Sobriety sucks

[molester jester]

I like how everybody seems to automatically assume that when somebody says they enjoy a few drinks, that person is waking up every morning with no idea what happened the night before and probably acted like a monster. You can drink in moderation, you can get drink and not get drunk, you can drink and not act like a dick. I also find it weird that some of the earlier posts seem to think you can't have an interesting sensible conversation while being intoxicated. Drinking a few beers or getting drunk very rarely ends up with you acting like a bastard, passing out and forgetting everything.

 

[Dwarfman]

I have come to the conclusion that sobriety sucks. Not just the Straight Edge notion of absolute sobriety that some of you here know I used to subscribe to. Being sober in any situation that does not absolutely require it sucks. There is never a situation where I think "damn, I wish I was sober right now" but there are plenty where I think "damn, I wish I wasn't sober right now".

Does anybody here feel the same way?

Also, it feels appropriate to post this here:

Sobriety has its place. Just as drunkeness and other states of inebriation have there place as well.

You want your Brain surgeon or Bomb disposal technician complaining about sobriety AFTER they've finished their task.

 

[Joshimodo]

Ok now your arguing semantics. You knew what i meant and picked up on a slight missues of a term. So gratz there.

And you're avoiding the issue entirely. Drinking does not solve personal issues, it simply masks them rather than fixing them. Reliance builds addiction.

Jokes aside, maybe it's when we're drunk that we're truly normal, IE the people we really are, as opposed to the masks we wear when sober?

Speak for yourself. Only people with problems hide themselves behind "masks". If you need to be drunk to be yourself, then either you don't know who you actually are or you have some deep-seated issues.

 

[YawningAngel]

I have come to the conclusion that sobriety sucks. Not just the Straight Edge notion of absolute sobriety that some of you here know I used to subscribe to. Being sober in any situation that does not absolutely require it sucks. There is never a situation where I think "damn, I wish I was sober right now" but there are plenty where I think "damn, I wish I wasn't sober right now".

Does anybody here feel the same way?

Also, it feels appropriate to post this here:

Not really. I've had fun while sober plenty of times, and I've enjoyed conversations more than I would have if both parties had been drunk plenty of times as well.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I've been inebriated once, and I promised myself that I'd never get that drunk again.

And I haven't.

I like to drink, but I know my limits and I'll stop before I lose too much control.

 

[RyanBishop]

CM Punk disapproves of this topic.

On the serious side - why does sobriety suck? I'd much rather have fun without having to resort to substances =) Not always possible though, and I'm not the kind of person who would force oneself not to drink/smoke AT ALL. All's good if measured.

But yeah, back on topic - CM Punk definitely DOES NOT approve...

Off-topic: 100th post, yay?

 

[Joshimodo]

Speak for yourself. Only people with problems hide themselves behind "masks". If you need to be drunk to be yourself, then either you don't know who you actually are or you have some deep-seated issues.

I see unfounded blanket statements are still in season here. I don't suppose you've considered that you might be wrong?

As opposed to "we're all hiding our true selves, getting drunk reveals the 'real' you?" While that's true for some people, those people typically have a reason for faking their way through life beneath a façade. Those reasons are personal issues.

Of course I've considered the possibility I'm wrong, but the evidence points to the contrary. It's not normal to require intoxication to be yourself.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I have come to the conclusion that sobriety sucks. Not just the Straight Edge notion of absolute sobriety that some of you here know I used to subscribe to. Being sober in any situation that does not absolutely require it sucks. There is never a situation where I think "damn, I wish I was sober right now" but there are plenty where I think "damn, I wish I wasn't sober right now".
Does anybody here feel the same way?

Normally, I would probably disagree with you.

However, I haven't been able to have a drink since November. I will tell you, having passed the holiday season alcohol free, that it really sucks.

Now I'm in the mood for a drink. And I can't have one. **sigh** Thanks a lot, OP.

 

[axlryder]

As opposed to "we're all hiding our true selves, getting drunk reveals the 'real' you?" While that's true for some people, those people typically have a reason for faking their way through life beneath a façade. Those reasons are personal issues.

There is a difference between making a definite factual claim, like you did, and suggesting a possibility, like I did.

Of course I've considered the possibility I'm wrong, but the evidence points to the contrary. It's not normal to require intoxication to be yourself.

What evidence?

Giving yourself a drug "to be yourself" is just so obviously an error in logic that it means you are having problems before administering that drug.

