Anyone stopped drinking for 6 months/a year

[Shandon Par]

8 minutes ago, Ylf said:

After being dry for 6 months what made you go back drinking? Bored?

IIRC the last two years I'd stopped it started again at the festive period. Not having any structure - not having to go to work, having piles of booze everywhere and having guests who were all drinking. It wasn't really getting pleasure from booze it was to escape the stress of not being able to drink. Probably a couple of decades since I could have a couple of drinks, be merry and stop. The money side of it was hellish too. £250 or so would be a typical booze spend on a night out/day sesh. 

[welshbairn]

I'd like to cut out drinking at home. Restricting it to the pub would get me a few alcohol free days a week which would do me the world of good.

[Honest Saints Fan]

Apart from the very odd sip or two I haven't had a full alcoholic drink since 2008. 

I dislike the taste of all alcohol (can tolerate a cocktail if the alcohol taste is hidden enough) and I hate the feeling of not being in control when you are drunk. Also have a huge vomit phobia so between these 3 things drinking is not for me! 

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Growing up in the leafy town of Elgin I wasn't really exposed to a big drinking culture among adults. My folks liked a good swally now and again but not every weekend.  Going to Uni was a bit of an eye opener but nothing I didnt join in with (although one pal is probably an alky without realising it now). 

However, on meeting the missus many years back and visiting her family and wider acquaintances around the Loch Lomond area I was blown away.  Literally everyone seemed to either a) have a drink problem, b) were dealing with a drink problem or c) knew someone who had a drink problem.

 

[FuzzyBear]

Go out virtually every Friday, Saturday and Sunday but only have 4 or 5 pints so no hangover. Only been really drunk once in the last 2 years and that was hospitality at the Accies game last December and wont be again until the hospitality at the Accies game this December.

Don't touch it from Monday to Thursday.

Edited September 26, 2018 by FuzzyBear

[DA Baracus]

I genuinely never realised that so many folk drank every day of the week. Mental stuff.

I'm not even talking about jakeballs who get pissed up every day, just folk who have a couple of beers or glasses of wine every day, as well as getting a bit smashed at the weekend.

Anyway, I used to drink every single weekend. Managed to cut it out but slipped back in to it not so long ago. I do enjoy having beers before and after going to the football but I was just sitting alone in my flat getting pished, Not good.

I did stop drinking completely for about 4 months a couple of years back. Now I just limit it to when I go out, usually to the football, so this means it can be a week between drinking or 2, 3 or even 4 weeks between it.

[Jambomo]

I pretty much stopped about 2018 drinking after a very heavy night out on my birthday. I had completely put myself off vodka that night and as that was about the only alcoholic drink I liked (or at least didn't mind much) that meant I didn't touch a drop for years. I'll have the odd baileys or a cocktail now and again but that is not even on a monthly basis. I used to drink because other people did but now I will only drink if its a drink I actually like and want to drink.

Like others have said the main issue for me is other people, where they don't like much else beyond going to the pub, something I now find really boring if we are there for more than a couple of hours.

[sjc]

42 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I'd like to cut out drinking at home. Restricting it to the pub would get me a few alcohol free days a week which would do me the world of good.

The problem with this is you can end up binge drinking which is worse that spreading the same amount of alcohol over the week.

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, sjc said:

The problem with this is you can end up binge drinking which is worse that spreading the same amount of alcohol over the week.

They say it helps more to have 2 or more alcohol free days a week than the harm of getting hammered at the weekend.

[Guest]

I am in the “much older” category, and quit about a decade ago (other than Christmas time) for no other reason than I didn’t really like it that much.

 

Downside is always the same......being in company with drinkers who think you are a bit of a freak for not drinking, and me watching their character change as they drink. It’s interesting to watch someone you like turn into someone you really have no time for once they have had a few.

i also like the freedom of not drinking. I like knowing I can pop out in the car or motorcycle whenever I like. Simple things like that.

i also dislike the way alcohol is idolised in society. Even someone adding alcohol to a dessert earns sniggers of laughter, and inane comments of “oh I bet that makes it much better”. The belief that “everything is better if ethanol is involved” is truly sad.

Edited September 26, 2018 by Duncan Freemason

[captainkev]

1 minute ago, Duncan Freemason said:

i also like the freedom of not drinking. I like knowing I can pop out in the car or motorcycle whenever I like. Simple things like that.

