Why do people drink alcohol? And why now a days is it to excess?

Question

Everyone enjoys a drink now and again (even way back to our ancestors), whether it be in a bar/pub, with a meal, catching up with friends or simply unwinding after work. However now a days there is such bad press about 'binge drinking' so when going out with friends do we subconsciously plan to drink till we feel the effects or even till we are really plastered? Is it dissapointing to go out drinking and to come home not neccessarily feeling all giggly and intoxicated? Is getting drunk now seen as a social norm? Has our hectic/ non-stop society pushed us to find forms of escapism on a daily basis?..........

Answer 1

'Binge drinking' is not a new phenomena just a new catch phrase. Britain has been built on the backs of alcohol and heavy drinking. Britain didn't win a war for 300yrs in the middle ages and this has been reported to be due to our drink culture! People throughout the ages (mostly men) used to drink a lot most days and would have had a lot higher tollerances than people today. In a lot of places 200 years ago (namely London) the beer was cleaner than the water due to the fermentation proces and was therefore safer to drink so it was used instead in cooking etc.
Inns used to be thriving places as either the equivalent of 'community centres' or 'motels' and would always been full of rowdy drunken men just enjoyin themselves, no talk of alcoholism or socail problems people just enjoyed themselves.
The media recently has criminalised this activity which means more young people are bound to jump on the bandwaggon thinking it to be 'naughty' and therefore 'cool'. Fights are also nothing new but back inthe day they were done properly, no knives just a good stand up until sombody doesnt get up. Then everyone goes home. Now the police break it up so nobody really gets slapped or learns from there mistakes.
Drinking is a culture and one that too many people these days don't understand. They get drunk too easily and take it to be an excuse to be a t*t, nobody seems to get embarressed anymore. It still remain to be the 30-50 age blokes who are the biggest drinkers and there is no problem like with the lily-livered kids

Answer 2

People want to either escape from normality or find a different phychological level for an infinite number of reasons. Some good (easier to talk to the opposite sex), some bad (depression).
What I don't get is why a lot of people think this is a new phenomena. People have been getting hammered from the Egyptians to the Vikings to the modern baseball-capped 14 year old.
Bottom line, drinking to excess is fun yet controlable for the vast majority. It's an over-hyped issue.

Answer 3

Alcohol is a social lubricant. It alleviates stress, makes people less conscious of themselves and dissipates shyness allowing a person to mix in a group situation. It also gives you false confidence and temporarily alleviates lonliness/emptiness. With alcoholics it is a feeling of 'coming alive' and of being 'in tune' with the world for the first time.It was that way with me. When an alcoholic has one drink it sets off the phenomenon of craving which doesn't occur with 'normal' drinkers. So the alcoholic takes another drink to overcome a craving which never goes away until he/she drops.This is coupled with a powerful mental obsession that he/she can recapture old days and drink more moderately as he/she once did. It takes the alcoholic through the gates of insanity or death unless he has a spiritual experience. One can get this experience by mixing/working with sober alcoholics in a 12 step group. I haven't had a drink for over 20 years now. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 4

I think what you mention with the going out to meet with friends, perhaps occasionally after work for a quiet drink, is not the problem. The bad press about the binge drinking is quite true to life, i definately see it in my own town, the nightlife on a friday night, with people falling out of clubs. I think many people unfortunately do go out, and make it their aim to get as wrecked as possible. That's why its mostly friday and saturday nights, no work, weekend, they can just get as drunk as possible. It does seem to have become socially acceptable and normal, perhaps even expected for people to want to go out and drink. I, as an 18yr old student, who doesn't drink alcohol, find it difficult for people to understand why i dont want to do these things. I certainly find that with some of my peers, they make it a mission to go out every weekend, regardless of whether they can afford it, whether they have the time, it seems to take priority, and i honestly don't understand why. They describe it as a rubbish night out if they still have memories of the previous night and don't wake with a hangover! It was too sensible a night! its madness. As for whether we are pushed towards drink as a form of escapism, i'm not too sure on that one. On the one hand, i suppose the constant work work work lifestyle some experience, can be disheartening, and make them lean towards drink, but on the other hand, i think the majority of the drinking problem/culture, has little to do with a busy, stressful society, and more to do with the normalisation of everyday drinking.

Answer 5

People feel that they have to drunk because they're drinking. They get caught or kill someone driving drunk they won't think it's such a good idea then. By that time they'll be in jail anyway. But that doen't bring back the person they've killed.

Answer 6

First, not everyone enjoys a drink of alcohol, I for one think it taste nasty and find it disgusting! I can have fun and relax just fine without it. It often ruin families and social situations. This is not something new, although they do say that women are drinking larger volumes of alcohol now days equal to men, but it is harder on them physically. In the Bible.it says wine is a mocker and strong drink..." so even in Bible times there was a problem with overindulging in alcohol. Alcohol is a form of escapism, always has been. People have always drank to excess. There are even examples of this in the Bible. People drink alcohol because they are weak, because they have addictive personality and because they want something besides themselves to blame their bad behavior on, you see. Now days there might be more people drinking to excess because of women lowering their standards and joining in with the men in their immorality. The over drinking gives them supposedly an excuse for being immoral(stupid sins of lust and other addictions).

Answer 7

I don't drink..I never have and I never will and I enjoy my life just fine.I don't feel anything is missing from my life...booze is expensive, it's bad for you and in the morning you feel like crap!!
You don't need to escape by getting drunk..you can play a sport, exercise do yoga take up a hobby...it's just easier to go down the pub and get sloshed and you feel great for a while until the hang over the next day... it's senseless

Answer 8

"Well ya see, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Answer 9

I think most of it's because it's fashionable to do it. Then there's the point that once you've had a few, you have less inhibitions, you probably like the feeling and your impaired judgement says 'have some more'. Personally, I enjoy a few drinks to relax, or to reduce my inhibitions in talking to new people, but drinking 'til you're sick or passed out just never made sense to me. I hate feeling sick.

Answer 10

Youth today enjoy going out to get drunk, i would class myself as a binge drinker, because i like going out most of the weekend, and i havent learnt when to stop. i ended up going out last night and i have a hangova today. i end up on average having 2 bottles of white wine, and a few vodkas and coke. Im never out of it, while drunk - but im less aware of dangers etc.

When me and the girls go out on the weekend the plan is to drink excess amounts, and have a laugh.

i no this shouldnt be the attitude to have, but its hard to break the routine.