What about clinically depressed people? Is it a logical error for them to take medication, IE drugs, to allow them to be themselves?

There's a complete difference between being intoxicated, i.e., poisoning your body, and taking anti-depressants which help to stabilize or encourage production of specific, necessary chemicals in the brain. Seriously, the two are designed to serve fundamentally opposite purposes on a chemical level (one encourages stability and the other weakens it). It's almost insulting that you would try and draw that comparison.

 

[Zakarath]

1) I don't like the sensation of being intoxicated
2) I see no reason to compromise my control over myself
3) I don't really like the taste of most alcoholic liquids

 

[Nexxis]

1) I don't like the sensation of being intoxicated
2) I see no reason to compromise my control over myself
3) I don't really like the taste of most alcoholic liquids

I agree with this. To add to it, I also don't like the idea of the horrors that happen once you are sober again. Hangovers and the like. I've lived with people who have alcohol problems and many of them wake up feeling sick to some extent. I hate feeling sick even when it's caused naturally, so I have no reason to cause it myself.

On a side note, I am a clinically depressed person and I did take medication during my undergrad years. Having such a condition doesn't mean that you're moping around sad all the time and the drug makes you happy. In my case, depression causes such a lull in energy that I don't feel like doing anything and sometimes, you recognize that happening. As a result, it can make you feel helpless since it's like you can control yourself and that can scare you or make you sad. Medication, at least the one I had, balanced out whatever it was that caused me to have those energy lulls, so I felt up to doing things.

Getting drunk doesn't seem to reveal anything about who you are except that you're drunk and that you might act differently when you're in an intoxicated state.

 

[370999]

Aye, but unfortnately OP work and the like forces us to be sober. Kill joys, as a man working in a nuclear power plant I love to come in sloshed and then play with the equipment.

Nah, but yeah there are some times you don't want to be drunk. and there are some times you do.

 

[Joshimodo]

There is a difference between making a definite factual claim, like you did, and suggesting a possibility, like I did.

It is a fact that hiding and to some extent, suppressing your actual personality traits and feelings is not healthy and not "normal". Requiring booze to be yourself is a problem.

What evidence?

See above. Apart from personal secrets and the like that everyone has, requiring inebriation to be yourself is unhealthy.

What about clinically depressed people? Is it a logical error for them to take medication, IE drugs, to allow them to be themselves?

Entirely different situation. As someone already quoted and responded to - Clinical depression is a physical, measurable thing. A chemical imbalance and deficiency in the brain. Medication helps balance that, though therapy can alleviate the problem to an extent, but not cure it. I know this because I've had clinical depression most of my life and deal with it.

Being timid/shy/having minor anxiety issues is also treatable with drugs (medicinal or alcohol), but that does not solve any problems, only masks them with other effects.

 

[michael87cn]

I'll never understand why alcohol has been as long as it has. Especially now, when there's no need for it besides medical purposes.

It makes me feel tired, and sick. Sure... you have a blissful happy intoxicated feeling while you're buzzed, for a VERY short time, as your body fights off the poisons, but you have to KEEP ingesting it to KEEP that feeling, and you CAN'T. Inevitably you have to suffer through addiction and hangovers. Not fun. Not cool.

It can be useful after a hard day at work to calm you down and help you fall asleep, but beyond that, its best to stay away from it on a regular basis.

Btw op - you know about liver damage right? Your kidneys? Do you want to live to see 50? Tone it down on the toxic substances.

Btw there are other ways to have fun... ways that don't damage you.

 

[sheah1]

In the last month I have seen some god awful things happening to people I love because of drink, weekly in fact. So yeah, no thanks.

 

[Dogstile]

Yeh, see...this is the problem with discussing alcohol consumption on a youth orientated forum.

I'll happily have a drink with older people, I won't drink with the 18-25 crowd. You don't have a "cool and relaxed" attitude to life, no matter how much you insist that you do. "Keep up", "don't be a party pooper", "down it!", "what are you drinking red-wine for? You gay?".

What's with the rules? Fuck you! I'm trying to relax here.

As long as you have a ritualistic attitude towards drinking, you'll irritate the shit out of me. I don't want to compete to see who can get the most drunk, or do Sambuca shots, or vodka mixed with energy drink so that I can fight my natural urge to sleep.

A night out drinking is entirely predictable. It's not wild and crazy, it's organised and has obvious outcomes.

