Hi Taavi,

Welcome to psych central.

First off, I wanted to say that it's great that you're questioning the role of alcohol in your life and what you want, while you're still at such a young age. I know at your age a lot of people are into binge drinking and getting wasted, both of which are wasted and a bad idea.

I can't tell you to drink or not drink, but I will share a little bit of my experience. I binge drank in university but never got really sick from it, and all my friends were doing the same, so it didn't seem like a big deal. Then when I graduated and got my first job, I slowed down, but definitely still drank a lot. I really started to have problems when I started my masters degree part time, while working full time. I started to have a glass of wine after my night classes to as you said "take the edge off." That slowly turned into a glass of wine every night, and then that started to turn into a glass of wine and a couple of shots of whisky. Slowly my consumption increased until I was in full blown addiction and drinking 750 ml of whisky a day. This process did take years, by the way and it's not inevitable for you, but I wanted to share it as one of the risks of daily drinking.

When you drink because you want to change your mood, that's always a bit of a warning sign, Could you try not drinking for a day or two and trying something else like herbal tea, or meditation, or going for a walk, or whatever you like to relieve some stress and relax yourself. Ask yourself, and be honest, how that feels. If you find yourself missing or craving the alcohol that might be a sign that you've got the start of a problem. Maybe write down your feelings when you drink / don't drink, and see what comes up.

Bottom line is I think people need to ask themselves the question of, is alcohol causing a problem in my life? and Is it something I depend on to cope? If the answer to either is yes, then perhaps that's a sign you need to consider stopping with or without the help of a support group or counseling.


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