I'm just curious

[winterbadger]

Do you drink (alcohol) when you are by yourself?

If yes, do you observe the same limits as when you are drinking with other people, or different ones? Why?

If no, why not?

I'm sure some of you don't drink alcohol at all, and while I respect that choice and am sure you have reasons for making it, I'm interested in the alkies' responses on this one.

Comments

[reasdream.livejournal.com]

I don't drink alcohol alone very often - sometimes with dinner. But then, I don't drink alcohol very often anyway.

I will drink more when I'm out with people, but that's partly becuase when I'm alone it's one drink (glass of wine with dinner, bottle of Mikes) and then I'm done and doing other stuff. When I'm out with people we'll be out so long (hours) that there's time for more than one.

[carolinab.livejournal.com]

I drink at home. I don't drink as much as I might when I go out because I have a two year old. :D Of course, that also means I don't often have a chance to drink much on the rare occasions I go out, either.

I didn't drink very often at home when I lived alone, just an occasional single malt or a beer with dinner. I think I was a little paranoid about drinking alone.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yes, and yes.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

I do drink alcohol by myself. In the summer, I like to make a cocktail if I want one when I get home from work. I occasionally open a bottle of wine and will have a glass. I have a lovely attachment that will go on top and all the air can be taken out so it stays quite nice until I'm ready for another glass. I actually probably drink less when I am on my own than with others, although last autumn when I was going through that bad stretch before I got back on my meds, I was drinking far too much, both with others and alone, but it's back to normal now.

[zornhau.livejournal.com]

In the evening while wife is out, I might have a single rum and ice, or a whisky while sitting reading or writing.

Oddly, I only ever drink heavily in the company of other people.

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

Not often, no. But then I hardly drink at all anymore. I prefer to have a drink when someone else is with me and having drinks - it's more of a social thing for me. When I do drink alone it's generally one drink and something like a Baileys. I've never been drunk alone, and it has been almost a decade when I have been really drunk at all.

[beckon.livejournal.com]

Every so often, it's almost like a guilty sin or something, like "oh look i'm going to have a drink and no one else is around." I never partook heavily though, a single drink... I think once I had two.

Even in my heavier party days I never drank much by myself, there was no point to it. Drinking in social situations has always been a crutch for me to overcome my awkwardness around people. Don't need to do that if I'm all by myself.

[cmlc.livejournal.com]

I do sometimes have a whisky or a Suze or a bottle of beer by myself. Only the one though - I never want more than that and anyway I don't want to be the sort of person who gets drunk alone. Getting drunk is a social thing. When I drink with other people I'll have several pints of beer or we'll share a load of wine.

[redactrice.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm with the consensus. I drink alone on occasion: if there's a wine I like at home, I'll drink one or two glasses with food. (Everything's better with food, right?)

I don't drink when I'm unhappy because I've learned that it only makes me feel more maudlin or unhappy, and if I'm already feeling that, while pile useless calories on top of it?

I too drink to feel more relaxed in social situations, so I'm almost always likely to drink more at a party or a friend's house than I will by myself.

[schizokitty.livejournal.com]

Except for parties, I drink almost exclusively with a meal, usually dinner -- a glass of wine or a bottle of beer. (Sometimes I may have a second glass of wine while playing computer games or writing, but that's after eating.) So, since I rarely eat dinner alone, I rarely drink alone, but I do do it sometimes, though I can't remember drinking alone at lunch (I might have a beer, for instance, if eating out with friends at lunch).

I like that little buzz I get with a glass of wine, but I'm careful of it when I'm alone, in case there's an emergency and I have to drive somewhere.