The Surprising Truths I Uncovered When I Quit Drinking
Your expectations may differ from reality
My name is Mark and I’m not an alcoholic.
But I’ve been around enough of them to see alcohol’s destructive effects. I’ve supported many friends and family through their dependency and it’s made me think. I’ve found myself dishing out words of wisdom, having researched the topic more than they had the energy or will to do.
And, in the end, I followed my own advice.
My habit
I’ve never been a heavy drinker.
Even as a young man growing up with friends in the UK, where the drinking culture is significant, I always seemed to be the one who “knew when to stop”. On nights out, I would move over to soft drinks and enjoy the rest of my evening, watching friends become more and more the worse for wear. They all seemed to get something from the drinking experience that I didn’t.
And they often felt terrible about it the next day.
The negativity they displayed (“Never again!”) appeared in two forms:
- They were physically ill
- They were mentally regretful
But, let’s be honest, I got some sort of pleasure from joining in, otherwise I wouldn’t have done so. Was I simply drinking to “fit in”? How did we get to a point where we regularly carry out an activity that results in serious health and social issues, and that there is even an expectation that we do so?
Let’s see what’s at the bottom of the glass.
What is alcohol?
The class of chemical compounds we call alcohol is three things:
- A fuel additive (for vehicles and the like)
- A cleaning agent, acting as a solvent or detergent
- A deadly poison that causes damage to organs and other vital systems
Oh, and it makes us mammals feel “funny”, in both senses of the word.
Alcoholic compounds arise in the natural world as sugars ferment. We clever humans have invented ways to enhance this process to produce alcohols with differing strengths and properties. People have been making use of alcohol and its effects for at least two and a half thousand years, but it was only during the first millennium CE that its nature became more fully understood, leading to the advanced production techniques of today.
Of the many alcoholic compounds that exist, it is ethanol that we use for recreational purposes.
On the plus side, it is less toxic than other types that have been developed for industrial applications. However, the damage it can cause is significant enough that we should be concerned. As mentioned above, the side effects of alcohol abuse can be grouped into two areas:
- Direct damage to personal health
- Social problems, including crimes such as theft and violence
So destructive are its effects that it’s often said that, if alcohol were discovered today, it would be classed as a prohibited substance. It would be against international law to use, buy or sell it. It would be considered in much the same way that we do heroin and cocaine.
But, it is also said that it has become so accepted that any attempt to make recreational use of it illegal would result in far greater issues than it would solve. People point to the age of Prohibition in the US as an example — an era (1920s/30s) of some of the most widespread violent crime the world has ever seen. So great was the negativity that surrounded Prohibition that the man who promised to bring it to an end, one Franklin Roosevelt, became President of the United States, partly as a result.
A cynical person might claim that the world’s governments benefit so much from the legal sale of alcohol, by way of taxation, that they have no desire or motive to stop it.
Why do some people get addicted?
In a world where the recreational use of alcohol is so widely accepted, why do some people seem to develop dependency problems when others don’t?
For many years, scientists and medics would talk about the “addictive personality”. This term was used to describe people who it was believed were more prone to addiction (of any kind) than others. However, any research into defining what this means and how it comes about has not resulted in anything concrete or measurable.
As with most things in life, it’s likely more complicated than we first thought.
When it comes to addiction to narcotics of any kind, I believe there are two major factors at play:
- Chemical reactions in the body when we either feed or starve the addiction
- The social aspects of the process, including habit, societal pressure to fit in, and marketing
I can speak confidently about a few of the people that I have watched as they have wrestled with alcohol dependency. Each person I’m thinking of started drinking at a young age, was the type of person that was “easily led” by peer pressure, and either hid their growing habit from the people close to them who could have helped, or did not have sufficient strong role models in their life to encourage them to evaluate their situation.
All of this is very interesting, of course, but it’s also very subjective and doesn’t apply to everyone’s situation.
And it didn’t apply to me.
My experience of quitting
As I mentioned at the beginning, my own decision to quit drinking alcohol was not based on any concerns that my use of it was destructively affecting me.
It was simply a matter of common sense. If I was telling other people that the consumption of alcohol has no redeeming properties as I was supporting them through their recovery, why would I continue to use it myself? I realised it was illogical to do so, and, in the autumn of 2022, I just stopped.
I. Just. Stopped.
And I looked forward to reaping several benefits as a result of doing so.
The world at large, and specifically the bit of it we call the internet, is rammed full of people explaining the myriad positive outcomes of abandoning the demon drink. Some of my favourite content creators, whether they offer videos, podcasts or the written word, have put a huge amount of time and effort into presenting facts regarding the journey through, and eventually out of, alcohol dependency. They repeat a well-established list of life improvements that will occur, some immediate, others over time.
Which is all very positive.
So, my own expectations were set. I looked forward to measurable changes in three aspects of my life:
- Health
- Finances
- Relationships
It’s time to get to the nub of the matter.
After over a year without alcohol, including two Christmas periods and several challenging episodes (major home improvement projects, family issues, financial pressures), what changes have I seen in my own life?
The outcome was not what I expected.
Health
- No changes to energy levels
- No improvement in blood pressure
- No change in weight (in either direction)
Finances
- Given the current cost-of-living crisis, no noticeable improvement
- (I’m sure I would see the difference if I could commit the time to working it out)
Relationships
- I’m the main “designated driver” for the family, and no longer have to plan around alcohol
- Looking ahead, if I ever thought there might be a time when the use of alcohol would start to affect my relationships, I have sidestepped this completely
So, am I glad I quit?
Yes. Oh my goodness, yes I am glad. Despite not noticing a dramatic improvement in our finances, it must have made some difference, at a time when economy is of the utmost importance. Even though I never experienced much in the way of hangovers and so on, it’s a nice feeling to start each day with a clear head. If I’m ever pulled over by the police because they have a query over my driving, I can absolutely guarantee that alcohol won’t be a factor.
Whatever your own reasons for reading this piece today, I hope that my words lend a little balance to what has become a very one-sided area of online discussion.
And I wish you all the very best on your journey.
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Hi, I’m Mark.
Thanks for spending your time with me today.
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