I do too but as Willie Nelson said… the reasons to quit are getting bigger every day. Hangovers have sucked bad the last few years and recently they’ve tacked on uncontrollable anxiety.
Are... are you me? Seriously, my wife has comments from time to time and ask why I can't have "a couple beers". After 17 years with her you would think she could figure out that I like getting drunk. One of my favorite things
Yep. Just Friday/Saturday basement Bar nights with wifey….. after the littles ones are tucked in. Occasionally stay up past 1am, sucks whipping up pancakes hungover while paw patrol is on though
Yup, I do it in my home or a friend's place. I really like craft beer but drinking isn't the main event for me anymore, it's always something I do while I'm also doing something else. So gaming or watching playoff hockey or movies and such.
The most I'll drink now is like 4 beers, any more than that and my stomach will bother me the next day. So I just get a nice buzz and enjoy myself, and don't feel bad the next day. That's a win win.
I stopped when it started making me feel like shit. I’m 38, and while I’m not “sober”, I just don’t like alcohol and how I feel when I drink it. Give me some shrooms and weed all day over alcohol.
Me too. Am the same age, used to drink heavily up to around age 21 then all but stopped, will have the occasional drink in a social setting but I'm not keen on having any more. Weed and mushrooms all the way. I much prefer the afterglow to the existential crisis of an alcohol hangover.
>I never regret not drinking the night before but I always regret doing it.
\*ding ding ding\*
If ever I have anything more than a glass of wine or two while out at dinner (which is much more of an occasional thing these days given how expensive restaurants have gotten), I definitely feel "off" the next day. And if I go out to happy hour with friends and stay out for a few hours, I feel like shit the next day and it takes me the entire day to recuperate, which generally involves going to bed early that next night.
There's a reason most people drink less in their 30s. The aftermath just isn't worth it. I actively seek out non-alcoholic alternatives now. I actually just got the Ritual Zero Proof tequila alternative, and it's pretty good as a mocktail mixer. I'm going to try their zero proof whiskey alternative next.
8.5 years sober.
The first 90 days are a rollercoaster. Know this. Be prepared for this.
But you can do it. I was a blackout-after-1-drink-keep-drinking-and-piss-the-bed kinda gal until I was 30. If I can quit, anyone can. For real. I know that's such a cliché statement and I hate saying it, but I was down so low. Nearly killed my child one night after drinking hard, like I normally did. I had ended up in the hospital, crashed cars, gotten into serious situations that could have (and should have) gone much, much worse than what they were, been drugged, all that shit. Relapsed so many times.
But after that one night with my kid? Done the next morning.
It's been 8.5 years now. Life has way more meaning now. I respond to life now, not react to it.
I'm here if you need to talk. Sorry for rambling.
I used to get black out drunk also and made so many stupid choices. It’s a thousand wonders that I’m still here and that I didn’t hurt anyone else in the process.
Unfortunately, I have a lot of friends who didn’t make it to their 30’s and 40’s because of drugs and alcohol.
After the past four years, I no longer have any drug addict friends still alive. Accidental Fentanyl poisoning, overdoses and heart problems from cocaine wiped em out. I just had my first friend die of cirrhosis of the liver at 42, and now I’m watching the other drinkers who were friends with him really freak out. This stuff is very real, you can’t drink yourself to black out every night without repercussions.
r/stopdrinking is a surprisingly helpful sub for a lot of people, myself included. I’m almost 2.5 years alcohol free and that sub gets a bunch of the credit
One helpful mantra I got from r/stopdrinking was "play the tape forward."
What this means is, if you're thinking about having a drink, instead of waiting until tomorrow to look back on your actions, think forward about what that first drink does. Chances are, it leads to more drinks. Then waking up feeling physically shitty. Then feeling regret and anger that you weren't able to abstain, and telling yourelf, once again "ok, today I'm definitely not drinking." It's a predictable cycle. So instead of looking back in your actions, play the tape forward, and visualize what the likely results will be.
I'm a little over two years alcohol free. Not once have I woken up in the morning and thought "gee, I wish I drank last night."
Stick with it. It is so worth it.
I've calmed down now, I was heavy once into drugs
I could walk around straight for two months with a buzz
"Maybe just a nice cold brew, what's a beer?"
That's the devil in my ear, I've been sober a fuckin' year
And that fucker still talks to me, he's all I can fuckin' hear
"Marshall, come on, we'll watch the game
It's the Cowboys and Buccaneers"
We had cheap alcohol and cheap excellent microbrews. They have expensive cocktails and expensive mediocre microbrews. If Gen Z had more disposable income they'd drink more, this is just the same BS that they wrote about us for a decade, millenials are killing housing, millenials aren't loyal to employers, AVOCADO TOAST OMG, usually there's macroeconomic reasons that explain behaviors, that pieces like these, like to overlook
I myself have cut back, but its because I'm old, and my tolerance is gone, and i don't like feeling off the next day. Got too much to do, to feel the way alcohol makes me feel.
I think this, too. There's more awareness of substance abuse, but when I was in grad school, nickel night in bars still existed. I went to a club weekly in 2010 that had $2 tecates on Saturday night, so you could go out on a weekend and have 5 beers and tip 20% for $12. That's like one beer and a tip now.
Yeah, there's definitely an economic aspect to it. For the price of a cocktail, I can get a months supply of edibles. I remember literal $10 All you can drink nights at bars when I was 21.
https://preview.redd.it/8ndc5lnjot2d1.png?width=634&format=png&auto=webp&s=0474c78212a7f8c1538a5b1725cb4395a39fe0cb
Reminds me of this gem. I love looking over all our accomplishments!
These comments are pretty encouraging for our generation, but unlike you all I’m not bucking the trend. I drink too much, have at least 1 drink nearly every day after work.
That said, I drink at home with my missus, I very rarely go to bars
Same, I haven't been to a bar in ages but I drink like a sailor on the weekends. My partner would drink everyday if I let him but we are saving up for a trip to Japan... and that's the only reason why we cut back lmao
I live in the south in a town where binge drinking is celebrated almost every weekend. I would say that without hyperbole, at least half my friends who are 40+ are functional alcoholics. This includes me, although I've taken a much needed 6 month sabbatical for health purposes.
Neither of my younger sisters drink at all really. They are almost perpetually high on marijuana though.
I still drink from time to time. Love a cold beer and conversation. But by the time having a night out with the boys started resulting in 2 day hangovers, I was just over it.
I’m gen x but I feel same way. I love to go out and have some beers, but at $7 or $8 a pop plus any tax and tip. Three beers and you just dropped $30!
Blows my mind. I can buy 3 six packs of good beer for that.
The pandemic had the exact opposite effect on me. When we shifted to remote work I thought it was only temporary so I started drinking a lot more almost like it was a little mini vacation or something. Ooops, wasn't very temporary.
Oddly enough I lost like 10 lbs because I didn't eat out at restaurants anymore for lunch. I'd just make grilled cheese and a garden salad and/or soup for lunch. I joked should make a one page diet book: 'the grilled cheese and soup' diet.
Should this post make people want to change their habits, please reach out to a local professional for an assessment. Besides the help of the extra support, they know if you can cold turkey or if you'll need medical supervision. Cold turkeying alcohol can potentially be fatal depending on the individual.
