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I DID AN online Q&A a few years back called ‘Do You Have a Drink Problem?’ The blurb said if you answer ‘Yes’ to three or more of ten questions then, indeed, you do.
It was along the lines of:
My answers went like this: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Ten out of ten.
I sat back and said: ‘Okay, so I have a drink problem.’ It’s funny how words like that can sound when you mean them.
About five seconds later I was consoling myself with the idea that a bunch of questions on the web could hardly provide an accurate diagnosis.
Inside a minute I was thinking how heavy boozing was all the rage when I grew up in Co Fermanagh and, sure, I just hadn’t yet ditched the habit.
I thought how the Q&A probably didn’t account for cultural variations, for people from places where it’s not weird to drink yourself boneless. I considered, with increasing comfort, how it was designed for Americans.
Do you know people who have ever considered that they maybe drink too much? Do you know people who occasionally drink alone, people who have lost an hour or two on a night out? I’d be pretty sure that if you’re from within about 300 miles of where I’m from then you probably do.
Some people might find the following conversation disturbing:
Jim: ‘You were some craic last night Derek, singing into a plastic bottle in the chip shop.’
Derek: ‘No way, I didn’t, did I? I was wondering why I woke up reeking of vinegar.’
In Ireland, it’s likely many might find the idea of Derek waking up stinking and without his memory to be funny, or at least just shrug it off as meaningless. Derek had been pouring heavily-marketed chemicals into his mouth to the point where he forced his own brain to malfunction, and it’s a hoot.
Isn’t it strange, even fascinating, that many of us have this joyful – almost unconditional – love affair with drink; an often wild, long-term romance with this pungent liquid that can turn us into eejits?
We are so willing to forgive it, so willing to give it another chance if it hurts us, forever keen to fork out for it, to laugh and love with it again. We celebrate with it, commiserate with it, gift it to each other. And, in cases which we feel are poignant and not at all inappropriate, we even pour it onto the graves of friends and loved ones.
We’ve poured this stuff onto the final resting places of people it killed.
There are few things that, pound for pound, person for person, have a greater hold of, or exert more influence on, this island society than alcohol. Yet we talk in whispers about someone when they step forward, get honest, and declare an addiction to it – when they say it’s taking too much of them.
A few years back I remember sitting in a pub, glass in hand, and being told about someone ‘having to lay off the booze because he’s got a bit of a problem.’ My heart went out to him, all our hearts went out, as the pints went down. It’s reminiscent of the gun lobby in the States in that we sympathise with the wounded yet choose to say so little about the prevalence of the weapon.
In May my novel, Sinker, about the fictional sport of professional, competitive drinking, was published by Liberties Press. During research, I read up on drinking culture, drinking games, spoke with people about their drinking stories, weighed up the fallout from some of my own spectacular sessions.
I’ve found no answers to why the Irish, young and older, as much or more than any other people, place booze so close to the centre of our lives. What did become clear to me is that it’s very much easier to understand the alcohol than it is to understand the alcoholic.
With the alcohol, the story is always the same:
One: Alcohol is a lot of fun.
Two: Alcohol wants to have an ever-stronger relationship with you.
Three: No matter what kind of relationship you have, alcohol will never actually be your friend.
Four: If alcohol gets to control the relationship, it will work relentlessly to rip your life and organs to shreds.
I’d recommend anyone who is minded to do so to take one of those online Q&As about drinking.
There are loads of them now, some with dozens of questions, some with just a few. Some are alarmist, some are less so, some will try to make you go to church. How scientific any of them really are, I haven’t a clue. But if, like so very many people out there, you have reached a point of conflict where you are telling yourself you would like to drink both more and less at the same time, then they at least privately provide some useful parameters on the problem.
They get you thinking, they can help start to clarify things very quickly, can get you ringing the right person, making some timely decisions.
The fact that my ten out of ten score led immediately to my own denial of what was right in front of me, in the end, worked as a welcome wake-up call. It led directly to me dealing with my issue and, with all the thinking I ended up doing around the whole drinking thing, I managed to get a novel out of it too.
Jason Johnson is a Northern Ireland-based journalist and author. His newest novel, Sinker, is a fictional exploration of professional drinking as a sport, inspired by the power and complexity of addiction. For more information visit libertiespress.com
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The Journal has a strange, almost unconditional love affair with alcohol, property and Garth Brooks.
