Drinking alcohol has become a very common activity among teenagers and adults these days. It is consumed on a regular basis by some while some are even addicted to drinking alcohol. Even though alcohol has many negative impacts on human body and health when consumed in excess, most people prefer drinking alcohol over non-alcoholic beverages. Sometimes they even go for binge drinking and end up in a mess and do not even remember what they did when they were drunk. They enjoy the effect that it gives them and different set of people have different set of reasons for drinking! The reasons range from a very simple thought to really stupid ideas or very common activities.
Before I begin with the reasons, I would like to make it clear that am not saying alcohol is bad, but excess alcohol is really harmful. It has both positive impacts when taken in proper amounts and very dangerous effects on a person’s health if consumed beyond a certain limit. It is found that moderate drinking can help people suffering from heart disease by offering protection while large amounts can augment the risks of high blood pressure and stroke!
Being a drink who has to be handled with great care, people do not realize the seriousness involved in misuse/overuse of alcohol. You will know what I mean when you read the most common reasons given by people all over the world for drinking alcohol because most of them are just lame excuses or completely careless attitudes and behavior.
Here are the 10 different reasons why most people in the world drink alcohol in their day to day life.
10. Accessible
This is a very simple reason. People drink because alcoholic drinks are quite accessible. In most families, drinking alcohol is a very common thing among adults. Thus it is also accessible for young teenagers. Local retailers too supply alcohol through fake IDs. Which makes it apparent that in today’s world, alcohol is easily available almost anywhere. Some even see it as a drink to quench their thirst! They find it as a substitute to water. Well, I do not think that it can serve a great purpose and provide healthy aspects like the magical liquid – ‘water.’ But quench thirst? Well, that is some reason to think because water is cheaper and a better thirst quencher and alcohol dehydrates and intoxicates one’s body!
9. To Feel like an Adult
Well, that is a trending idea among young teenagers who are below the legal age of drinking alcohol. They just want to feel like an adult and those who are past the legal age, drink to be treated like an adult, which actually makes no sense, as being treated like an adult only depends on a person’s mental maturity and attitude and not on drinking alcohol or milk or whatever. But, yeah, that’s one of the reasons given by alcohol drinkers!
8. Social and Religious Customs
In various social customs and religious rituals, alcohol is thought to be mandatory. It is considered a source of nutrition and well being due to its medical properties like antiseptic and analgesic properties. To open up a social gathering say for a wedding, holiday, new baby birth, etc., alcohol is widely used or during some of the religious rituals people give alcohol as an offering to God. It is considered that they obtain God’s blessings through offering those during the ritual. It is also just a part of the celebratory meal. For a person who follows such rituals or from a family that maintains such social customs, drinking alcohol is actually normal during such circumstances!
7. Act of Rebellion
Some drink alcohol to be a rebel. They want to defy the rules and show that they are different from all the others. This is often seen among youngsters especially teenagers who are in the process of growing up – the adolescence factor. This is more about creating a space in the society and to get noticed (in the most notorious way), or sometimes it is just to do something out of the ordinary. Which of course has become ordinary these days, getting drunk and misusing alcohol is not cool anymore as one can see it happening almost everywhere, but it still remains in the trend.
6. To Relieve Pain
The most common reason that is given by people who drink alcohol is “pain relief.” People who try self medication for pain relief depend on drugs and alcohol stating that it helps them to kill their body pain. This is more of a misconception than a legible reason. Alcohol does not actually relieve one from physical pain. It just makes them ‘feel’ so. It has direct impact only on the person’s mood, mental state and not on the pain itself. In fact alcohol when consumed along with some pain relief medicines can lead to many harmful effects like unconsciousness, even leading to coma and death!
5. To Escape Sadness and Loneliness
After a bitter relationship, the first thing that one does is – hit the bar! Alcohol to forget bad relationships is a well known ‘culture’ among people of all age groups since years unknown. As a matter of fact, alcohol is a depressant. To forget sadness and get rid of loneliness alcohol is thought to be a solution. Alcohol makes a person feel good, only during the time when they are drunk and they go back to reality once they are sober. This is one of the main causes for people’s addiction to alcohol. It only worsens their condition which is least realized and understood by people who drink.
4. To Experiment
How does it feel when one drinks alcohol? What happens to the mind, body and soul?! To know that, one has to try – experiment and experience it. Yes, that is a very fundamental explanation given by teetotalers to start drinking alcohol and even become a drunkard for a lifetime. It is out of “curiosity”- the basic reason behind man’s existence and the beginning of civilization though. Every coin has two sides right?
3. Party and Celebration
A celebration party or a farewell party – be it sad or a joyous one, alcohol drinkers feel that any party without booze, i.e. alcohol free, is the most boring one. An ‘official’ celebration begun with champagne- rain all over is very common. Alcohol lightens the mood and brings fun to a party as it makes everyone ‘feel’ good and enjoy the moment at the party. Sometimes it eventually leads to binge drinking or even worse!
2. Euphoria
During the first few minutes, say, 10-15 minutes after consumption of alcohol, people generally experience Euphoria. Euphoria is an exaggerated state of feeling high, elation and supreme happiness. It is more of a psychological affect of alcohol but it is used as a common term to express a feeling of overwhelming state of well-being, which exists only for a very short duration of time after alcohol consumption. People tend to drink alcohol frequently to experience that state of elation and contentment.
1. peer pressure
Where ever you go, what ever one does is usually to fit in and get along with the society. Peer pressure is one of the most prominent reasons for drinking among people of all categories. Being afraid that one might be isolated or discarded from a group of people and doing an activity just to fit in and get along, with or without liking is nothing but peer pressure. Especially teenagers are more vulnerable to being affected by it which often makes them get addicted, and eventually undergo alcohol abuse.