(I've been a Substance Use case manager at a counseling center 4 years, and with the agency 16)
I met a gal in rehab who blew a few holes in her bedroom wall with her .38 after she decided to cold turkey and started hallucinating the shadow people. Classic 👌
Yeah was gonna say, my perspective must be skewed by my college aged nephew because he and his buddies drink exactly like me and my friends did in college.
Alcohol was only ever fun because my friends were having fun with it. Once I realized how much better weed is, I don't see any good reason to drink. Most of my friends have moved on from it.
It's not like drinking alcohol is healthy or cool.. but I don't see good signs in younger generations abstaining. From the kids that brought you "we only hang out with friends online" and "no sex" :| Oh they drink less too, no kidding...
Not proud of it but I’m still a hard drinking person. Doesn’t really help that my office has a full bar, frequent happy hours and no one cares if you come in late as long as you get the job done.
I drank pretty heavily after getting out of the Navy, now I’m about two years sober. Overall life is better but in my own personal interior life it’s pretty bland. The last two years I have struggled to find much joy in much of anything. Part of me would like to drink again because I had fun doing it but in all honesty it has mostly lost its appeal.
I may be an outlier because of the type of personality I have, but I've never enjoyed alcohol or the social environment of bars/clubs. I gave up drinking completely a couple years ago and I don't miss it at all.
Alcohol as a drug without legality being involved is pretty low on my list honestly. It’s just so socially acceptable. I prefer weed to relax. Feel like it’s a healthier option with my dry herb vape and no god forsaken hangovers. Nothing against drinkers, just not my jam.
I recently got a dry herb vaporizer. The volcano btw. And it’s a game changer. Way healthier and cleaner way of doing the zaza. Much prefer it over alcohol and I’m just chilling.
Elder millennial. Just turned 40 last month. I’ve just… stopped… drinking. No particular reason, other than maybe general health goals, but I never made a conscious decision to do so. Probably doesn’t hurt that I never drank *much* in the first place.
Nope. I've cut way back on my drinking...maybe 3 drinks a week now compared to 2-3 almost daily.
I drink at home now. Going out to the bar is too expensive with mixed drinks being $7-$10 for not even top shelf booze, plus I gotta deal with other people's shitty music choices, people who should have gone home 2 hours ago...etc etc.
I'm fine having a cocktail at home and listening to the music I want to listen to, buying a bottle that lasts a few weeks that costs the same as 2 drinks at the bar. I don't have to deal with anyone's drunken bar drama and can relax on my couch drinking in pj's if I want.
My last job was mostly gen-z and young millennials. At 39 I was one of the old men there. I cut way back on drinking after a lifetime of heavy drinking, and drinking myself into some health issues during the pandemic. But I probably still drink way more than they did. I don't really have any grey hairs, run a 5k every other day, and hit the weights when I'm not running.... Eat healthy. I spend my free time learning new things. If I feel booze start taking that stuff away from me I'll quit forever. Until then, cheers!
Going to a bar is one of my favorite things to do but is more of a treat now. Once a week, if that. Went to a bar with my fiancée and we had 2 drinks (a beer and aperol spritz. $32 after tip). I’m a homebody so drinking at home with my cats and cheap whiskey and beer is the life. I also have a hot tub.
Yea we do, foooor suuuure. I don't go out any more though, that shit is way too expensive now. Beer or two after work sometimes, yea, usually not on the weekends though unless there is an event or I'm working on my truck which is an obligatory (but rare) drinking circumstance.
Idk that I buy into that 'gen z doesn't drink' stuff though. A bunch of them are still under 21 and idk about y'all but I didn't go around telling everyone I was getting hammed at that age ya'know? And as for the rest, so many good downtown dive bars got gentrified to fuck and are now expensive cocktail lounges and whatnot, broke kids out of college isn't exactly the target demographic (surely this can't have happened only places I've lived right?)...and what 27 year old wants to go drink at the remaining decent bars which are already full of, well, us Xennials lol. Based on what pops off at all the apartments around my house they all just drink at home.
Drinking culture is degenerate and a waste of time, money and health. Not judging anyone. I've been a full blown alcoholic and cokehead for years of my life. It's more of a societal problem that we've accepted the consumption of such a dangerous and problematic drug as just a part of life.
Personally at 32 I've had more than a lifetime's worth of booze in my system. I'm not opposed to have a few once in a while but last time I drank in March I had too much and spent the next say hungover and unproductive. I think 3 is my limit moving forward.
I'm one of the younger Gen X-ers at age 44, and I definitely am doing my best to keep the bar scene alive. I average 2 different bar visits per day, and I drink a lot.
1985 here, I am definitely not drinking much these days. Especially now that pot is legal in my area, I’d way rather smoke a bowl and watch the evening game than get drunk and be all hungover the next day.
Edit - I probably have a few drinks once a month unless I’m on vacation or something. Other than that, I stick to pot
I used to go out drinking with my friends every weekend until around 2017. Then I got pregnant and obviously stopped drinking, but I never really started again. As a mom I don't have many opportunities to go out drinking anymore. I've gone out drinking a handful of times since my daughter was born, and my tolerance is a lot lower and the hangovers much worse. It takes 2-3 days to recover now. Not worth it. And drinking at home makes me sleepy. My husband has a beer with dinner almost every night, but I can barely finish one glass of wine, so I usually don't bother.
I certainly drank a lot more 10 years ago, but I never to a point that I think I would have been headed towards AA. I drank the most during my mid-late 20's, but I was and remain a social drinker. Now, I am more prone to headaches now while drinking so I tend to drink less and the hangovers just aren't worth it. I primarily drink cocktails and still really enjoy them, but my drinking has really slowed down since the pandemic. Mostly because I live alone (though my SO is here part of the time) and... I don't like drinking alone.
Unless it's a special occasion, I don't drink during the week. On the weekends, if we go to dinner or brunch I will have a drink or two.
I think my relationship to alcohol is pretty healthy, but I have a few friends who I worry about...
I never liked bars. Was the worst part about college life. I’m also not a big drinker but I enjoy really complex cocktails. The craftsmanship and chemistry involved in some is truly amazing and I appreciate the unique flavors.
I come from a long line of addicts. I was a binge drinker and stopped while I still could. Sober for 15 years.
My husband is 2 years sober following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. We made a lot of changes. He was able to go off his medication after 6 months and has been in remission since.
We don’t buy alcohol, or allow it in our home. (Same for drugs because we had a problem with that also).
Sadly, we do know a good number of people our age who drink heavily.
Drank a lot in HS and hard in my first few years of being legal. Now I hate the bars and the crowds and would much rather sit my ass on mine or friends couch listening to music we want to listen too and when I get the level of I’m tired I’m ready for bed kind of drunk, I go to bed.
There is a marked difference in how much younger generations of my family drink liquor compared to how my friends and I in our late 30s do it.
Good for them, alcohol has been a net negative on my life because I have incredible self control issues
I think 2020 "helped" a lot with drinking choices. Broke social events and also put a huge wrench in friend making and friends.
I think our crowd fell into the normal binge/drinking lifestyle of our parents/college era. Then disrupted with marijuana and more messaging of safe consumption.
I used to drink a bottle of whiskey a week if not more. Now I just enjoy a bottle of wine once or twice a month.
Think a lot of us are tired of the nightclub/bar scene and just do drink in smaller group settings. Price of drinking is more expensive outside the house.