The readership of house selling, binge drinking, line dancing Croke Park residents approve of this post.
I like to see all these articles lately questioning our attitude towards alcohol. The Journal is really influencing people for the better here, which is great considering the age profile of the readers.
Its trying to justify the governments plans for a price increase ,darker forces at work here of thinks.
Price increases?
Fine.
People can always just drink a little less.
Aus, You forgot Pat Kenny moving to newstalk,
great article
Not to mention anything apple related
Some of ones best (and worst) ever experiences have been alcohol induced. Luckily I can only take so much. Our becomes worse when ones metabolism allows one to over indulge more often. It’s very much part of the culture but hey no country is perfect.
When did he move to NewsTalk .. I thought Sean O’ Rourke was only fillin’ in for the holidays ..
I stopped drinking about 8 weeks ago, ( I don’t count the days because I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something )
I still go out and socialise, still stay out til closing time, still have fun and enjoy myself… But people ask me the strangest questions like: “what is the matter with you”
“Are you ok, you must be sick?”
“How do you do it?”
As far as I’m concerned not having a hangover is a huge plus. Im up since 7.30am and I’m heading out for a run now.
Living without alcohol has a lot more advantages to it, it’s just that we’ve been conditioned to believe that we need it in order to have a good time… And that’s something worth exploring if you are thinking about quitting or changing your attitude to alcohol.
You might find that you are well capable of having a wonderful time without it.
I also don’t drink but never get the comments you claim you get. It must be your friends so unfair to imply that all irish people react like your friends
Excellently put Dandy. Kudos to you as well.
I think us Irish are becoming less judgemental when it comes to meeting people who don’t drink, but there’s still a fair amount of skepticism out there. And peer pressure too.
Finding activities to socialise without the need for the pub is key.
That’s because you don’t drink and your friends are used to it…
It’s a different ball game when it’s a new thing…..
Btw I never implied what you wrote, I’m talking from personal experience.
Great read. Particularly like the four point breakdown of the relationship. While fun, Alcohol will never be your friend is the black & white truth of it. I found the hangovers getting worse as I get older has been a great moderator.
Kids at 6 am is the best cure to stop drinking. If you give a siht about them you won’t waste a day dying in bed
I concur, excellently written. It was an enjoyable read.
Gread read except I dont like the 4 point bit. Maybe that works for some people but for me, talking about the fact that alcohol is a poison and binge drinking, (which is the biggest problem with drinking) puts enormous strain on our kidneys to flush it out etc., i think, would be a greater motivator because who the hell likes the idea of kidney damage and hospitals and pain and memory loss. Not me.
In some Eastern European countries it is perfectly acceptable to have alcohol with breakfast. In the UK, particularly in the city of London, lunchtime drinking is a given. France has the highest per capita number of alcoholics. We like to think we are unique with our drinking but in reality we are generally moderate enough.
I’d look at it more on a case by case basis though. It really is down to the individual. In my experience Irish people generally know when they have had enough.
A few don’t, and clearly they have an issue and need help. In that respect we are a bit two faced – telling Jim he was great craic last night while at the same time telling all and sundry that Jim has a bit of a problem with the booze.
I went to Austria on a training course about 10 years ago and went for lunch with a group of Austrians. They all though there was something wrong with me because I had coke with my lunch. A few of them had 2 pints and a glass of red wine each. Then we all went back to the course for the afternoon.
It certainly calms the nerves and stops the shakes in the morning, doesn’t it?
Coming from a different country, and a different culture, I may be able to see things from “outside”.
I’d like to raise a question here: why “you” can’t just think that there’s a difference between DRINK and GETTING DRUNK?
Seriously.
I’m reading comments of people saying “I stop drinking”; “I don;t do drinks”; “I’m dried for X months” and so on….
There isn’t only black and white. There’s also grey.
Why you can’t just go out and enjoy a night with one/two/three pints in few hours? Why it has to be “all or nothing”.
I’m used to go out with friends, have two/three pints in 4-5 hours and get home safe on my own wheels.
Again, to me it’s a cultural problem that needs to be tackled from early age. I grown up with the bottle of wine always on the table, my dad used to give me few sips of wine since I was young…. and I just like it. First time I got really drunk I was 18. Since then, probably 2-3 times only (I’m 40 now). I was used to go out since I was 16 and have 1/2 pints on a sat. night (it’s legal in Italy).
