Alcohol

[cheeky101]

How would you convince your peers to give up alcohol?

[woofgang]

why?

[Chessman]

take them to an AA mettiing, and listen to some of the stories.

[John Brennan]

I gave up drinking alcohol at the end of 2004 (no,not on new years eve!). I think the most convincing way is a personal story/ account. I'm not an alcohlic, but would always drink too much and not know when enough was enough. Thankfully I stood back and took a look at my behaviour and how drinking altered my character/personality adveresly and knew i had to do something. I am not particularly strong willed so knew i would not be able to 'just have 1 pint or a couple of glasses of wine' and then stop. So for me it had to be a complete 'give it up'. 10 months on its one of the best things i have ever done. One result which is a daily reminder of the benefits is, I wake up each morning and feel the same way. not hungover, not feeling crap, not feeling sluggish, and not wondering what mayhem/upset i might have caused the night before. Now I look at the news and these CCTV footage TV programs and can see the destructive 'out of control' influence alcohol has. It is crippling our society. 

[jake-the-peg]

Well done John

I gave up for 10 months once and thought I'd proved to myself that I was now strong willed enough to be a social drinker again - I wasn't.

Took me another couple of years to stop again. Been dry now for nearly 5 years.

Mind you I don't think I'd ever want to try to stop anybody else drinking it's something you come to yourself.

I mean how would most people feel if one of their friends tried to make them give up chocolate for example? 

[woofgang]

which was my point jake.

[BUNNY]

I stopped drinking 7 months ago and agree with John,it was the best thing I ever did,for all the same reasons he mentioned.And I lost about a stone in weight too!!One thing that I have noticed when I'm out socialising is that drinking does NOT

[BUNNY]

Sorry,about that-hit a wrong button!!What I was going to say was that drinking does NOT bring out the best of anyone.Even my dearest friends turn into idiots after a few drinks and most people become irrirtating and/or embarrassing.A few sober nights on the town and you end up realising that you do not want to behave like that.I have no desire now to spend lots of money to turn myself into a less nice person and then lose the following day suffering from headaches/nausea.It doesnt make sense at all any more!!

[Quizmonster]

I always believed - re John Brennan's response - that waking up knowing you weren't going to feel any better as the day progressed was was one of the classic arguments in favour of going on drinking! (This is a joke.)

[joko]

It's not really your place to try. It is their decision, they are grown ups (aren't they?)

All that will happen is they will tire of you going on about it and start going out without you. They will only stop if they want to.

You don't say whether they are alcoholics or just social drinkers, but unless its a life-saving issue I'd keep out of it.

You do have a point about very drunk people being annoying and embarrassing to sober people, I agree, but if you go in a pub, that's the sort of thing you must expect - YOU are in the minority if you go to a pub and don't drink. You have no right to expect them to follow your example.

I once had a smackhead, who goes in my local tell me a girl being intoxicated wasn't very 'attractive' or 'ladylike' in a self righteous and sneering manner. Me and friends were sitting and laughing about something and though we weren't being raucous, we were probably being a little loud to people nearby. He was disgusted that we weren't sitting there all demure sipping a sweet sherry - a smackhead!! I wouldn't have minded so much if we'd been causing havoc...but laughing!

He had given up alcohol and thought he was superior to everyone else. He seemed to think the heroin didn't count because he was a low level recreational user, didn't inject, didn't get out of his skull on it, and didn't commit crimes for it (most people didn't know he was a scaghead - I didn't for long time)

Just seems to me that a lot of people are pish-heads for years and then the second they give up start looking down on everyone else for it, and become arrogant and indignant that others don't want to follow them.