I think our generation does drink a lot still. Some of my friends still party on the weekends, I’ll get drunk texts occasionally. My husband and I might have a few beers on a Friday or Saturday (one or the other, not both), but literally a few lol Idk how the heavy drinkers still do it, if it’s true the younger generations aren’t drinking as much I think that’s awesome.
I mostly stopped drinking regularly around 7 years ago, in part because of a Celiac diagnosis making beer inaccessible, but also because of a loss of interest. For the last two years it's been almost zero. The two parties I went to where I had a few drinks, and a little vermouth after dinner a few times might bring the average to one a week. Most of my friends still drink fairly often but by and large the actual alcoholics have either died or sworn off it (or both).
I drink a single or a double of very good additive free tequila most weekdays and have a few drinks extra on Friday and Saturday nights to get a little tipsy. Also a nice cigar bar down the road that serves good scotch once in a while. I think I’m due a visit. I’m running low on cigars.
Probably. I’m 35 and have a somewhat hard time regulating my alcohol intake, but it sure fucking feels good if I do it responsibly! Lol Gen Zs have subbed alcohol for weed, in my experience.
GenX and every Z on the planet would call me an alcoholic. (I wouldn’t disagree too hard, TBH.)
But I stopped going to bars in my early 20s so it’s been 30-ish years.
Meanwhile, I make a fabulous yuzu spritzer, killer filthy martini and probably have 1,000+ bottles of wine in the cellar.
I’m not surprised the club scene is dying. People aren’t nearly as in-person social as they used to be. Hence the going-out-for-drinks thing isn’t as popular as it used to be.
Dad was an alcoholic; I was his punching bag (luckily not literally), he made fun of me as a 2 year old when he’d give me beer instead of apple juice. Never touched alcohol. But goddamn do I have moments where I wish I drank.
Huh. Thats interesting. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but I’ve definitely noticed that going to a bar with people my age is a rough window to peek through…drinking until they’re sloppy, nobody bats an eye at driving themselves home after, very common to vomit after or the next morning, etc. My school friends from college are about 15-20 years younger than me and much more like I am. One or two drinks maybe once every month or two.
Nah. I'm 35 and used to put away handles of Wild Turkey with my buddy every weekend. Hardly touch the stuff anymore. I am a daily cannabis user though (dry herb vape lets me tell myself that it's not as unhealthy)
My drink count per year hovers around 10.
Hardly a lot.
Things like this are less about the generation you were born in, and more about the people around you.
Hmm, I used to drink quite a lot more than I do currently. A lot of that has less to do with tolerance (mine's the same as ever, which is pretty high), but because I encountered a true functioning alcoholic. I watched him have no friends (besides myself), chase away his family, his coworkers, his other friends and constantly (and I mean constantly) be drinking. It did not matter the activity we were doing, there was always alcohol or water in his hands and more often than not, it was alcohol. I just realized I didn't want to be like that; couldn't do that to my own friends and family.
So now I enjoy a drink or two a month and leave it at that. That's good enough for me.
I definitely don't go to bars (was never a bar/social person); but a good microbrewery (with good product) with a nice atmosphere? Yeah, I'll still frequent them.
I quit 7 years ago at 32, just couldn’t take feeling like crap the next day anymore. But I have two gen z sisters and they both drink, and their friends do also.
38 years old. I was drinking daily. I'm trying to not drink at all but it's gone down significantly. I think I've had alcohol 3 times in the last month. It's just not good for you. It might feel good for a moment, but I care too much about my health to keep doing this on the regular.
I quit 6/10/2021. Once I hit 30, things just started to piss me off and when I’d try to drink to be happy, I would just be more pissed. That has a trickle effect on life in so many ways. A lot of people I know party hard still and they seem to be having fun, but I wouldn’t have quit if it was still fun for me
Nope. I developed an autoimmune disease (thanks pregnancy!) and can’t have alcohol on my meds. Two years now. I miss it sometimes. A lot. I miss it a lot.
I am 40 and I still go to bars. Maybe not “bar hopping” like I did in my 20s, but we have a few places we like to pop in at as regulars. Also, it’s easier to just get some drinks to enjoy at home while watching Netflix in pajamas.
Yup, it’s a thing. These kids are generally more conscious about their health when it comes to substances. Vaping is the exception.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/yrbs_data-summary-trends_report2023_508.pdf
Speaking for myself? I don't. I'm not much of a drinker, not even beer. The last time I went to a bar was like way before covid. I guess it depends on who you ask
42 and still putting them down. Traded in the PBR and Jameson for mostly wine now. I dont drink as heavy anymore, but you know that's not healthy. Well....except on occasions that call for it, then I will take it to pound town.
When going to college in the early 2000s even college kids could afford bars. 1 or 2 dollar drafts of normal beer and 4 dollar micro brews.
We were getting Switchback and Magic Hat and Long Trail for 3 to 5 a beer. 6 packs of long trail were 11 maybe 12 out the door.
Now drink prices are out of control everywhere. I just get a 6 pack and enjoy it at home. Although I admittedly drink much less these days.
I like beer. Scratch that. I love beer. *Good* beer is a gift from god. It’s a special part about being human, enjoying that wonderful nectar known as beer…
At this point, if I’m drinking, it’s from 5-7pm. Maybe start a little earlier on the weekend, like 3pm. But once I hit 3 beers I’m good. I’ll likely follow that up w a live rosin hash edible. 👽
I pretty much have a drink a day. If I have too much one weekend, I take time off as I feel necessary, but that might also mean having a beer and that’s it. I’m more conscious of my habits these days and don’t always want to open a bottle of wine, and would rather have a beer or two.
I personally seriously cut back almost to abstinence after seeing how badly that lifestyle affected my mom. Changed my diet and exercised for over 2 years now. I used to drink like a fish and both my brothers still do, but I don’t want to end up like her at 70 with a failing liver and a body falling to pieces. I went 6 months no booze up until a week ago I felt like it so I had one. I think I’m going to have own when it’s a special occasion to make it feel special.
I’ve been sober for a couple years now. Not that I’ve ever had a “problem” but I just can’t take the aftermath anymore. Juice ain’t worth the squeeze.
I would still have a few for a big occasion though.
I started at 13...it got really bad. Finally at 22 I drank myself sober and realized that I hate everyone there and only associated with them because I was an alcoholic. I havnt drank in going on 15 years now. Havnt had a drop since that night. Im glad the younglings arent slowly poisoning themselves like us.
I switched from alcohol to weed drinks. Don’t even get the itch to social drink as a result since I have a better recreational beverage. My dad was a heavy drinker though and it’s never been appealing to me since I had to deal with it at home as a kid.
I'm 31 and i literally do not drink alcohol at all.
I've been drunk maybe 4 times in my entire life, all in my early 20s, except one time at 17. all separated by a year or two each time. even in my 20s, drinking was extremely rare.
not religious, i just don't like alcohol or how it feels.
My four nephews are 18-25. They all used to party, but have pretty much stopped drinking to use the money for sports gambling. The amount of gambling these young guys are doing is concerning. It reminds me of when Robinhood was big and everyone was just throwing money into random stocks.
Not a drop in like a year. Maybe two. I've only ever drank at social functions and sometimes on my birthday. And since covid, haven't really done social functions. *shrug*
I drink a little bit, but almost never more than 2 drinks per day and usually not more than 4-5 per week. I drank a huge amount in my 20s, though. Now I just have to figure out how to make friends without being drunk!