I’m doing the same with my kids, prohibitionism doesn’t work, you can see this all around.
I’m courious, I’d like to read some answers here….. WHY ?
@proud Italian, your point is part of what I’m alluding to. We restrict so much in my opinion that we see drink as a tool to get drunk but it is nothing casual as you can see by how much we talk about it. It costs so much and we have so little time to do it passed darkness that there is a giddy rush to get em down by half 12 or 3 of you night club. When I lived in Melbourne I never wanted to get too drunk cause I would miss the fun that went on all night long and if I didn’t pace myself I was the drunkard in the corner. The funs over pretty quick on a night out here
Thanks Mark.
Actually I lived in Melbourne too, Australia, and you know how far from Ireland is the drinking problem down there. That’s probably why you wanted to stay one step back… :-)
In my opinion, seems the eternal boundary between the English-speaking world and the Latin world which I belong to.
You raised a good point. Not missing the fun. I was used to stay out till dawn when I was out, in a club, coming back home not drunk, but I had my few drinks… just to enjoy the night. Culturally speaking, you know, in Italy the one who get drunk is just the “moron of the village” as we say… my friends still make a fool of me when we talk about an episode of my drunkenness 20 years ago……
It is all or nothing with many drinkers. They don’t to enjoy drinking alcohol, they enjoy being drunk. Prohibition doesn’t work though but if alcohol was less visible and less talked about around children, that would go a long way in helping young people not to get caught up in the ‘drink culture’. Me and my siblings certainly never saw alcohol in our house and we never witnessed our parents drinking(my dad didn’t drink) and i think that has given us siblings an healthy attitude to alcohol consumption. My dads ‘Tee totalling’ did not stop a couple of us ‘going mad’ for drink when we started earning, that’s youth for you but his attitude to alcohol and his ‘not in front if the kids’ approach, went a long way in passing an healthy attitude on to us.
If we want to prevent young people from continually engaging in the ‘drink culture’ then we have to start when they are young. Do not demonise alcohol in front of children but teach them from a young age that it can be enjoyed once respected. Another thing is to stop glorifying being drunk in front of children. I see it all the time. Laughing at the exploits of a drunk person teaches kids that if you want to be funny, get drunk. It tells them that getting drunk is ok but we neglect to tell them it us not the norm.
It’s not genetic – it’s cultural, social. Émigrés don’t continue the pattern when they move to countries where there are an abundance of ways to socialise, and are less involved in the old Irish community. In the latter respect its a social glue, which was used to gain courage to bemoan our serfdom to the English. Basically it rains a lot here, and there’s very little that’s economic to do with your friends…ipso facto abuse of drink, drugs, couch potatoing, chocoholics, boredom, depression, domestic discord etc
In fact, there is a large genetic component to alcohol dependence. There is a lot of research going on in this area. I thought this was an interesting review although not directly related to Ireland.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3848144/
The U.S. National institute on alcohol abuse on alcoholism state that genes are responisble for about half of the risk of developing alcoholism. Pretty significant I’d say.
If the Irish stayed off the drink for a month we’d solve all our problems and then have a big party at the end of the month, Free bar of course!
Clearly you dont know the meaning of the word binge drinker Jakkib :D
Il drink to that
Maybe someone who admits to caning it at every chance should be looking inward to resolve their own demons rather than trying to demonise an entire nation. Get help buddy.
Whilst I agree there is some sort of alcoholic dysfunction within all socio-economic classes, may I clarify where you the author did your drinking?
Choice is always omitted from these articles, it always appear to be peer pressure, this I disagree with. I drink, but there are nights that I do not because I might have the car with me, no money, etc…
I have just as much fun with the others who make no qualms or joke about me not drinking and I will agree, after a while, for me, when the noise level gets to loud I leave.
For those of you with a drink problem, I empathise and I strongly urge you to seek professional medical help, for those who do not drink out of choice, good for you, for those who drink responsibly, good for you to, but there will always be people who do not know their limits and go overboard, there are those who have the intention of getting smashed, well again, that’s your choice and no-one will stop you except yourself, maybe a little consideration for others?
But if the author hails from County Fermanagh, then his stats/experiences will be with another jurisdiction, not the ROI’s. This has to be said irrespective of our perceived top alcoholics claim within Europe, though, Germany claim the crown as do the UK and most recently France.
