to become a problem. Alcoholism isn't really about how much you drink or how often (although they can obviously be big parts of having a problem, but some people can drink every day and it not be a problem while some people can drink once a week and be alcoholics), it's about whether or not you can control your drinking when it starts to effect your life.

The guidelines for what constitutes the start of a problem are cultural, when you do have a problem depends on the person

upinthesky

orestes wrote: »

. Try telling the Germans, the Dutch or the Czechs that a couple of beers a day is a sign of alcoholism and they'd laugh at you.

`yes they dont come out with a six pack they come out with a trolley load, thought the irish could drink till seen the germans!

Agricola

I dont see a problem with it. But then I would view "drinking at home" as just having 2 or 3 cans or some wine, and going to bed more or less as sober as before you started.

I have a feeling most people don't see it that way. Most people see it in a way that involves projectile vomitting, so I can see where the problem might arise.

claregalway1

its sad ,go out get mouldy,meet people,pull a bure