15 Wrong Reasons To Drink Alcohol - Page 5

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This article isn’t meant to be anti-alcohol. Alcohol, like any vice, has its place in life and can be a lot of fun in moderation. Really, it only becomes a vice when you misuse it. You know when you misuse it because you wind up feeling bad after. I don’t just mean physically bad (the hangover, the dehydration, the hole in your pocket after spending $100 at the bar…) but emotionally bad. When you use alcohol to run from or cover up a problem, or really any time you drink it for any other reason than to enhance an already great time, you’re probably misusing it. We’ve all turned to a cocktail to decompress after a particularly trying day. But drinking to decompress after waiting in line at the DMV for four hours and drinking to decompress from a fight with your significant other are two very different things. Here are totally wrong reasons to drink.

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You don’t want the wine to go bad

Oh, please. You only spent $7 on the bottle and you already drank half of it. Do you really need to drink a half a bottle of wine, on a night you’re just washing your delicates, all to save $3.50? Wouldn’t you happily pay $3.50 to give your liver a little time to detox from the other half of that bottle?

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The alcohol is free

When the alcohol is free is when you need to be the most careful about over-indulging. If you have five cocktails tonight because the alcohol is free, you won’t be thinking, “I really milked that open bar!” the next day. You’ll be thinking you feel awful and are too hungover to do anything. Remember, you don’t lose money by not drinking all the free booze.

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You’re bored

Falling into the habit of drinking when you’re bored is the most dangerous of all! I mean, we’re all bored a lot. And, if you drink out of boredom several nights a week, it may be time to ask yourself if you’re making the most of this life. Maybe it’s time to fill your days with interests, hobbies, and passions.

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Everyone else is drinking

That’s never a good reason to drink. If you told yourself you’d give your liver a break tonight, or that you just wanted to be clear headed tomorrow, then stick to that. If your friends feel they can’t connect with you because they’re drunk and you’re sober then those aren’t really great friends.

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You’re preparing for a big drinking weekend

You have a marathon drinking weekend coming up. It’s your best friend’s bachelorette party in Las Vegas. “Better prepare my liver!” you think. But actually, maybe you should let your liver rest as much as possible before you put it to work this weekend. It’s good to go into the weekend with a low tolerance—it will keep you from drinking too much.

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Because you already are

“I’ve already had one cocktail so I may as well have three” is not a good logic. Doctors recommend women drink no more than seven to 10 cocktails a week (depends on the doctor with whom you speak). So having three cocktails, because you’re already having one, can quickly put you over the limit in just a couple of days.

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It makes your family more tolerable

If you need to drink to survive family engagements then you may need to solve some issues with your family. And besides, you know drinking never makes things better with your family—it just makes you start all the fights you told yourself you wouldn’t start tonight.

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It makes you feel something

You feel numb in your life. You don’t feel excited by much. There aren’t many events or humans in your life that ignite a sense of passion or strong emotion in you. But good old vodka does. That’s probably not good, right?

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So you’ll want to have sex

If you need alcohol to have sex with your partner then you’re probably with the wrong partner! You should be able to become aroused by a person you presumably love, without alcohol.

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To relax

Having a glass of wine to relax is fine from time to time. But make sure it’s not your only method of relaxation—then you’re getting into the danger zone. Explore plenty of options of relaxation methods and just turn to wine when that’s the one you’re craving that night.

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In order to be yourself

If you feel uncomfortable in your own skin, and have a hard time speaking your mind or revealing your true colors, you might turn to alcohol to come out of your shell. But that is a rather risky path. It could be time to look into why you’re so uncomfortable in your own skin.

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To feel good about your appearance

Maybe you don’t feel the confidence to go out for the night until you’ve had a few drinks. And hey, a couple of cocktails make everybody feel a little cuter in their outfit. But you need to worry if your body confidence issues are so severe they lead you to drink.

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You’re sad

Drinking only enhances whatever emotion you’re already feeling. If you’re sad when you have a drink, you’ll be bawling by drink three and calling your mom to ask if you can move back home by drink five.

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It allows you to make bad decisions

You feel stifled in your life. You want the motivation to do something bad, like buy a speedboat, get a tattoo or have meaningless sex with a stranger. If you need to do bad things to feel excited, then that means there aren’t many good things happening in your life.