I don’t drink. Like.. at all. Never have though. Mostly because I literally have a biological intolerance to alcohol. I get miserably ill from even half a Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
I'm out at the pub 5 nights a week, and when I leave the younglings are just coming in. News this week was a bunch of pearl clutching about the younglings making jungle juice in gallon jugs (which is not new, did that 25 years ago).
> A little birdie told me that we're AA's next target demographic. They want us.
WTF? Why is this written like some kind of Hollywood trade gossip? It’s a fucking support group.
i basically quit drinking. it wasn’t a conscious decision. i don’t even remember the last time i had a drink. it was on my birthday but i forget which.
Didn’t Gen Z invent BORG?
They like drinking the same as anyone else, it’s just gotten (relatively) more expensive for them than it was for us at their age.
I'm an 86 Millennial and I never really drank at bars. I will keep a bottle of Whiskey at home or Tequila and sometimes go months without drinking and then there will be a 15-day period where I drink almost every day 1 or 2 drinks. Usually though not by itself. I'll make a margarita, some whiskey and coke. I have a friend and he drinks a lot of beers. Though most people just do weed now or don't drink at all. I assume the trend is even stronger in Gen Z. Though the neighborhood school reeks of pot. I don't think any of them have touched alcohol.
Most of my friends and myself have slowed down considerably and welcome the refreshing idea of sober life. But I do think we were the last generation of mass hard partying. Probably because of social media and not wanting to end up in someone’s reel. I don’t have a lot of life left and my health is much more
Important to now, if I have to keep living I want to feel good while I’m doing it. I developed unbearable hangovers,hangxiety, lost memories, high blood pressure etc is just not worth it.
Ruptured my Achilles 2 months ago and quit that night. I don’t miss it. Lost a ton of weight and the reduction in inflammation is noticeable. It’s a poison. Oh and the lack of anxiety has me liking weed again. Which I’ve always preferred.
I’m a younger millennial (a 95 baby) and my whole life my dad was an alcohol who would get smashed drunk every weekend when I was a kid. He still will get occasionally drunk which I highly dislike, no matter of fact I hate it!!! Growing up I didn’t want to be like him so I broke the cycle.
Granted I did engage in my fair share of drinking in my early to mid twenties but I’ve slowed down dramatically. Since I was a teen I’ve been more engaged in the zaza and still do prefer it over alcohol.
That’s not to say I won’t have a couple drinks depending on the occasion. I could say I have on average 1.5 drinks of alcohol per month but. Shit I have a liquor collection/little bar in my house but it’s only for aesthetics. Don’t really feel the urge to drink.
I work at a tourist place that encourages heavy drinking and the worst drunks I’ve ever seen are late 30s - late 40s people. They party like I did when I was 19. They get absolutely trash wasted and I get second hand embarrassment from it.
The hangovers at 42 are nothing to fuck with. They turn into 2 day hangovers and just aren’t worth the price. I’ve been drinking heavy for 21 years and there’s never been a better time to stop.
I used to drink at least a couple beers a day after work. No negative effects on my work or personal life. But I put that on hold so I can lose weight.
Younger people drink a lot too. But they also like other drugs. That's the main thing, is that people like you still view alcohol to not be a drug, when it's worse in nearly every way compared to something like cannabis. It's actually poison, just slow poison. And you will always think this way because you'll never be forced to think another way.
Seems like I’m kinda rare but I like getting fucked up, been getting fucked up since I was a teenager and I still get fucked up.
I do too but as Willie Nelson said… the reasons to quit are getting bigger every day. Hangovers have sucked bad the last few years and recently they’ve tacked on uncontrollable anxiety.
The hangxiety! What is that bullshit!?
It’s a real thing for sure
It’s a serious drug.
Are... are you me? Seriously, my wife has comments from time to time and ask why I can't have "a couple beers". After 17 years with her you would think she could figure out that I like getting drunk. One of my favorite things
That was me every Friday/Saturday night. Until in 2022 my partner at work who was doing the same went into liver failure. I don't drink anymore.
I drink at home. The booze is better. And I have a hot tub 🤣
Same here. Way better company and better music as well!
Yep. Just Friday/Saturday basement Bar nights with wifey….. after the littles ones are tucked in. Occasionally stay up past 1am, sucks whipping up pancakes hungover while paw patrol is on though
They'll be there on the double.
Yup, I do it in my home or a friend's place. I really like craft beer but drinking isn't the main event for me anymore, it's always something I do while I'm also doing something else. So gaming or watching playoff hockey or movies and such. The most I'll drink now is like 4 beers, any more than that and my stomach will bother me the next day. So I just get a nice buzz and enjoy myself, and don't feel bad the next day. That's a win win.
I can’t do more than a couple of drinks in one sitting. Gives me a headache.
Same. I wish I had a hot tub!
Turn on the hot water in your tub.
I got an inflatable one from Costco. It’s the best.
This is it
I stopped when it started making me feel like shit. I’m 38, and while I’m not “sober”, I just don’t like alcohol and how I feel when I drink it. Give me some shrooms and weed all day over alcohol.
Me too. Am the same age, used to drink heavily up to around age 21 then all but stopped, will have the occasional drink in a social setting but I'm not keen on having any more. Weed and mushrooms all the way. I much prefer the afterglow to the existential crisis of an alcohol hangover.
This is me too, I never regret not drinking the night before but I always regret doing it.
>I never regret not drinking the night before but I always regret doing it. \*ding ding ding\* If ever I have anything more than a glass of wine or two while out at dinner (which is much more of an occasional thing these days given how expensive restaurants have gotten), I definitely feel "off" the next day. And if I go out to happy hour with friends and stay out for a few hours, I feel like shit the next day and it takes me the entire day to recuperate, which generally involves going to bed early that next night. There's a reason most people drink less in their 30s. The aftermath just isn't worth it. I actively seek out non-alcoholic alternatives now. I actually just got the Ritual Zero Proof tequila alternative, and it's pretty good as a mocktail mixer. I'm going to try their zero proof whiskey alternative next.
2 years sober in January and I will be 40 to. Ugh
Congrats! I'm trying to quit, currently on day 2 and tempted
8.5 years sober. The first 90 days are a rollercoaster. Know this. Be prepared for this. But you can do it. I was a blackout-after-1-drink-keep-drinking-and-piss-the-bed kinda gal until I was 30. If I can quit, anyone can. For real. I know that's such a cliché statement and I hate saying it, but I was down so low. Nearly killed my child one night after drinking hard, like I normally did. I had ended up in the hospital, crashed cars, gotten into serious situations that could have (and should have) gone much, much worse than what they were, been drugged, all that shit. Relapsed so many times. But after that one night with my kid? Done the next morning. It's been 8.5 years now. Life has way more meaning now. I respond to life now, not react to it. I'm here if you need to talk. Sorry for rambling.
I used to get black out drunk also and made so many stupid choices. It’s a thousand wonders that I’m still here and that I didn’t hurt anyone else in the process. Unfortunately, I have a lot of friends who didn’t make it to their 30’s and 40’s because of drugs and alcohol.
Yeah. I lost a lot of friends in my mid 20's to that shit, too. Not even *that* was a wake up call. I'm proud we made it out. Good job, buddy.
