Deep.

friends of mine who have gone to work in the USA say that they get funny looks or comments from colleagues if they suggest going out for a beer after work on a week night

They wouldn't get it from me. Actually, I had a bunch of friends in Columbia, SC, who'd all go out to drink wine Monday nights after work, and frequently during the week, and then again Friday night.

drinking alone isn't to be blamed. it simply means the one concerned has no reliable friend to drink with.
as for drinking itself I know people who don't drink at all, but I heard once that wine is an anti-oxydant which is usefull to the body. I don't see why I wouldn't meet such a friend sometimes. lol

Drinking alone is only one of the symptoms of alcoholism. Look up the rest and see if they fit you. Usually with a list of symptoms, there is a certain number that, if that number or more pertain to you, you will be considered an alcoholic. I'm no expert, but you seem to not be one. Also, you should improve your social life! It's not healthy to be alone so much unless you're a total loner and even then it can lead to depression.

Please be joking... if you're not I might actually think you do have alcoholic tendencies, because that sounds like classic projection right there.

Thank you. XD

This has been on my mind lately, in terms of drinking and any common behavior. How do I measure my own habits? Are the reflections based entirely on the mostly negative stigma held not just in north america where I live, but in the exact area that I live? I've gotta wonder about it. If I'm purposely going out of my way to have a bunch to drink precisely because I need an escape from the incessant dirge of brain function (whether or not it is intelligent brain function is beside the point :)) as Glice mentioned, is that okay? Would I spend less time examining something so inconsequential if I lived in the UK?

I think the stigma here has to do with the general obsession people have with avoiding death.

ni'k does have some worthwhile questions, they can be posed casually and objectively.

i never drink alone...i drink with myself.

seriously?
we used to drink at work.

I think that the idea of "oh i'm going to die anyway, so I might aswell use that as an excuse to drink, because then i can feel some sort of power because it's as if i'm killing myself and thus it's less frightening" is foolish.

Whenever I have been going through the hell of trying to avoid smoking or drinking or something I often justified giving in with the line of reasoning zizek pitches about life dragging on as an anemic spectacle of itself because by trying to prolong itself it ends up denying the very pleasures that make life worth living such as bad food casual sex drugs drink etc.

But I think this is horrible reasoning, as if there can be no better pleasures than these, as if dullening the senses in this way is somehow desirable out of an urge to "live" more. All my creative energies used to go towards trying not to smoke/drink or trying to come up with ways to do it and avoid the guilt.

This idea about escaping brain function - you don't escape brain function through drinking, you merely alter it by introducing alcohol into the blood/brain. You are playing with your caveman dopamine apparatus. The brains of severe addicts actually look physically different from normal (whatever that is) brains. The whole cliche about beer goggles, the idea of alcohol making an ugly woman attractive - the same can be applied to an ugly life. These things can make us tell ourselves and be able to believe in dreams and bullshit that will never happen because our addictions are slowly using us up and making our horizons smaller and smaller, until getting out of bed, getting the shit, and doing it becomes the only real priority or possibility. you end up sitting on the same couch and walking the same trek to the shop/dealers house everyday just so you can live in a fantasy world where you can almost convince yourself it isn't happening.

I don't think booze does anything other than dull/destroy the brain eventually. I think of the high you get as a dulling, it's like turning up the resolution on your monitor to make the picture quality better but you're watching a shitty movie. Or like listening to a mediocre album on an amazing soundsystem so you're fooled into thinking it's better.

But I am not trying to judge anyone, I am merely putting out information. I have been through a lot with addiction, now i feel the greatest hope in times like this, when i'm sober and less frightened i will end up back on something. I look forward to the good health and clearer mind that I will start to feel after months/years of sobriety. I feel like i'm bingeing on sobreity and it's like a reverse hit that never ends and gives you amazing sensations and improves your life. my problems arise from a horrible sense of the inevitability of pessimism and that i will end up back on something, that's my fight.

Remember Burroughs words "what can be done with drugs can be done by other means"

i had an american-irish girlfriend with an alkie dad.

the guy held a job for a bazillion years, raised 6 or 7 kids, paid off his house, but every evening he would come home, turn on tv sports, and start drinking-- then he would turn mean.

that's the thing with the fucker, he was quiet, but a mean son of a bitch after a few beers.

he was an alkie alright. he didn't need a drink to start the day, but he definitely needed it to finish-- and he had a pink fucking face too.

wow, typical pothead reaction, getting all defensive and irritable.

Drinking alone is no big deal but getting drunk by yourself is a different thing. I made a promise to myself to never drink alone. Just seems kind of lame.

there is a difference between drinking alone and getting absolutely shitfaced stupidly whamarsed batterboy marsatted drunkfuckfaced anti sober alone..the latter may have threatening issues with your head..heart and mind..and dare i say it...your wallet.

I like beer and wine. It's really as simple as that. I don't drink to get drunk when I'm alone at home unless the Mrs. and I are having a special night, though when I'm out with friends, I will allow myself to get slightly inebriated.

seriously.... i wouldnt worry..if you are worried or it is on your mind then its a sure sign you have it well under control!

Drinking on yr lunch break is a sign of Alcohalism. Alone? THink yr OK.

Ha ha! But it's okay on your 15-minute morning and afternoon breaks, right?

This one Saturday afternoon, back when I was a college student and working my part-time shift at K-mart, this coworker and I got the bright idea of going over to the nearby Pizza Hut on our afternoon break. We called in the pizza order ahead of time, and in 15 minutes we not only consumed the whole pizza but also two pitchers of beer. We went back happy to work and nobody was the wiser.

Have to admit I have been lunch drunk on more than one occasion....but only when I run out of pills. I usually regret it cause I just come back to the office & spend the rest of the day on here.