How can people who regularly drink too much even function?

When drinking is a habit of just about every day, if not every day, your body adapts to it, and hangovers pretty much become a thing of the past. Maybe a slight headache and tiredness when waking up, but nothing that cannot be handled as it quickly dissipates. Of course alcoholics can drink a daily amount of booze which would devastate the non drinker.

When they do it every day it has no effects on them anymore. Their liver might be destroyed but few could even tell they’ve had five or more cocktails.

Hm. Maybe I should do it every day! (Not!)

Denial is a strong way of soldiering through adversity. When I was actively drinking, and had to be into work by 6 a.m., having a good attendance record and not complaining about headaches or fuzzy brain was a way of lying to myself and telling myself I didn’t have a problem.

There were many mornings where I know I smelled like a rotten wine barrel, and my eyes were so red the world looked pink.

Do it in the evening and recuperate by morning.

But the alcohol just ferments in your body for 8 hours while you sleep!

Don’t ever fool yourself into thinking there is a such thing as a functional alcoholic. You are more likely to stumble across a 64-karat blue diamond than you are to find one of these.

How do they function at all? Very few do, really, without help. Hair of the dog helps the hangover and staves off withdrawals,, but obviously will exacerbate the problem. Vicodin and other oral painkillers is the miracle hangover cure, but just leads to another, more horrendous addiction. But to say they function beyond minimum requirements to be decent, productive human beings is a stretch. They are anesthetized and, until intermittent attacks of emotional and physical fatigue overtakes them, they are incapable of really understanding other people’s emotional needs or showing GENUINE emotions themselves. And their opinions reflect their sociopathy.

Physically, most alcoholics are complete fuck ups, useless. I just spent a few days trapped on a boat with an extremely wealthy white South African and his wife who repeatedly (repetition is an effect of wet brained alcoholism, in my opinion) and bombastically (bombast is another) explained to me—with perfect diction, no slurring of words, excellent vocabulary, and beautiful upperclass accent—how the ethnic and social cleansing that occurred in Germany in the ‘30s and ‘40s was directly responsible for the German economic and social success of the post WWII era up to today. This was after a day of constant vodka tonics. Later, in way of apology, his wife told me that he wasn’t always like this. I believe it, lady. The difference is that he’s a fucking drunk now. And one with money and influence over other people’s lives. It almost drove me to drink—or shove his ass into it—to have to listen to this shithead for more than two days.

High absentee rates at work, or going in late, or lots of coffee.

Apparently with much fun and enjoyment, for they go right back out and do it again,,,,,and again….....and again.

@Hypocrisy_Central Most hardcore alcoholics who have been drinking for a while no longer do it for fun and enjoyment, if they ever have to begin with. Binge drinking and using it as a method for whatever ails you isn’t the same. A lot of alcoholics use it as self medication. Many know it’s shitty and won’t fix anything, but they can’t stop doing it anyway, which is why it’s an addiction.

Alcohol problems aside, age is another factor. I’m not a big drinker, a few Cervezas now and then, champagne on occasion, the rare bloody mary, but…at 50 something the body can’t party much anymore without serious after effects.
Of course, young or old, alcohol abuse is a serious problem for many, but even modest consumers don’t do well as we get older.

About a year ago one night I got home from work after a brutal day. I
hadn’t eaten since about 11 a,m. and had 3 dark beers that had been in my fridge for months. Oh man…one minute I was slicing and dicing,feelin’ fine and the next I lay down on the couch and didn’t wake up til after 9 p.m. haha
So much for unwinding. lol

@Symbeline A lot of alcoholics use it as self medication. Many know it’s shitty and won’t fix anything, but they can’t stop doing it anyway, which is why it’s an addiction.
If it is shitty and won’t fix it why do it? Would they use that same logic to fix their vehicle, TV, leaky roof, etc.?

@Hypocrisy_Central Alcoholism is a disease in which people are unable to see a solution to what is going wrong in their lives.

@Hypocrisy_Central Depends on a lot of things. Some don’t care, some deny it, some don’t know what else to do. but your comparison isn’t really valid. You can’t compare a drinking problem to fixing your bike.

^^ O kaaaaay….....if you think so, you go ahead.

@Symbeline You can’t compare a drinking problem to fixing your bike.
The logic is the same, if i have a slow leak in the front tire I know adjusting the seat is not going to fix it, neither is wrapping the tube in duct tape. If I have a problem getting drunk so I am not working on the problem that will be there when I come down off cloud 9 is not fixing it; might even make it worse when I discover I spent my gas money and can’t get to work, or pissed away the rent/mortgage. I knew enough no matter what problem I had hiding in a bottle was no fix, being sober and fixing it was a fix.