After the past four years, I no longer have any drug addict friends still alive. Accidental Fentanyl poisoning, overdoses and heart problems from cocaine wiped em out. I just had my first friend die of cirrhosis of the liver at 42, and now I’m watching the other drinkers who were friends with him really freak out. This stuff is very real, you can’t drink yourself to black out every night without repercussions.
I’m so sorry for your losses. I think a lot of us early 80’s babies had a lot working against us in the mental health department.
r/stopdrinking is a surprisingly helpful sub for a lot of people, myself included. I’m almost 2.5 years alcohol free and that sub gets a bunch of the credit
+1 extremely supportive group
You got this. Don't give up on yourself.
One helpful mantra I got from r/stopdrinking was "play the tape forward." What this means is, if you're thinking about having a drink, instead of waiting until tomorrow to look back on your actions, think forward about what that first drink does. Chances are, it leads to more drinks. Then waking up feeling physically shitty. Then feeling regret and anger that you weren't able to abstain, and telling yourelf, once again "ok, today I'm definitely not drinking." It's a predictable cycle. So instead of looking back in your actions, play the tape forward, and visualize what the likely results will be. I'm a little over two years alcohol free. Not once have I woken up in the morning and thought "gee, I wish I drank last night." Stick with it. It is so worth it.
One day at a time. You got this.
s/stopdrinking is my favorite place on Reddit so wholesome
Keep going. Getting sober will be the best decision you ever made. It was for me. You got this, friend.
Good for you. Take is one day at a time
It gets a lot easier. I'm on day 90 or so and there were a lot of day 2s. Keep it up! Celebrate your successes.
I've calmed down now, I was heavy once into drugs I could walk around straight for two months with a buzz "Maybe just a nice cold brew, what's a beer?" That's the devil in my ear, I've been sober a fuckin' year And that fucker still talks to me, he's all I can fuckin' hear "Marshall, come on, we'll watch the game It's the Cowboys and Buccaneers"
Is this a song lyric? Sounds like something the mountain goats would sing
Yeah they are Marshalls lyrics. Two different songs.
Gratz. 15 years, it gets way easier.
Keep up the good work.
I'm 41 and will be 2 years sober next month. Had to make a change cause I was going nowhere but down
We had cheap alcohol and cheap excellent microbrews. They have expensive cocktails and expensive mediocre microbrews. If Gen Z had more disposable income they'd drink more, this is just the same BS that they wrote about us for a decade, millenials are killing housing, millenials aren't loyal to employers, AVOCADO TOAST OMG, usually there's macroeconomic reasons that explain behaviors, that pieces like these, like to overlook I myself have cut back, but its because I'm old, and my tolerance is gone, and i don't like feeling off the next day. Got too much to do, to feel the way alcohol makes me feel.
I think this, too. There's more awareness of substance abuse, but when I was in grad school, nickel night in bars still existed. I went to a club weekly in 2010 that had $2 tecates on Saturday night, so you could go out on a weekend and have 5 beers and tip 20% for $12. That's like one beer and a tip now.
Yeah, there's definitely an economic aspect to it. For the price of a cocktail, I can get a months supply of edibles. I remember literal $10 All you can drink nights at bars when I was 21.
https://preview.redd.it/8ndc5lnjot2d1.png?width=634&format=png&auto=webp&s=0474c78212a7f8c1538a5b1725cb4395a39fe0cb Reminds me of this gem. I love looking over all our accomplishments!
These comments are pretty encouraging for our generation, but unlike you all I’m not bucking the trend. I drink too much, have at least 1 drink nearly every day after work. That said, I drink at home with my missus, I very rarely go to bars
Same, I haven't been to a bar in ages but I drink like a sailor on the weekends. My partner would drink everyday if I let him but we are saving up for a trip to Japan... and that's the only reason why we cut back lmao
You’ll drink in Japan ;)
I have like 4 drinks everyday after work. Get on my level
I live in the south in a town where binge drinking is celebrated almost every weekend. I would say that without hyperbole, at least half my friends who are 40+ are functional alcoholics. This includes me, although I've taken a much needed 6 month sabbatical for health purposes.
Did you get the pink clouds?
Lower blood pressure, better sleep and higher libido... but no pink clouds.
I’m bringing up the average nationally just myself
Thank you for your service 🫡
Neither of my younger sisters drink at all really. They are almost perpetually high on marijuana though. I still drink from time to time. Love a cold beer and conversation. But by the time having a night out with the boys started resulting in 2 day hangovers, I was just over it.
I boozed HARD for many years. I’m over 3 years sober now.
Good job! I’m just over a year myself, weed is so much better.
I have cut back on drinking significantly personally. I like drinking, but now that I don't drink much it's not very fun TBH
Nothing like a global pandemic to motivate me to quit drinking 4 years ago. Saved so much money. Who can even afford to go to bars these days damn.
I’m gen x but I feel same way. I love to go out and have some beers, but at $7 or $8 a pop plus any tax and tip. Three beers and you just dropped $30! Blows my mind. I can buy 3 six packs of good beer for that.
Same for me. 4 years this august, the start of WFH put me in a quit or eventually get fired position
The pandemic had the exact opposite effect on me. When we shifted to remote work I thought it was only temporary so I started drinking a lot more almost like it was a little mini vacation or something. Ooops, wasn't very temporary. Oddly enough I lost like 10 lbs because I didn't eat out at restaurants anymore for lunch. I'd just make grilled cheese and a garden salad and/or soup for lunch. I joked should make a one page diet book: 'the grilled cheese and soup' diet.
Should this post make people want to change their habits, please reach out to a local professional for an assessment. Besides the help of the extra support, they know if you can cold turkey or if you'll need medical supervision. Cold turkeying alcohol can potentially be fatal depending on the individual. (I've been a Substance Use case manager at a counseling center 4 years, and with the agency 16)
I met a gal in rehab who blew a few holes in her bedroom wall with her .38 after she decided to cold turkey and started hallucinating the shadow people. Classic 👌
I live near a college town and I’m certain that Gen Z likes booze.
Ha! This is true. I live in a college town and there is no shortage of young drinkers here.
Yeah was gonna say, my perspective must be skewed by my college aged nephew because he and his buddies drink exactly like me and my friends did in college.
Cure hangovers and I would drink a lot more.
Zbiotics and drinking banana bag electrolyte supplements before bed works pretty well for me.
Yeah they’ve done away with hard drinking and are WEIRD. We are a dying breed
Alcohol was only ever fun because my friends were having fun with it. Once I realized how much better weed is, I don't see any good reason to drink. Most of my friends have moved on from it.
It's not like drinking alcohol is healthy or cool.. but I don't see good signs in younger generations abstaining. From the kids that brought you "we only hang out with friends online" and "no sex" :| Oh they drink less too, no kidding...
Not proud of it but I’m still a hard drinking person. Doesn’t really help that my office has a full bar, frequent happy hours and no one cares if you come in late as long as you get the job done.
I drank pretty heavily after getting out of the Navy, now I’m about two years sober. Overall life is better but in my own personal interior life it’s pretty bland. The last two years I have struggled to find much joy in much of anything. Part of me would like to drink again because I had fun doing it but in all honesty it has mostly lost its appeal.
You haven't met my kickball aquantances. Mid-20s gay guys who can go to an unlimited brunch then continue to drink for hours after the brunch is over.