At 25, I don't drink much anymore, because I don't want to...I get tired of justifying this to the "cool and relaxed" drinkers. You know, those people who are completely about free-choice yet somehow get arsey when anyone doesn't do what they do.

... I have enough trouble self-censoring myself to the point where people find me palatable without intoxication being a factor. Since I've abstained from drinking, my relationships are less complicated and more rewarding, and my wallet is considerably fatter.

I'm just waiting for my friends to get as thoroughly bored of it as I am.

18 here and i'm already about as bored as you are with "wild" nights. While I still do them on occasion (every month = occasion here) I get really, really annoyed when i'm having a quiet drink while playing pool and some dick will tell me to down it and get three more.

Fuck that guy, I will enjoy my whiskey. I drink because it tastes gorgeous, not because some prick wants to "go wild!".

 

[Joshimodo]

A fact? Why, then, you must have some evidence!

I'm still waiting for evidence, since you have provided none. At best, what you are saying is conjecture.

Read what he said one more time. He said that it was a logical error for someone to take drugs in order to be themselves, IE it's stupid for anyone to take drugs that enable them to be themselves when under the influence of them. That is EXACTLY what clinically depressed people do.

So, it corrects a chemical imbalance? Who says alcohol can't do the same thing? Maybe you're suffering from a dopamine shortage?

Who says alcohol can't do the same thing? Well, science and scientists, and anyone who knows anything about alcohol. It's a depressive drug. A downer. The rest is a result of other chemicals dulling areas of your brain.

If you want specific evidence for the suppression of personality/emotions, check Google. There's thousands of studies, tests and facts that will show you in detail.


If you actually knew anything about alcohol or medicinal drugs, you'd realise how ridiculous that statement is. Alcohol intoxicates the brain, and prevents clarity of thought and senses by affecting areas of the brain. This is not "fixing" anything, only masking personal issues that can be corrected by other means.

Clinical depression is caused by a lack of a chemical or chemicals in the brain, so they are not as they naturally should be. Medicinal drugs simply either add more, or stimulate the brain to produce more so that it is back in balance.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Yeh, see...this is the problem with discussing alcohol consumption on a youth orientated forum.

I'll happily have a drink with older people, I won't drink with the 18-25 crowd. You don't have a "cool and relaxed" attitude to life, no matter how much you insist that you do. "Keep up", "don't be a party pooper", "down it!", "what are you drinking red-wine for? You gay?".

What's with the rules? Fuck you! I'm trying to relax here.

As long as you have a ritualistic attitude towards drinking, you'll irritate the shit out of me. I don't want to compete to see who can get the most drunk, or do Sambuca shots, or vodka mixed with energy drink so that I can fight my natural urge to sleep.

A night out drinking is entirely predictable. It's not wild and crazy, it's organised and has obvious outcomes.

At 25, I don't drink much anymore, because I don't want to...I get tired of justifying this to the "cool and relaxed" drinkers. You know, those people who are completely about free-choice yet somehow get arsey when anyone doesn't do what they do.

... I have enough trouble self-censoring myself to the point where people find me palatable without intoxication being a factor. Since I've abstained from drinking, my relationships are less complicated and more rewarding, and my wallet is considerably fatter.

I'm just waiting for my friends to get as thoroughly bored of it as I am.

18 here and i'm already about as bored as you are with "wild" nights. While I still do them on occasion (every month = occasion here) I get really, really annoyed when i'm having a quiet drink while playing pool and some dick will tell me to down it and get three more.

Fuck that guy, I will enjoy my whiskey. I drink because it tastes gorgeous, not because some prick wants to "go wild!".

I've been to night clubs on 3 or 4 occasions in my life, being guilted into it on each occasion. It wasn't wild, it was mostly just expensive. I don't wanna dance, I don't want to hit on strangers, I can't converse with the people I came with whilst I'm in there, I have to pay a cover-charge at the door and then get overcharged for a bullshit amount of ale in a plastic cup at the bar.

Then I have to look after the drunks and resolve any petty dramas that might occur, then shell out for a taxi. They wondered why I wasn't having maximum fun.

I basically got new friends. I like my old friends, lots of good times with them, but they bore the shit out of me.

 

[AwesomeNinjaPowers]

I don't drinl or do drugs or anything like that ( and no I am not a holier than thou crusader I just choses not to do it) so I've never had a sistuation where I've felt that

 

[Olas]

The title of this thread makes me want to laugh. I've never been intoxicated and I have no desire to be.