Drink Therapy

People who do not drink, and have never been drinkers, like to give advice. The popular notion that drinking to deal with emotional pain is a bad idea, and is dangerous and unhealthy, is propagated by people who have no real experience with the subject. Heavy and prolonged drinking is, of course, another story, and I do not deny the existence of alcoholism as a serious condition. But, for most of us, the reality here is not quite so simple, not quite so cut-and-dry.
     The idea seems to be that drinking is a means of suppressing ones emotions, or distracting one from the problems they face in life. The reality, for most of us, is quite different. In fact, drinking forces emotions to the surface that might otherwise be repressed. The kind of emotional honesty and self-reflection that alcohol engenders, and sometimes makes impossible to ignore, is ultimately healthy. Getting drunk from time to time can indeed affect a catharsis, an emotional release of feeling that has been repressed, that might otherwise fester and do more damage. For most of us, drinking is not a means of escaping reality, but rather a way of confronting a reality that we find difficult to face. Drinking does not help us to avoid feelings, if forces us to confront feelings that ultimately have to be dealt with one way or another. In many cases, drinking brings out feelings that we were unaware of, thus forcing us to deal with them. Those who do not drink have no way of knowing these things.
     I am certainly not advocating drinking as the only way of dealing with emotional problems; nor am I saying it is the best way. There are other ways, of course, with verying degrees of effectiveness and consequences. These are, of course, personal decisions, and everyone is different. I say merely that occasional drinking is not an unhealthy way of dealing with the many problems of life. I say merely that the stigma attached to drinking is unfair, oversimplified, and ultimately incorrect. I say merely that if you are hurting, or feeling confused emotionally, or are needing clarity on some personal issue, do not regard getting drunk (in a safe setting) as a dangerous or unhealty strategy in sorting those things out.  I merely wish to correct some misconceptions within our cultural dogmas regarding drinking.
     Lighten up! Have a beer! Cheers!