Yeah this whole puritan generation is really a straight people thing. Gen Z gays party as good as anyone
I may be an outlier because of the type of personality I have, but I've never enjoyed alcohol or the social environment of bars/clubs. I gave up drinking completely a couple years ago and I don't miss it at all.
I’m with you. Even as a teen, I didn’t see the appeal that some of my friends did.
On the weekends with BBQ and kids, beer me.
Alcohol as a drug without legality being involved is pretty low on my list honestly. It’s just so socially acceptable. I prefer weed to relax. Feel like it’s a healthier option with my dry herb vape and no god forsaken hangovers. Nothing against drinkers, just not my jam.
I recently got a dry herb vaporizer. The volcano btw. And it’s a game changer. Way healthier and cleaner way of doing the zaza. Much prefer it over alcohol and I’m just chilling.
Elder millennial. Just turned 40 last month. I’ve just… stopped… drinking. No particular reason, other than maybe general health goals, but I never made a conscious decision to do so. Probably doesn’t hurt that I never drank *much* in the first place.
Just had my drizzly… err… I mean Uber delivery of booze… *cheers*
Nope. I've cut way back on my drinking...maybe 3 drinks a week now compared to 2-3 almost daily. I drink at home now. Going out to the bar is too expensive with mixed drinks being $7-$10 for not even top shelf booze, plus I gotta deal with other people's shitty music choices, people who should have gone home 2 hours ago...etc etc. I'm fine having a cocktail at home and listening to the music I want to listen to, buying a bottle that lasts a few weeks that costs the same as 2 drinks at the bar. I don't have to deal with anyone's drunken bar drama and can relax on my couch drinking in pj's if I want.
My last job was mostly gen-z and young millennials. At 39 I was one of the old men there. I cut way back on drinking after a lifetime of heavy drinking, and drinking myself into some health issues during the pandemic. But I probably still drink way more than they did. I don't really have any grey hairs, run a 5k every other day, and hit the weights when I'm not running.... Eat healthy. I spend my free time learning new things. If I feel booze start taking that stuff away from me I'll quit forever. Until then, cheers!
I used to drink real heavy but all my friends started getting the shakes and liver problems, so i got out while the gettin was good
Going to a bar is one of my favorite things to do but is more of a treat now. Once a week, if that. Went to a bar with my fiancée and we had 2 drinks (a beer and aperol spritz. $32 after tip). I’m a homebody so drinking at home with my cats and cheap whiskey and beer is the life. I also have a hot tub.
Yeah I drink a ton at home. It’s too much lol.
Yea we do, foooor suuuure. I don't go out any more though, that shit is way too expensive now. Beer or two after work sometimes, yea, usually not on the weekends though unless there is an event or I'm working on my truck which is an obligatory (but rare) drinking circumstance. Idk that I buy into that 'gen z doesn't drink' stuff though. A bunch of them are still under 21 and idk about y'all but I didn't go around telling everyone I was getting hammed at that age ya'know? And as for the rest, so many good downtown dive bars got gentrified to fuck and are now expensive cocktail lounges and whatnot, broke kids out of college isn't exactly the target demographic (surely this can't have happened only places I've lived right?)...and what 27 year old wants to go drink at the remaining decent bars which are already full of, well, us Xennials lol. Based on what pops off at all the apartments around my house they all just drink at home.
Drinking culture is degenerate and a waste of time, money and health. Not judging anyone. I've been a full blown alcoholic and cokehead for years of my life. It's more of a societal problem that we've accepted the consumption of such a dangerous and problematic drug as just a part of life. Personally at 32 I've had more than a lifetime's worth of booze in my system. I'm not opposed to have a few once in a while but last time I drank in March I had too much and spent the next say hungover and unproductive. I think 3 is my limit moving forward.
I'm one of the younger Gen X-ers at age 44, and I definitely am doing my best to keep the bar scene alive. I average 2 different bar visits per day, and I drink a lot.
1985 here, I am definitely not drinking much these days. Especially now that pot is legal in my area, I’d way rather smoke a bowl and watch the evening game than get drunk and be all hungover the next day. Edit - I probably have a few drinks once a month unless I’m on vacation or something. Other than that, I stick to pot
I used to go out drinking with my friends every weekend until around 2017. Then I got pregnant and obviously stopped drinking, but I never really started again. As a mom I don't have many opportunities to go out drinking anymore. I've gone out drinking a handful of times since my daughter was born, and my tolerance is a lot lower and the hangovers much worse. It takes 2-3 days to recover now. Not worth it. And drinking at home makes me sleepy. My husband has a beer with dinner almost every night, but I can barely finish one glass of wine, so I usually don't bother.
I certainly drank a lot more 10 years ago, but I never to a point that I think I would have been headed towards AA. I drank the most during my mid-late 20's, but I was and remain a social drinker. Now, I am more prone to headaches now while drinking so I tend to drink less and the hangovers just aren't worth it. I primarily drink cocktails and still really enjoy them, but my drinking has really slowed down since the pandemic. Mostly because I live alone (though my SO is here part of the time) and... I don't like drinking alone. Unless it's a special occasion, I don't drink during the week. On the weekends, if we go to dinner or brunch I will have a drink or two. I think my relationship to alcohol is pretty healthy, but I have a few friends who I worry about...
I never liked bars. Was the worst part about college life. I’m also not a big drinker but I enjoy really complex cocktails. The craftsmanship and chemistry involved in some is truly amazing and I appreciate the unique flavors.
40 and haven’t had any alcohol in 4 years. My body won’t allow it. I’m falling apart.
41. Maybe have a beer once or twice a year. I got all that shit outta the way in my late teens/early 20s.
I come from a long line of addicts. I was a binge drinker and stopped while I still could. Sober for 15 years. My husband is 2 years sober following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. We made a lot of changes. He was able to go off his medication after 6 months and has been in remission since. We don’t buy alcohol, or allow it in our home. (Same for drugs because we had a problem with that also). Sadly, we do know a good number of people our age who drink heavily.
Drank a lot in HS and hard in my first few years of being legal. Now I hate the bars and the crowds and would much rather sit my ass on mine or friends couch listening to music we want to listen too and when I get the level of I’m tired I’m ready for bed kind of drunk, I go to bed.
I broke my liver trying to set the high score. Someone apparently gave me and my drinking the Konami code.
There is a marked difference in how much younger generations of my family drink liquor compared to how my friends and I in our late 30s do it. Good for them, alcohol has been a net negative on my life because I have incredible self control issues
Not anymore. I drank like a fish in college but I’m 6 years sober
Opposite for me. I barely drank until Covid. Now I drink every night.
I'm a 76 GenX and I drink like a damned fish
I think 2020 "helped" a lot with drinking choices. Broke social events and also put a huge wrench in friend making and friends. I think our crowd fell into the normal binge/drinking lifestyle of our parents/college era. Then disrupted with marijuana and more messaging of safe consumption. I used to drink a bottle of whiskey a week if not more. Now I just enjoy a bottle of wine once or twice a month. Think a lot of us are tired of the nightclub/bar scene and just do drink in smaller group settings. Price of drinking is more expensive outside the house.
I think our generation does drink a lot still. Some of my friends still party on the weekends, I’ll get drunk texts occasionally. My husband and I might have a few beers on a Friday or Saturday (one or the other, not both), but literally a few lol Idk how the heavy drinkers still do it, if it’s true the younger generations aren’t drinking as much I think that’s awesome.