So which country is it? Or what agenda is being set and by whom?
The option of choice is not always easily achieved.
So the Irish are a bunch of disorganised rowdy drunks yet the Germans drink more than us…..
Didn’t read your article cause it all the same. Not a great climate here, no snow in winter no reliable summer. Not much entertainment and nothing else to do late night.
Other factors include the need to rush due to tight drinking hours which psychologically do a lot. They take away responsibility from the drinker who doesn’t ask themselves anymore they just see times to stop blah blah blah
Remember – the state itself places booze at the center of Irish life. This notion that the Irish people do is absurd. The Irish are not free thinkers- we are sheep.
We are not really a republic, more a country led by a royalty of gombeens and shysters.
If we didn’t booze – We’d be a right boring island.
It takes sociological research to understand why a society has a propensity for a certain behaviour like drink. Irish drink probably rooted in loss of cultural heritage, identity, language, and the trauma that comes from centuries of abuse and ethnic cleansing from British colonialism. It is an interesting comparison with the American Indian tribes who have a high rate of alcoholism.
For a lot of young people growing up socialising revolves around drinking. For many, alcohol gives them the confidence to step outside their usual boundaries. See Paul McGrath and many others. On the otherhand we would be a very dry lot if we didn’t have a drop. How many of us have struck up conversations with people that we mightn’t have done without a tipple beforehand. It is no harm to be foolish now and then. It keeps manners on you.
Witness Miltown-Malbay in the coming week. Try walking down the main street during the evening. It gets even better as the week grinds on. It’s not the music folks, but the 20-somethings that are pissing on their shoes and ralphing in the doorways. They need a course in self preservation in an alcohol rich environment.
“Drink responsibly”, avoid liver transplants by age 30!
Jaysus another alcohol related article
Every western nation likes their drink but as my German friend surprisingly remarked to me one day “you Anglo Saxon nations make too many rules” I had to pause a long time before answering
Seriously though other nations take it in their stride on a night out, we have no choice a fiver lost on drink to not even get drunk sounds like bad value and it messes with the psychology again
Maybe I’m totally wrong but read my other post people who disagreed just wanna know why you disagree and we’ll leave it there just interested to know :)
We need more debate about alcohol, it’s use and abuse, it’s a global problem, how many lives have been absolutely ruined by alcohol abuse, millions or billions, it’s time to wise up.
Our climate is also an issue. When it is pissing rain in rural Ireland with zero recreational facilities people get bored and depressed and turn to alcohol. The same in parts of Russia and other isolated places throughout the world. A lot of villages throughout the country have had a pub, a church, a GAA field and a shop if they are lucky. Not a lot to do in your downtime.
Running? Cycling? Hillwalking? I do loads of stuff and share the same climate as everyone. I have a beer in the evenings but not binge drinking. That is not ‘doing something’. It’s just self-destruction dressed up as socialising. If socialising was the point, people would just have a coffee. Not entirely sure what binging does to fix either boredom or depression.
It’s an old stereotype about Irish drinking but we don’t do ourselves any favours trying to change it…
Excellent article, Jason. As someone who treats alcohol dependence you have hit the nail on the head, particularly when you say that “we talk in whispers about someone when they step forward, get honest, and declare an addiction to it – when they say it’s taking too much of them”. I have always found it strange that the stigma associated with over drinking seems only to happen when someone admits they have a problem and acknowledge they may need help. The vast majority who drink too much and never seek formal help are, in many ways., celebrated for drinking each other under the table.
As a nation we drink too much, too quickly and far too often. The mental, physical and social fallout are all too apparent.
Absolutely!
Good article! There’s another component to alcohol in our lives. This is where the children born into families that abuse drink very often take on dysfunctional traits that stunt healthy adult development. As a group they are identified as Adult Children of Alcoholics. See http://www.aca.org for more information.
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I met an ex alcoholic recently who told me that the quantity of alcohol consumed wasn’t the main definition of an alcoholic. For him it was more personality related, and how your behavior or demeanor changed with alcohol. That answer certainly was what I wanted to hear, because I drink way more than average (about a bottle of wine a day), but don’t tend to get smashed, or even hangovers. Very hard to generalize, individuals have vastly different tolerances / attitudes and relationships with booze / drugs. Now where’s the cheese…..
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