Drinking in the 21st century

Not surprised. Universal coping mechanism.

One in eight American adults is an alcoholic, study says

 

That figure is shockingly high. My friends and I are all "drinkers" - we tailgate, we drink beer while we watch football together, we talk about craft beer and bourbon like huge dorks - but none of us to my knowledge exhibit any of the symptoms on that criteria. (We do worry a little about the guy whose intake seems to have increased after his wife's unexpected death this spring.) But we're also 40 and know how to enjoy in moderation - the "dad buzz," as one guy calls it.

 

The study found that rates of alcoholism were higher among men (16.7 percent), Native Americans (16.6 percent), people below the poverty threshold (14.3 percent), and people living in the Midwest (14.8 percent). Stunningly, nearly 1 in 4 adults under age 30 (23.4 percent) met the diagnostic criteria for alcoholism.

The only stunning part about that is that it's so low.

Dick, I'm sure your/my cohort would be way down the list on a percentage basis.

 

But weren't we just talking the other day about how young people don't drink and dope and sex anymore because they are on their smartphones instead?

 

Teenagers.

What they're talking about is college and young adult.

 

My headache this morning suggests otherwise ... #Imadumbass

 

I should clarify: We know that there's a time and a place.

 

Wait until you're a senior citizen like me. If I have as much as one more than a total of three drinks in a night, that is, one cocktail and splitting a bottle of wine with my wife, I wake up feeling the way I used to the day after the Super Bowl in my 20s.

 

I've been on a cleaner-living kick and have cut way back, but last night we had company and opening that 3rd bottle seemed like such a good idea. It wasn't.

 

Wonder what the Midwest figure would be if it weren't for Wisconsin being 99 percent soused at all times?

 

I've made a switch from drinking a lot of heavy IPAs to drinking maybe one or two and then switching to a lager or a pilsner. Much easier on the constitution the next day.

 

I have old college friends visiting this weekend. I see my future in your post.