Socialising and drunkibg

Hey Laura, I found the best way to manage that is to do two things - One, find a non-alcoholic drink that looks alcoholic such as cranberry juice and soda with a slice of lime and/or two, have a full glass of water before and after your drink - jazz it up with ice and lemon in a nice glass.

I am almost teatotal myself due to health reasons and find I avoid a great many social events as they often revolve around alcohol and it changes my friends and makes it very difficult to talk to them.  They become unrecognisable and I feel like an outsider.  There also serms to be an element of drinkers not liking to mix with the non-drinkers too.  If I do go to social events I nearly always leave early. I have created coffee clubs now so that I can meet people without having to worry about this.

I did read somewhere that drinkers don’t trust non-drinkers.  Non-drinkers ate suspected of being critical and superior and judgemental etc whilst drinkers are open and friendly and fun loving. It makes me very sad to not be able to mingle like we used to.

Hi Laura,

I think it is sad that your friends act differently towards you only because you choose to cut down your drinking behaviour. I personally think it's very brave what you're trying to do. Most people who drink alcohol in a group drink out of peer pressure. I think it is perfectly possible to go out with a group of people who do and don't drink. I myself have a group of friends who do and do not drink. We respect each others choice and do not behave differently towards each other.

If you want less comments from your friends about it, a possible 'solution' is a non-alcoholic drink that looks alcoholic. There excist many non-alcoholic cocktails that are made from natural ingrediënts like fruits and still looks very colorful and are tasty.

Greetings

Chelsy