Quit Alcohol. Try it.

[Spenny]

Just over a month ago, I came across this thread about alcohol. I read it, denied its ideas, immediately putting up walls and saying to myself:

" nah I'd never quit, what would people think of me? It's just so awkward to say no"
" but what about all the friends I've made while drunk? I'm sure that wouldn't happen again if I'm sober. People won't associate with me.
" I like the taste of vodka & the feeling of being drunk"
" all the good times I've had with it, how could I give that up?"


Then a friend told me more about its effects. I intially ignored it.

....but this ticked over in my mind and it wouldn't go away. Big sign it's something I need to address.


Shock
I watched this. I was more than horrified at what I did to myself. I'd strongly suggest to watch this if you haven't already. Here's the biggest takeaways:

1) Alcohol is bad, but its metabolised into to the much worse acetaldehyde. That's what gives the drunk feeling. I'm a chemist, so out of curiosity so I searched up the safety data sheet. We must use these sheets as a reference to take the appropriate precautions. This is what it had to say.​

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I feel like such a dummy that I take SERIOUS precautions not to expose myself to nasty stuff (using lab coats, goggles, gloves, washing hands, using fume cupboards) & on the weekends I defeat the purpose of my precautions.​

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I also felt sickened that all those times I felt drunk it was actually because my body was under attack. Why do I do such a thing to myself?​

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2) It is awful for gut health (good bateria is killed, bad bacteria thrives). It is terrible for your brain (memory degeneration, organisation). It is awful for deep sleep. It spurrs on hangover anxiety.​

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3) Even a drink a day or seven on a weekend is classed as HEAVY DRINKING? Goddamn, I never thought I would be a heavy drinker. Just one drink is bad enough.​

Denial.
I was so confused, alcohol is so accepted & encouraged, but it does all this nasty shit to you. I've been drinking ever since I was straight vodka in rural English parks when I was 15, all the memories. I'd be able to swish vodka in my mouth & swallow it without cringing. I love the taste. I thought about my previous excuses. I actually got upset thinking about giving it up.

Then it smacked me right in the face.

You know these people are right, it is really bad for you.
Are they really friends if they only want to drink with you?
You have nearly broken your jaw from drinking too much. A life changing injury. Why do you justify this?
Getting upset at giving up something that you know is bad for you? That is addict behaviour.

I promised myself I would try it for a month, just to prove I can do without it.

Acceptance.

That day has come, here are the benefits I've recieved:

• Higher confidence from asserting my boundaries. People will pressure, I do not care. (laugh in the face of "you're so boring" - eat shit)
• Quick and sharp on nights out. I'm far more aware of social cues, atmospheres & vibes of people
• Coherent on nights out - I actually got into two clubs without ID because I was able to speak clearly and the bouncer knew I wasn't going to be a problem.
• I'm richer. Less money spent on expensive stupid drinks.
• I've been able to put in superb gym sets. I'm much stronger than I was a month ago
• Kept more good habits from not having an excuse.
• My skin is clearer.
• I'm far better at dancing.
• I've not done dumb stuff.
• I can drive back home from house parties - loud music at 2am is just amazing.
• I'm in complete control of what I want to do. Do you know how good it feels to just be able to leave when a party gets crap?
• Not eat crap takeaways.
• Less self-consiousness. I don't need to impress people on how much I can drink, nor do I need to feel that I need to fit in.
• More time, I have a whole day in which I'm not moping around from a hangover. I've actually had trouble with this new time because it was never there before!

I found that I didn't have less fun experiences, I just traded some experiences with other ones.

I gave in hangovers, wavy nights, drunk liaisons, an excuse to be confident with the stuff I just listed above.

My Challenge to You is Simple.

1) Listen to the Andrew Huberman Video I linked. Just listen. I will not tell you to drop alcohol. Just listen.​

2) Read this thread. Look at the people denouncing alcohol, these people are no joke & have done wonderful things.​

3) If you really have some nuts, message me & I'll check in on you a month from now.​

Don't you dare ghost me, hold yourself accountable, persist.​

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Edit: Spelling Errors.​

 

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[heavy_industry]

Out of all the substances in this world, our society, in all of its wisdom, has decided to take one of the most dangerous and addictive ones and make it one of its cornerstones.

The only reason why alcohol is legal and socially acceptable is because it has been here since the dawn of human civilization. It's extremely cheap and easy to mass-produce: all you need is some grain that you let rot.

But as soon as you take a closer look at its pharmacology, you see a number of disturbing facts:

• it is a neurotoxin that destroys our nervous system (yes, the brain)
• it permeates every cell in the body and is heavily carcinogenic
• it interferes with almost every physiological process in the body in a profoundly negative way
• it is one of the only known substances that causes aggression in humans

The statistics are not very optimistic either.

• alcohol kills 3 million people world wide, each and every single year
  • that's 5 times more than malaria
  • in 30 years, it kills the same amount of people as WW2. That's 3 World Wars per 100 years.
• 13% of all deaths of young people (20-39 years of age), occur due to alcohol
  • yes, that's 1 in 10

How exactly did it get to this point is completely beyond my comprehension.

If alcohol was invented today, it would immediately be classified as a class 1 prohibited substance, and made illegal all around the world.

The society in which we live, is not very intelligent, to put it mildly. Blindly following what everyone else is doing may not be the best idea in the world - this applies to everything: alcohol, food, "entertainment", lifestyle, and finances.

Use your own brain. Make your own choices.

Because you will have to live with the consequences of your actions.

 

[AJV]

I haven't had a single drink since 2019. Before than, I was a daily beer drinker for 20 years and those years were wasted in stagnation. It all feels like a bad dream today. Now I feel alive, I am growing every day and I have zero desire to ever drink again.

I failed quitting in the first several attempts, but then I came up with a series of steps that worked flawlessly with my brain.

1. I acknowledged that of all the harms alcohol does to me, my relationships with women suffered most and if I don't stop, I will continue losing partners because of drunk arguments.

2. I observed my drinking habits and realized that I prefer the drinks that I drink often, not the drinks that are tasty or new. If I drank the same beer every day, any other beer wouldn't taste as good for me, even if it's more expensive or better in some way. This made me believe that my brain will like any drink as long as there is some alcohol in it and I drank it daily for a while.

Around 6 months before quitting drinking I replaced my daily beer with my own "cocktail" which was 0.5L of water + 1 teaspoon of lime powdered juice + 1 shot of rum. The recipe doesn't actually matter, what matters is that my brain quickly got used to it and was begging for it every day after work instead of begging for beer. The only difference was that this time I controlled the amount of alcohol in my daily drinks and I could switch to non-alcoholic version of it without changing the flavor.

Which is exactly what I did one day. My brain didn't notice the trick and every time it begged for another drink, I drank my alcohol-free cocktail and felt the familiar and expected relief because it was tied to the flavor of the drink (alcohol normally kicks in a bit later). Anytime the brain felt that "something is missing, I need another drink", I gave it one. I had almost no hard feelings and stress quitting this way and after a week or so I was off the alcohol and never had a drink since.

3. The last key to quitting was to completely remove alcohol from live and not allow a drop of it to enter the body, which is not that difficult after the initial week or two. These days I never miss drinking or have any regrets when I see other people drinking. I feel a bit sorry for them though.