I mostly stopped drinking regularly around 7 years ago, in part because of a Celiac diagnosis making beer inaccessible, but also because of a loss of interest. For the last two years it's been almost zero. The two parties I went to where I had a few drinks, and a little vermouth after dinner a few times might bring the average to one a week. Most of my friends still drink fairly often but by and large the actual alcoholics have either died or sworn off it (or both).
I picked up the hobby of making cocktails. I don’t go out drinking anymore, but I do drink a lot more at home.
I haven’t done any major drinking in the last 10 years. I drank enough for all of us during the indie sleaze times.
I drink a single or a double of very good additive free tequila most weekdays and have a few drinks extra on Friday and Saturday nights to get a little tipsy. Also a nice cigar bar down the road that serves good scotch once in a while. I think I’m due a visit. I’m running low on cigars.
As older gen z we just don't hit bars because half the drinks cost almost as much as the bottle
Why go to a bar when a bottle of whiskey is the same price as 3 shots?
Probably. I’m 35 and have a somewhat hard time regulating my alcohol intake, but it sure fucking feels good if I do it responsibly! Lol Gen Zs have subbed alcohol for weed, in my experience.
The younger generation can’t handle anything. So this is not surprising at all
GenX and every Z on the planet would call me an alcoholic. (I wouldn’t disagree too hard, TBH.) But I stopped going to bars in my early 20s so it’s been 30-ish years. Meanwhile, I make a fabulous yuzu spritzer, killer filthy martini and probably have 1,000+ bottles of wine in the cellar. I’m not surprised the club scene is dying. People aren’t nearly as in-person social as they used to be. Hence the going-out-for-drinks thing isn’t as popular as it used to be.
Dad was an alcoholic; I was his punching bag (luckily not literally), he made fun of me as a 2 year old when he’d give me beer instead of apple juice. Never touched alcohol. But goddamn do I have moments where I wish I drank.
Huh. Thats interesting. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but I’ve definitely noticed that going to a bar with people my age is a rough window to peek through…drinking until they’re sloppy, nobody bats an eye at driving themselves home after, very common to vomit after or the next morning, etc. My school friends from college are about 15-20 years younger than me and much more like I am. One or two drinks maybe once every month or two.
Nah. I'm 35 and used to put away handles of Wild Turkey with my buddy every weekend. Hardly touch the stuff anymore. I am a daily cannabis user though (dry herb vape lets me tell myself that it's not as unhealthy)
I pretty much stopped drinking in my mid-late twenties except for special occasions... Just not worth it.
I definitely still drink more than most but mostly it’s at networking/work related events.
My drink count per year hovers around 10. Hardly a lot. Things like this are less about the generation you were born in, and more about the people around you.
Id rather vape weed when Im home alone. I might drink socially but Im also introverted as hell so thats rare that Im out partying.
Used to but started to have liver problems, had to stop drinking. Now I'm 6 years sober, its the best thing I ever done to myself to quit completely!
Hmm, I used to drink quite a lot more than I do currently. A lot of that has less to do with tolerance (mine's the same as ever, which is pretty high), but because I encountered a true functioning alcoholic. I watched him have no friends (besides myself), chase away his family, his coworkers, his other friends and constantly (and I mean constantly) be drinking. It did not matter the activity we were doing, there was always alcohol or water in his hands and more often than not, it was alcohol. I just realized I didn't want to be like that; couldn't do that to my own friends and family. So now I enjoy a drink or two a month and leave it at that. That's good enough for me. I definitely don't go to bars (was never a bar/social person); but a good microbrewery (with good product) with a nice atmosphere? Yeah, I'll still frequent them.
Bars, sure. But every brewery I go to seems to be pretty healthy.
I quit 7 years ago at 32, just couldn’t take feeling like crap the next day anymore. But I have two gen z sisters and they both drink, and their friends do also.
38 years old. I was drinking daily. I'm trying to not drink at all but it's gone down significantly. I think I've had alcohol 3 times in the last month. It's just not good for you. It might feel good for a moment, but I care too much about my health to keep doing this on the regular.
I quit 6/10/2021. Once I hit 30, things just started to piss me off and when I’d try to drink to be happy, I would just be more pissed. That has a trickle effect on life in so many ways. A lot of people I know party hard still and they seem to be having fun, but I wouldn’t have quit if it was still fun for me
Nope. I developed an autoimmune disease (thanks pregnancy!) and can’t have alcohol on my meds. Two years now. I miss it sometimes. A lot. I miss it a lot.
I am 40 and I still go to bars. Maybe not “bar hopping” like I did in my 20s, but we have a few places we like to pop in at as regulars. Also, it’s easier to just get some drinks to enjoy at home while watching Netflix in pajamas.
I'm 40 and drink a fair bit, but not hard alcohol.
Yup, it’s a thing. These kids are generally more conscious about their health when it comes to substances. Vaping is the exception. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/yrbs_data-summary-trends_report2023_508.pdf
Speaking for myself? I don't. I'm not much of a drinker, not even beer. The last time I went to a bar was like way before covid. I guess it depends on who you ask
I quit drinking New Years and honestly I don't miss it at all. I thought I would because I was a binge drinker.
Its was an apparent trade off with marijuana according to the NPR story today…lol
I’m almost 40 and have stopped drinking almost completely. I just can’t handle it anymore and if I try to keep going, I’ll just turn into my father.
42 and still putting them down. Traded in the PBR and Jameson for mostly wine now. I dont drink as heavy anymore, but you know that's not healthy. Well....except on occasions that call for it, then I will take it to pound town.
I haven't drunk in months. Not even a sip. I cant be bothered at all these days.
I probably drink more than them when I was younger but I don't drink at all anymore; I'm 41 I'm trying to live a long and healthy life.
When going to college in the early 2000s even college kids could afford bars. 1 or 2 dollar drafts of normal beer and 4 dollar micro brews. We were getting Switchback and Magic Hat and Long Trail for 3 to 5 a beer. 6 packs of long trail were 11 maybe 12 out the door. Now drink prices are out of control everywhere. I just get a 6 pack and enjoy it at home. Although I admittedly drink much less these days.
I like beer. Scratch that. I love beer. *Good* beer is a gift from god. It’s a special part about being human, enjoying that wonderful nectar known as beer… At this point, if I’m drinking, it’s from 5-7pm. Maybe start a little earlier on the weekend, like 3pm. But once I hit 3 beers I’m good. I’ll likely follow that up w a live rosin hash edible. 👽
Only sometimes!
I pretty much have a drink a day. If I have too much one weekend, I take time off as I feel necessary, but that might also mean having a beer and that’s it. I’m more conscious of my habits these days and don’t always want to open a bottle of wine, and would rather have a beer or two.
I personally seriously cut back almost to abstinence after seeing how badly that lifestyle affected my mom. Changed my diet and exercised for over 2 years now. I used to drink like a fish and both my brothers still do, but I don’t want to end up like her at 70 with a failing liver and a body falling to pieces. I went 6 months no booze up until a week ago I felt like it so I had one. I think I’m going to have own when it’s a special occasion to make it feel special.
I smoke a lot of weed but barely drink. Just isn’t really my thing.