@Symbeline It may be the ‘same’ logic, but alcoholics don’t usually think that way. My wife knew drinking was ruining everyone’s lives and she always swore she wouldn’t do it again but it didn’t take long before she was back in the bottle.

It’s more like knowing that if you eat that Dorito you’ll blow your diet. But then you start to think, well, just one Dorito won’t make a difference. If one doesn’t make a difference then two won’t amount to much either. The next thing you know the bag is empty. Maybe you feel guilty. Maybe you feel like you’re kind of worthless because you definitely blew your diet. You get angry and buy another bag and scarf that down, too, because that’ll teach you!

It’s not as simple as ‘tire flat’ and ‘tire not flat.’

It’s a pet theory of mine that, in some cases, alcoholism isn’t the disease but rather a symptom of a deeper mental illness. In that respect, stopping drinking isn’t going to accomplish anything and probably won’t even work.

As for your actual question, I’d have to agree with the others. Alcohol doesn’t appear to affect them, they sponge off of others, etc.

’‘It’s not as simple as ‘tire flat’ and ‘tire not flat.

It’s a pet theory of mine that, in some cases, alcoholism isn’t the disease but rather a symptom of a deeper mental illness. In that respect, stopping drinking isn’t going to accomplish anything and probably won’t even work.’’

That. ^
Pretty sure it’s more or less what I was trying to say.

@Hypocrisy_Central The problem with your comparison is that if your bike is broken, you find where and how, and fix it if you can, or get a professional to. OR you say, fuck it, buy another or give up cycling altogether. Problem solved, no need to think about it anymore once it’s done. Drinking is an addiction, which features elements that are not present in fixing your bike.
Of course the solution to drinking is easy; just stop drinking. But being that it’s an addiction, it usually gets more complicated. So I don’t really see the relation, as fixing your bike never gets complicated, when it comes to scenario itself. This is like whenever you discuss God, you always compare things like faith and Jesus to race cars and prison systems.

I have a sister who is a self proclaimed alcoholic. She DID have a drinking problem, and she’d get so ugly and awful and belligerent. Then she quit drinking, but her behavior didn’t change. She was still ugly and awful and belligerent. You could just understand her better.

@Symbeline Of course the solution to drinking is easy; just stop drinking. But being that it’s an addiction, it usually gets more complicated. So I don’t really see the relation, as fixing your bike never gets complicated, when it comes to scenario itself. This is like whenever you discuss God, you always compare things like faith and Jesus to race cars and prison systems.
The solution was don’t start drinking, I have seen the effects of drinking locally and in the media often enough to know it has never worked for anyone. It is like trying to ride a bike with no hands, shave, and eat a hotdog at the same time, if 99.9% of people who would try that crash, what would make me think I could do it better?

Using everyday things to compare faith is unavoidable with those who don’t know how faith works. If the person I was speaking with knew how faith works, I would not have to explain it and just deal with how they can get it to benefit them.

The solution was don’t start drinking, That’s spot on right there, but remember that a lot of drinkers don’t realize what they’re getting into. At first they think it works until they’re too far in, or think they can handle it. And observing other alcoholics and how they act doesn’t always work, because it’s easy to say, I’m a responsible drinker and won’t act like that. (which is also why denial is a big part of alcoholism) Most especially since a lot of alcoholics CAN function, keep jobs and raise kids, at least until the shit hits the fan or serious health issues pop in the game.

For us it’s not too much.

Learn your limits.

@Hypocrisy_Central Must you always complicate things beyond necessity? Jeez.

Speaking as someone who used to empty 3 pitchers of beer on a weeknight and save my actual drinking for weekends, I can say that the human body is remarkably adaptable.

For the rabid teetotalers, you’re much of the reason I drink! Sure, it’s not for everyone, but some of us can drink responsibly, just as some people can be moral without becoming pushy,condescending, or otherwise impossible.

@Coloma Must you always complicate things beyond necessity?
It is not complcated.

@Hypocrisy_Central Look, the world doesn’t operate in the way you think. It’s obvious that you have zero understanding of how addictions work, so of course it’s simple to you.

As for never seeing drinking work for anyone, you’ve never seen me after 1–2 drinks. Would you rather deal with somebody who is twitchy, irritable, and distracted, or somebody who is calm, level-headed, able to focus well enough to carry on a conversation, and otherwise normal? Of course, after the second, I start getting silly; it’s all about moderation.

But you probably will refute that as well since it doesn’t fit into your simplistic worldview regarding alcohol.

Whatever, good you have supporters on that.

@Hypocrisy_Central I don’t really have more supporters; I just make fewer enemies.