That was a big thing for me also. Being able to go out with friends to the pub at night and not have to worry about the last bus or shelling out on a taxi to get home because I have the car has been refreshing and really handy too.

[NJ2]

The pro’s of not drinking (weight loss, save money, no hangovers) don’t outweigh the pro’s of drinking for me (seeing my pals, having a laugh, enjoying myself at the time).
What I’m trying to do is cut out going overboard. Have a good time in the pub but when it closes, go home. It’s when I venture off after closing time that I make an arse of it.

[Richey Edwards]

It's a sad indictment on not only Scottish society, but the whole of Western society when people need to ask why you DON'T drink.

[Gaz]

I've never really drunk at home. Think I could count on one hand the number of times I've had one or two beers. I've never got drunk at home.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, NJ2 said:

The pro’s of not drinking (weight loss, save money, no hangovers) don’t outweigh the pro’s of drinking for me (seeing my pals, having a laugh, enjoying myself at the time).
What I’m trying to do is cut out going overboard. Have a good time in the pub but when it closes, go home. It’s when I venture off after closing time that I make an arse of it.

The “why you drink” list is the stuff I do without drinking. I am not saying “stop that” but what I will say is there underlying reasons as to why you feel alcohol is the only way that you have to see you mates, have a laugh, and enjoy yourself.

i certainly wouldn’t go on a moral cruise to stop people drinking.

[Priti priti priti Patel]

22 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I am in the “much older” category, and quit about a decade ago (other than Christmas time) for no other reason than I didn’t really like it that much.

 

Downside is always the same......being in company with drinkers who think you are a bit of a freak for not drinking, and me watching their character change as they drink. It’s interesting to watch someone you like turn into someone you really have no time for once they have had a few.

i also like the freedom of not drinking. I like knowing I can pop out in the car or motorcycle whenever I like. Simple things like that.

i also dislike the way alcohol is idolised in society. Even someone adding alcohol to a dessert earns sniggers of laughter, and inane comments of “oh I bet that makes it much better”. The belief that “everything is better if ethanol is involved” is truly sad.

Described much better than I did above. It is so weird. I reckon people just imbibe the idea that alcohol is funny and naughty when they are weans not being allowed to touch it, and then never grow out of it. It's a mark of how many reflective, enlightened individuals post on P&B that so many have turned their backs on drink.

15 minutes ago, NJ2 said:

The pro’s of not drinking (weight loss, save money, no hangovers) don’t outweigh the pro’s of drinking for me (seeing my pals, having a laugh, enjoying myself at the time).
What I’m trying to do is cut out going overboard. Have a good time in the pub but when it closes, go home. It’s when I venture off after closing time that I make an arse of it.

Aye but you can do that without alcohol surely. Go karting, for example. That's an expensive example, but it proves the point that alcohol isn't fundamental to having a laugh with your pals. Do you not enjoy watching Hearts without a drink?

[Trackdaybob]

Used to stop regularly when deployed to Saudi Arabia. Didn't bother me at all. That could be up to six months. Each time. 

Also stay dry from new year until my fist race meeting every year so until mid March usually.  Seem to manage ok. 

Don't drink nearly as much as I used to anyways. That's a good thing. 

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, Shandon Par said:

IIRC the last two years I'd stopped it started again at the festive period. Not having any structure - not having to go to work, having piles of booze everywhere and having guests who were all drinking. It wasn't really getting pleasure from booze it was to escape the stress of not being able to drink. Probably a couple of decades since I could have a couple of drinks, be merry and stop. The money side of it was hellish too. £250 or so would be a typical booze spend on a night out/day sesh. 

What were you drinking and were yoo buying everybodies?

[Shandon Par]

21 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

What were you drinking and were yoo buying everybodies?

Usually two or three shots whilst waiting for a pint. Bottles of red wine. Soon mounts up! 

[Honest_Man#1]

Don’t think it would be a big challenge for me to not drink, as I’ve gone weeks without even thinking about having one before, but have no real inclination to stop completely. Like the taste of too many different alcohols to give it up. Don’t drink much at home either.

Moved into a new flat and didn’t have a TV point or WiFi for two weeks so last week I spent 4 nights in a row at the pub watching football. Only a few pints, but it makes me wonder how people can drink every night for any length of time as by the end of only a few days, the last thing I wanted was a drink.