Im not sure if something similar has been covered i cant find anywhere?but ive questioned alot why i drink? and here is some of my reasons please tell me yours out of intrest:
Boredom
Not caring what people think(tied to confidence)
Something i have always seen and done since early teens.
Losing myself in a bottle.
3 Likes
For me, it kind of came with the territory of being a musician. Pre-show drinks, drinks on stage, post-show drinks, after party drinks…being in bands, you can have beer/liquor on your rider (guarantee/demand list for shows), so it’s a free-for-all. Playing in bands, you also get to know a lot of bartenders, and then you get cheap/free drinks when you’re out, so that exacerbates the issue (although it’s not really an “issue” at the time…you’re just out having fun, right?)…
Now…the question as to why I even started? I couldn’t tell ya. I’m just glad I stopped.
3 Likes
When I was young it was because it was just something to do with my friends. As I’ve got older it was more of a stress reliever at the end of a long hard day working. Or as a reward for getting through my day. It’s only now that I’ve realised that although it may feel good at the time…taking that first drink and feeling the stress of my day melt away. Two bottles of wine later I’m a mess and can’t function properly the next day. It makes me lazy and if I go out I make such poor decisions that I wouldn’t ordinarily make if I were sober. Being drunk has stopped being fun. The negatives are outweighing the positives.
2 Likes
I’m an alcoholic that’s why I drink. That’s all I need to know anymore. Not wasting anymore time trying to figure it all out because the end result will always be the same.
9 Likes
I can give you all the same reasons that everybody else is giving you here:. Boredom, numbing pain, anger, fighting with the other one, seeking excitement, etc etc. In my humble opinion, the underlying reason why we seek to self destruct is a deep internal pain, discontentment, trauma, and lack of skills in dealing with everyday life. Let’s not forget that for the true serious alcoholic, it is a disease. There’s a physical as much as a spiritual disease. And, until we work at true recovery, not sobriety which to me is just the simple Act of stopping substance abuse when we work at true recovery we dig deep into the plague that brings us to the substance that keeps us in the plague. So for me it doesn’t matter I can give you 20 or 30 reasons why I might use on any given occasion. But when I finally got real, got honest, I realize that it was how I approach life how I was dealing with people places and things, in my emotions once I learned how to manage myself, and my reactions to life around me, I sustained and continue to sustain long-term recovery
7 Likes
I was listening to a Russell Brand podcast once and he said something that stuck with me.
“We all crave connection.”
And I think that was it for me. I never felt like people liked me. So I started to drink to fit in with the other kids at the party. But I always took it too far so people still didn’t like me. Who likes the loud stumbling drunk who breaks all the shit in the house??? Then I started to drink because I felt so alone and, well, you don’t care about any of that when you’re drunk. Then I finally met someone that I really liked and we drank together because it was something we shared. Finally, I started to question whether or not I had really found the person I was meant to be or did I pick him simply because he was willing to be with me…so I drank because I was scared and confused.
There are many reasons why I drink but I think Russell was right…every one of them can be traced to me “craving connection”.
4 Likes
I drank because I liked it. I drank to get drunk from the very first time I drank and I chased that feeling ever since.
My mom was avidly against drinking and smoking weed, my 2 favorite DOC’s.
3 Likes
I drank because I’m a drunk. It’s what us drunks do. I drank when I was happy, I drank when I was sad. I drank cuz it was summer, I drank because it was winter. I drank because I couldn’t sleep, I drank because I got too much sleep.
I drank because I’m a good for nothin drunk. Because I’m an alcoholic. That’s why I don’t drink anymore 
6 Likes
Growing up, I wasn’t popular or remotely cool. I didn’t have a lot of friends, maybe one good friend. I was picked on & bullied. So, after highschool, I found a group of people really didn’t care about all that, they took me in and we had good times, i.e. drinking. So from 17 to 20 I drank to fit in.
From 21 to early 30’s I drank a lot socially. I’d go to the bar and hang with all the regulars 2 to 3 times a week. Hang with friends on weekends. So, again, I drank to fit in pretty much.
From mid 30’s to now, I formed a habit and addiction from all that drinking…
Theres a term, Arrested Development, when you spend most of your time under the influence, you do not develop into a fully functional adult, you sort of stay where you are. That’s me. In my 30’s I’m out partying and doing things someone my age should not be doing. I no longer related to real adults my age, this makes me depressed I guess.
So from mid 30s to now(I’m 40), I drank because I felt different from other people, I drank because I was depressed, I drank because my body told me I had to. I drank because I hated myself.
4 Likes
Amen man.
I’d prefer to focus on why I don’t drink. Life has never been better for this alcoholic since getting sober.
2 Likes
Good ansews!. Well im going to focus on the amazing reasons why i dont drink. Maybe thats something to think about why i focus on negative aspects of things? And i should start focusing on the postitves to come from putting down the bottle
3 Likes
Hello I believe it to be a mental obsession and a physical compulsion.
I take alcohol out. Physical has gone.
To fix mental 12 steps are there.
Also be happy. Keep attitude of gratitude.
1 day at a time don’t drink. Not much more than that.
Your Friend John. 
I’m stuck in party mode but just turned 30. It’s not cute anymore. One drink and I have all the drinks. It makes me manic and act strangely.
But it’s exciting. For a while.
Eventually that’s the only way I could have fun. Then I’d drink on some nights and sleep off my hangover others.
Doing basic things people enjoy… Seeing a movie, visiting a park, even sitting on the couch watching TV. It feels foreign to me.
I also desperately seek romantic connection drunk. Dating sites, bars, you name it.
So the quest for booze and sex caused me many near misses.
Whatever it takes.
We like to think our situations are unique, that our stories are 1 of a kind but they really aren’t. Some have just gone further down the hole.
Your ansew really has resonated with me alot.
Its true why do i try and firgure out the whys?
My life has gone wrong because of alcohol period and just like every heavy drinker ive known.
Wouldnt i/you love to know what would of been achieved if id never drank a drop? But thats the question i dont want to be asking again in another 20 years.!!! Thanks for your honest reply x
1 Like
Both my parents drank heavily growing up (and still do).
I had an ok childhood but then about 5 things happened within the space of a year when I was 20 and alcohol became the escape.
Actually being known as bringing THE party wherever I went
To escape anxiety (which was caused by the alcohol in the first place. The irony!)
Reasons I don’t : health and happiness
2 Likes
Social anxiety- late teens, early 20’s. Boredom. Eventually became a habit, then addiction. Always had an excuse to drink… if I had a great day, boring day, hard day… I would always say it was my reward for “adulting”.
1 Like