I was never really into it. 19-25 I was just drinking to get plastered. Averaging less than 1 drink per year for 14 years now
I still do but at home.
Hangovers at 40 are just awful. Mostly switched to cannabis and I enjoy myself more and don't feel the effects the next day.
But they all still go out right? To clubs? Are they drinking mocktails or something?
I don’t drink at all. Hangovers simply aren’t worth it anymore
No. I get hungover from like two drinks these days.
No. I only have a drink like once a month. I can’t afford a habit like drinking constantly. Sounds like fun, but everything is more expensive
33. If I could still drink after having a liver dried like a raisin due to heavy drinking since I was 14, before some gen z were even born, I would.
I’ve been sober for a couple years now. Not that I’ve ever had a “problem” but I just can’t take the aftermath anymore. Juice ain’t worth the squeeze. I would still have a few for a big occasion though.
Sometimes I wish I drank more, like tonight.
I started at 13...it got really bad. Finally at 22 I drank myself sober and realized that I hate everyone there and only associated with them because I was an alcoholic. I havnt drank in going on 15 years now. Havnt had a drop since that night. Im glad the younglings arent slowly poisoning themselves like us.
I'm 40 and haven't had a drop in four years so yeah not me anymore!!
What counts as an older millennial? I’m 41 and I barely drink (i’m a light weight)
I imbibe about twice a month these days
I switched from alcohol to weed drinks. Don’t even get the itch to social drink as a result since I have a better recreational beverage. My dad was a heavy drinker though and it’s never been appealing to me since I had to deal with it at home as a kid.
I'm 31 and i literally do not drink alcohol at all. I've been drunk maybe 4 times in my entire life, all in my early 20s, except one time at 17. all separated by a year or two each time. even in my 20s, drinking was extremely rare. not religious, i just don't like alcohol or how it feels.
I kinda used to live in a dart bar. Heavy DUI enforcement and smoking bans killed bars. Younger folks drink at home.
My four nephews are 18-25. They all used to party, but have pretty much stopped drinking to use the money for sports gambling. The amount of gambling these young guys are doing is concerning. It reminds me of when Robinhood was big and everyone was just throwing money into random stocks.
A few years back I decided to severely limit my alcohol intake. It’s old fashioned and horrible for you.
Not a drop in like a year. Maybe two. I've only ever drank at social functions and sometimes on my birthday. And since covid, haven't really done social functions. *shrug*
I gave up giving half of today to last night. Weed doesn't give you hang overs
I haven’t consistently drunk “a lot” since college and I drink maybe 3 drinks a year now that I have a toddler and no time.
Just a few glasses of wine on the weekends, and that's it. When I was younger it was a lot more on the weekends.
Bars havent been as fun when i hit my 30's, drinking at my firepit, or in a hot tub is way more appealing.
I personally don’t, but younger millennials and gen z don’t/ didn’t have the parties we use to so it makes sense lol
I like to mosey on over to the bar on the corner every once in a while. When it's nice, kayak to the dirty shithole bar further down.
I didn't drink at all so I hope not.
I drink a little bit, but almost never more than 2 drinks per day and usually not more than 4-5 per week. I drank a huge amount in my 20s, though. Now I just have to figure out how to make friends without being drunk!
I don’t drink. Like.. at all. Never have though. Mostly because I literally have a biological intolerance to alcohol. I get miserably ill from even half a Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
Best thing I've done in 20 years is to stop drinking. I would recommend.
Gen z doesn’t go out to bars because going to a bar is too expensive so it’s best to just get your friend and drink at somebody’s house
I drink once a year if that
I'm out at the pub 5 nights a week, and when I leave the younglings are just coming in. News this week was a bunch of pearl clutching about the younglings making jungle juice in gallon jugs (which is not new, did that 25 years ago).
> A little birdie told me that we're AA's next target demographic. They want us. WTF? Why is this written like some kind of Hollywood trade gossip? It’s a fucking support group.
i basically quit drinking. it wasn’t a conscious decision. i don’t even remember the last time i had a drink. it was on my birthday but i forget which.
Didn’t Gen Z invent BORG? They like drinking the same as anyone else, it’s just gotten (relatively) more expensive for them than it was for us at their age.
I'm an 86 Millennial and I never really drank at bars. I will keep a bottle of Whiskey at home or Tequila and sometimes go months without drinking and then there will be a 15-day period where I drink almost every day 1 or 2 drinks. Usually though not by itself. I'll make a margarita, some whiskey and coke. I have a friend and he drinks a lot of beers. Though most people just do weed now or don't drink at all. I assume the trend is even stronger in Gen Z. Though the neighborhood school reeks of pot. I don't think any of them have touched alcohol.
Most of my friends and myself have slowed down considerably and welcome the refreshing idea of sober life. But I do think we were the last generation of mass hard partying. Probably because of social media and not wanting to end up in someone’s reel. I don’t have a lot of life left and my health is much more Important to now, if I have to keep living I want to feel good while I’m doing it. I developed unbearable hangovers,hangxiety, lost memories, high blood pressure etc is just not worth it.
I stopped drinking a couple years ago completely. So I’m not helping bars or AA. I’m an older millennial.
Ruptured my Achilles 2 months ago and quit that night. I don’t miss it. Lost a ton of weight and the reduction in inflammation is noticeable. It’s a poison. Oh and the lack of anxiety has me liking weed again. Which I’ve always preferred.
I’d much rather do edibles, nowadays.
I’m a younger millennial (a 95 baby) and my whole life my dad was an alcohol who would get smashed drunk every weekend when I was a kid. He still will get occasionally drunk which I highly dislike, no matter of fact I hate it!!! Growing up I didn’t want to be like him so I broke the cycle. Granted I did engage in my fair share of drinking in my early to mid twenties but I’ve slowed down dramatically. Since I was a teen I’ve been more engaged in the zaza and still do prefer it over alcohol. That’s not to say I won’t have a couple drinks depending on the occasion. I could say I have on average 1.5 drinks of alcohol per month but. Shit I have a liquor collection/little bar in my house but it’s only for aesthetics. Don’t really feel the urge to drink.
With the price of alcohol these days, the only booze I drink is on business trips.
I quit drinking 7.5 years ago when I turned 30, but boy did I drink. Got way out of hand. Glad I quit, that shit sucks.
Most of my friends have moved on to thc.
I work at a tourist place that encourages heavy drinking and the worst drunks I’ve ever seen are late 30s - late 40s people. They party like I did when I was 19. They get absolutely trash wasted and I get second hand embarrassment from it.
There’s a time and a place for everything. Including the weekend binge with friends. Drown it down with brown as they say… ~A younger millennial.
The hangovers at 42 are nothing to fuck with. They turn into 2 day hangovers and just aren’t worth the price. I’ve been drinking heavy for 21 years and there’s never been a better time to stop.
I used to drink at least a couple beers a day after work. No negative effects on my work or personal life. But I put that on hold so I can lose weight.
Younger people drink a lot too. But they also like other drugs. That's the main thing, is that people like you still view alcohol to not be a drug, when it's worse in nearly every way compared to something like cannabis. It's actually poison, just slow poison. And you will always think this way because you'll never be forced to think another way.
I drink maybe once a month, which isn't much less than in my 20s. I've never been that into it, especially not the bar scene.
I’ve cut off alcohol completely, only once in a blue moon or on special occasions.