Drinking alcohol is so socially acceptable that when you tell someone you don’t drink, they can hardly believe it. Moreover, sometimes you’re met with awkward silence or a barrage of questions to determine if you’re religious, alcoholic, or going to judge them as they pour their glass of wine.
However, there are many reasons that people choose not to drink, and it’s important that society collectively embrace not drinking alcohol as healthy and normal. Here are what ten people said about why they don’t want to get drunk.
1. Family of Alcoholism
When your family tree branches into alcohol use disorders, including alcoholism, it can detour you from traveling that road. According to many, they choose not to drink because it is “better safe than sorry.”
One man says his family has alcoholism on both sides, though they are more functioning on his paternal side. To which someone replies, “Functional alcoholism can sometimes be worse because you have less reason to stop.”
2. Can’t Handle Hangovers
Hangovers are the worst, and they worsen as you grow older. Multiple thread contributors volunteer; they used to party all night and function at work without sleep the next day. However, some as early as the mid-20s through early 30s report that one day it changes. One suggests it takes them three days to recover.
3. Don’t Like Alcohol
Not linking alcohol is a viable reason and number three on this list. Many don’t care for the smell, the taste, the feeling, or the hangover. One says, “It’s the weeks-long mental hangover of anxiety and depression that turns me off of alcohol.”
4. A Parent’s Worst Nightmare
As a parent, the idea of not being there for your child is a deep fear. A mother admits she has a nightmare that her kid needs her, and she’s unable to respond due to being wasted.
5. Drivers-Ed Video
Imagine seeing a driver’s education video that terrified you out of ever drinking. This user says that said film demonstrated a father running over their child on Halloween. The fear stayed, and they chose never to get drunk.
6. Control
“I like being in control.” My sister has never tried drugs because she cannot fathom being out of control. And she’s not alone. Several others admit that the need to feel and be in control is greater than a desire to drink and let go.
7. Because Quitting Was Hard
“Because quitting was hard.” This user celebrates six years of sobriety and has no desire to go back. Fortunately, others joined the sobriety announcement train and congratulated each other on their recovery.
8. Trauma
Sadly, one had an unfortunate set of traumas involving alcohol that defined their reason for not drinking. Alcohol and drunk driving are terrible things. According to the CDC: 32 people in the United States are killed every day in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver—this is one death every 45 minutes.
9. Anti-Depressants
Alcohol is a depressant. Therefore if you suffer from a depressive disorder, it’s counterproductive to drink alcohol, especially if you’re on anti-depressant medication. Multiple users agreed they would rather have their medication’s benefits than the depression that comes with drinking alcohol.
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10. No Appeal
“It’s the same reason for many things I don’t do. Because I don’t want to.” Finally, many people confess they have never had the desire to drink. One explains his family never consumed alcohol. He never drank as a teenager. So he never acquired a taste for it. Now, in his forties, he finds it nasty, and he’s never been drunk a day in his life.
This thread inspired this post.
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Featured Image Credit: Dean Drobot.
Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and spirituality.