Why the Obsession with Alcohol and/or Barhopping?

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I don't like Pubs or Clubs but I like my wine.

Why? Well...I like the distinctive flavours of wine...and I only do it when I am off work.

I guess it's a social norm....but I drink for myself and never for others.

@ocdgirl123: I agree, I only drank when I was of drinking age. I never drank during my High School years and even when I drink now, it's only on weekends.

Drinking can be good if in moderation and NOT to get drunk....maybe tipsy since you become more confident and stuff....

When I go to a party these days I actually don't drink at them as I don't want to show myself up or the "I don't drink to socialise" mentality, I save my drinking to people I trust...and parties are a definite no no....did it once and will forever regret it.

I hate bars and pubs because of the smell and the noise. I also don't drink. Non distilled drinks give me stomach cramps, I guess it is a yeast intolerance thing so I generally just say I am allergic to alcohol. If someone pushes too hard, I'll describe the cramps in excruciating detail. That usually shuts them up pretty quickly.

Oddly enough the person who has the most trouble dealing with it is my doctor.
Doc: How much do you drink?
me: I don't
Doc: Seriously, two units a day?
me: Nothing
Doc. ok, one glass of wine a week?
me: No. Nothing. I don't drink.
Doc: Hmm...

I have a suspicion he thinks I am a closet alcoholic with a serious case of denial.

I used to drink because everyone did it and kind of enjoyed it at first but got sick of it later. I considered for a while to quit going out altogether but that wasn't really a good option as it limited my social life even more. I found out not drinking was only really a problem for me when I felt bad about it myself. I don't mind being around people who drink, if they try to push me into it, I tease them about stupid things they've done when they were drunk and if they persist I just ignore them. As long as I feel confident about not drinking it's never really been a problem, though I agree there's often a lot of pressure on younger people to join in. I'm not a teetotaller though, I still drink one or two glasses at parties but after that I switch to sodas.

lol I'm not less tolerant than my friends...the girls, at least... but they keep drinking and become funny/puke, while I stop Anyway, yeah, I suppose that beer or any other "pure" alcoholic beverages wouldn't taste as good if alcohol-free. I have been told that the market for alcohol-free beer/wine is quite florid, though, for instance in rich country with a majority of Muslim population.

Btw, Doctor Who is almost unknown here, unfortunately! It moved from cable to public tv only last year. Apparently, people watch only games, reality shows and soccer D: If we want good tv series we have to download them D:

When I next go to a pub, I will order a coke and just tell everyone who I'm with that it's got Bacardi in it or something else.

But I can't drink alcohol. I have a phobia of being sick, and because I'm not used to drinking alcohol, I'm frightened it might affect me easier than if affects others. Even if I just have a couple of drinks, I'm still worried I might feel sick and want to go home. So there's no point in me going out. And I don't see why people think it's so great to get drunk. Even grown people in their 50s and 60s grin and say, ''I used to get drunk when I was young'' as though they're proud of it.

Try something low in alcohol then and see how it affects you. You could try a bottle of two of Manns Brown Ale (2.8%), although I appreciate that very few pubs sell that.

Last edited by Tequila on 18 Feb 2012, 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Older people tend to think that drinking is A-OK at the time...and drinking Alcohol in the Victorian times was ENCOURAGED to children due to being cleaner then drinking the Water (since it was diseased).

I do agree with you but you can go out without "drinking", you can go to a Restaurant to eat and have a good time and if you do drink, the food will dilute the alcohol so you should be okay should the scenario happen.

In olden times alcohol was typically also much weaker.

Oh, I'm not sure of that, especially if we're talking about beer in Britain.

And in Britain at least, we drink less now than we did in the past, and pubs are closing at the fastest rate in UK history.

I have two theories. One is fairly nice, and the other is very cynical.

The nice one is that social things are scary (hell, we all know that!) even for NTs. In order to handle the stress of socialising, they gather together to consume narcotics. These have two things going for them - they reduce the anxiety, and they form a pretext for socialising. That is, the drinking itself is a social event. The problem comes from the narcotic effect - people drink too much. While most people are happy to stop after one or two, others lack that self control. They go from relaxed to drunk, at which point they turn into loud, obnoxious idiots. It only takes one or two in a pub to make things very uncomfortable for aspies, and they tend to form groups, which is worse.

