I was reading something in the waiting room* at the health clinic earlier this week that said (or at least strongly implied) that “self-medicating” or using alcohol to “solve problems” meant you had a drinking problem. That bugged me, because I strongly disagree with it. I was just wondering what other people’s views on the subject are.
For example, the well-accepted scenario of having a drink to help relax/unwind after a really stressful day–that’s using alcohol to solve a problem, but most people don’t see anything wrong with it (in moderation of course). Personally, I have found that a drink can often get rid of a headache that ibuprofen won’t touch, and can also help with toothaches, which are otherwise untreatable except with prescription pain killers. That’s “self-medicating” with alcohol. I’ve also had a glass of wine at bedtime to help me fall asleep. I don’t think any of these things is wrong (in my situation–obviously people who do have drinking problems should refrain from “reasons” to drink). I’m not an alcoholic or even a heavy drinker. I don’t drink to get drunk (except on rare occasions). I don’t drink and drive. I don’t mess up aspects of my social life because of drinking. We have a lot of alcohol in the house but I don’t feel the need to go drink it all the time. I don’t go spending all of my money on alcohol. Blah blah blah. I have no actual realistic “signs” of anything even remotely resembling alcoholism, yet this thing I read would label me as having a “drinking problem” because I sometimes drink for specific reasons? In their eyes is it just far better to have no reason at all to drink? Or is this just something that’s being overstated just because it’s posted at a college campus health clinic and they are trying to be overprotective of the kiddies? Is this just scare tactics to get college kids to police their friends? (The majority of this brochure/pamphlet thing was aimed at what to do if you have a friend with a drinking problem.)
Cover-my-ass clause: I am, obviously, not suggesting that these can’t be signs or symptoms of a drinking problem. Someone with a drinking problem would probably also exhibit this behavior. I just don’t think that this behavior in and of itself constitutes a drinking problem, which is what this thing at the clinic seemed to be saying/implying.
*this was literally the only thing to read other than celebrity gossip magazines and brochure/pamphlets about every STD you can think of.
I had to take a web-based alcohol course prior to my enrollment a university (it’s aimed at curbing underaged binge-drinking on campus, which annoyed me because I’m a mid-20s transfer, but whatever). I put that I had about a drink a day to wind down, and the program said I was an alcoholic.
Then I told my Dr. the same thing, and she said my intake sounded perfectly reasonable. So I don’t fret about it.
If you use alcohol to medicate anything you are cutting out the entire health care industry monopoly, and they don’t like that. If you are going to use a drink to relax or cure a headache, at least send your doctor and 4 local specialists a check for an office visit to keep their extortion racket going…
I’d say that about 60% of the time I have a glass of wine with dinner. Yeah I’d better go check myself in at the rehab center. :rolleyes:
Seriously, though, I hope nobody gets the impression that I’m trying to diminish the reality that there is an alcoholism problem today–I know there is–I just think that some of the tactics used to address it seem a bit far-reaching and overprotective. I think of it sort of like the obesity problem in the US: yes, it’s there. No, you can’t say that just because your friend eats a candy bar between classes three times a week that they need to go join Weight Watchers.
Let’s see. Muscle cramps, requiring muscle relaxant and doctor visit, and expensive class II prescription which requires liver function tests. vs. I drink 2 to 4 wine cooler’s when this occurs a couple times a week at most. I will go months without the spasms. The wine cooler’s are cheaper.
I think this is one of those cases of overstating the problem by shifting the definition of an accepted phrase.
Once upon a time, IME, “self-medicate” meant using alcohol regularly rather than deal with major emotional/mental/social/physical issues. It was used, e.g., for mental health patients who preferred using alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs to the prescribed treatment for their condition.
It looks like they have slid that phrase over to mean “any regular use of alcohol for any reason”. :rolleyes:
A drink in the evening to wind down? No problem. My friends who get fairly drunk every night rather than go to counseling and deal with their personal problems? Yeah, that’s not so good.
Alcohol is not a medication. So if you drink it for psychological reasons, you might consider something else. If you drink it because you like it with a certain food? Why not?
I find that if I’ve had a bad day, my mind says “Well, have a drink (or eight). You’ve had a bad day. You deserve it”
And once that seed has been sown, I find it nearly impossible to shake it. And the worst thing is, if I do manage to shake it, the ‘good’ feeling of having done the right thing lasts about two seconds and the bad feeling of thinking about your terrible day lasts all night (the hours in which you should be sleeping or at least enjoying a good book)
If you have a glass of red wine with dinner every night for your heart health, you’re fine.
If you have a glass of red wine with dinner every night for because you’re a little down and want to lift your spirits, you’re an alcoholic.
Yeah, this is pretty much the deal for me. If I start doing it, it’s so easy to do it a bit more, and then a bit more, and then a bit more, until it is a drinking problem.
No, it isn’t. Yes, it’s an ingredient, but its purpose is to provide a solvent for certain medicines which aren’t water-soluble, not as an active ingredient itself. The amounts consumed in a typical dose are just too small to have a significant physiological effect.
I am likely an alcoholic by most definitions as I consume 3-5 glasses of wine or beers on almost a daily basis.
But you know what? I don’t care. I don’t drive, I don’t go to bars, it doesn’t interfere with my marriage, childraising, employment, mortgage payment…I get a wee buzzed just about every night as I work hard at my job and family life to the tune of about 80 hours a week.
So yes, I DO deserve it. And for the OP, I wouldn’t sweat it.
I am not a drinker, never been drunk, only have one or two around the holidays, but I do keep a small amount of alcohol around. I have been known to use it as a sleep aid when I am sick. It is rare for me to even crack it open, but I mostly use it for medicinal purposes.
Okay, you’re right in that it’s a common ingredient in cough syrup, but alcohol itself doesn’t do much for coughing itself. Probably it just puts people to sleep
My non-scientific take on substance use boils down to this: if you do it because it makes you happy, that’s not a problem. If you do it becuase it’s the only thing that makes you happy, that’s a problem. For the OP, the latter doesn’t seem to apply, so I wouldn’t worry.
And I do believe that alcohol can be used “medicinally” (so, too, with many other recreational drugs). The problem arises because dosaging and effects can be unpredictable; oftentimes, the little bit needed to cure the headache, or make you drowzy, is underestimated, and it’s very easy to “over” medicate. If you have managed to acheive that balance between “not enough” and “too much”, however, I say more power to you!
That must rather suck. For me if I do it more, I’m more likely to get sick of it than I am to want it more.