Alcoholic Tendencies

Do you like drinking alcohol or just the association it has?

We have heard about the damaging effects alcohol consumption has on the liver, but it actually affects the entire body, including the brain, by inducing inflammation. Think of the long-term effects repeating this pattern can have.

On those rare occasions I would go out and wear some sort of ring, it would feel tighter after having some drinks. The following day my stomach would be upset and I would have irregular bowel movements. That hangover? A sure sign of brain inflammation.

Why had I continued this cycle for 20 years of my life?

This self abuse continued for several reasons. Some that come to mind are:

• Drinking is an adult activity and I want to be more adult

• I see people having a good time drinking and I want to have a good time

• Alcohol consumption is such a normalized activity

• Drinking helps me relax and be more social

• I’m boring without alcohol

These reasons are often used in advertising and our subconscious picks up on it. Digging deeper and revealing the underlying truth can actually look like this:

• Drinking is an activity portrayed as “grown-up” as a way to sell products

• People use alcohol as a means of numbing out their pain and pretend they are having a good time

• Normalizing alcohol consumption is a means of mind control to keep people in a stupor

• Associate drinking with relaxation and being social when it’s just disrupting cognitive function & causing inflammation which is why over-consuming leads to slurred speech.

• I’m afraid of being my true self so I’ll mask it by drinking

I’m sure I have damaged some friendships, definitely offended people, and work performance was negatively affected because of alcohol abuse.

One of the positives that manifested from COV|D was that I was forced out of situations that I would normally position myself in for drinking, which was going to the bars.

I knew I wanted out of that scene. It was hard to imagine what my life would be like and what I would do with myself since it had been such a part of my identity.

Constantly drowning myself, I suffered silently. Quarantine was my salvation.

I watched as people posted photos of what they were drinking from home as if it were some honorable thing. I was never much of a drinker at home even though I keep a stock of liquor in a cabinet.

The associations I had with alcohol were broken. With the gift of time, I re-evaluated my life and made some changes. One of the revelations was that I was trying to cover up my misery with alcohol when I went out.

That’s an awful habit.

I have since established a better relationship with myself. Alcohol is now associated with the bad feelings I harbored about my life. I’m through with all the lies I believed about needing to conform to drinking norms so I can be accepted.

I probably wasn’t the only sad person out and about drinking the pain away. Hopefully someone who needs to read this will realize that these norms of society need not apply.