The cynical one is that people drink because their lives are dull and meaningless, and getting utterly plastered is a good way to stop thinking about it. They find great amusement in doing stupid things while drunk, often not even remembering them, and seem to find vandalism, injury and crime a cause for celebration rather than shame. If they could not drink, they would have to face every day sober, and that would be a nightmare. They'd have to face up to the fact that they are boring, have no talent and have no meaning in their lives.

I've never been that interested in drinking, and after living with an alcoholic for best part of a year I have even less enthusiasm for it.

My mother is an NT, but she was talking about this the other day. Believe it or not, at one time in my life I used to have friends. Back when we were 8-12 years old, we didn't drink when we stayed over at each other's houses or went to Timezone/the swimming pool/the bowling alley/Q-Zar. Yet whenever there's a meet up these days, it is expected that alchohol is part of the occasion.

I went to a sunday session today as a friend was leaving town to go study in Sydney, and I hated it. Not because of drinking (drinking makes me less nervous), but the noise in the beer garden but horrendous. Because of that I couldn't make out a thing anyone was saying and because of that I couldn't latch on to their conversations. Drinking seems to be part and parcel of socialisation, especially if you're from Australia, like I am.

I think Thom may have hit upon something with the idea that people drink because their lives are dull and meaningless. I mean, after high school, you go to uni, get a degree, get a job, get a wife/husband/gay partner, have kids, buy a house, work until you drop and supposedly retire with enough money to travel the world. That's not the way things work if you are not an NT. I have been involved with the performing arts for many years (not with much success unfortunately), and that gives me a reason to live, as it shows there's more to living than work and girlfriends and who won the footy on the weekend.

This is an absolutely brilliant method! Well done.

This is interesting. At the risk of sounding self-centered, it seems like I come across a lot of threads on this board that relate uniquely to me. I'm the only one I know who has had what might be considered an "obsession" with barhopping for reasons of social need (as opposed to, say, substance addiction reasons). The good news being, of course, that I've stopped going to bars and drinking on such a frequent basis, and for reasons of need.

The truth is that drinking and being drunk make me very comfortable, outgoing, and funny compared to when I'm sober, where I'm not authentically interested in socializing, not outgoing, and not often funny (except for dry sarcasm which is generally either missed or rejected by the people hearing it).

And that's exactly the problem. What kind of world is it where the closest you come to connecting with people is when you're intoxicated!? I've never heard of a surer route to alcoholism in my life!

Therefore, I just don't drink (except for on infrequent occasions), and I let my social life take a hit. I should also add that I'm not ALWAYS comfortable, outgoing, and funny when I drink, but I am for about 85-90% of the times that I drink/get drunk.

The US has a bar culture which it imported from Europe, and East Asia also has that type of culture.

Thanks everyone for your input and sharing your experiences. The problem is for me right now is there person I live with doesn't just drink a few beers usually but beinges. He hangs out with people who beinge. Then, I have to work (or even if I dont have to) the next day but there's a bunch of loud, belligerent people stomping around my apartment. At this point they'll also blare music exceptionally and IMO way too loud. The situation is more complicated by the fact that this person is my boyfriend and despite our agreements on many issues, the alcohol thing has been a major point of disparagement. At the same time though, it seems like so many friendships are forged through alcohol and bar activities although many of these "friendships" exist on such a superficial level. Of these people who come over, I would imagine only a few would want to hang out were no debauchery involved. As the person who is usually concerned more about homework or getting sleep I dont think any of those people would ever be around me were it not for my boyfriend. Perhaps I need to start hanging out with professional sorts in their thirties? I live in a very libertine, anything-goes type city so it seems like unless I move, this pattern will only repeat itself.

Wish they'd bring back prohibition sometimes....

If you're out at a bar and don't want to drink just tell people you're a designated driver.
Even better, jump at the chance to be the one behind the wheel so you have an excuse not to drink.