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I think here in Japan (where if I am not mistaken you also live) drinking is much more seen as normal--I almost never hear anyone talk about alcoholism (アルコール中毒者 or アル中) except as a joke. No doctor has ever verbally asked me about how much I drink (though it's on the forms that I fill in) and none have ever told me to stop drinking unless I expressly asked "Do I need to not drink with this drug?"(antibiotics.) Then it's a reluctant ”お酒はだめ" (no alcohol). Never for how long, never a recommendation on lifestyle choices. Booze seems just part of the culture here--which is bizarre in a way when you think of how many people just can't drink in Japan without going full ゆでだこ (an oldish term meaning boiled octopus, referring to the redness of face many get after consuming even a little booze).
At my tops I was at 4-5 a night, typically 2-3 beers and then a couple of vodkas or whatever I had on hand (bourbon usually). When I quit for a month at the end of summer I....didn't feel much different. The main difference was in my morning self; when I rose I felt more rested, more clear-headed, less dubious about whatever I had said or done the night before. My wife took a less-than-helpful stance in telling me to just have a beer as she insists I am much more personable and, probably, interesting, than when sober. "It's like you're at a funeral," she said one night as I sat listening to my family speak Japanese. I think this has more to do with my default self, which is fairly quiet and reflective and not willing to jump into conversations that aren't directly related to me (especially if they're in another language). I find I am typically also quite functional on this much, making dinner, putting away dishes, setting the dishwasher, sorting out the kitchen, all after 4 or 5 drinks. Then I would crash.
My worry was twofold: Was this affecting my health? But also was this an unbreakable habit? I think drinking like this does affect health in well-documented ways if consistent, if it's a habit, but in my case it was a habit I was able to break with a bit of willpower--the first few days (where you are now) tended to be the most difficult, simply because the whole act of drinking had become ritual. I would suggest (without having myself done this) to substitute a new ritual (maybe involving a non-alcoholic drink?) which you can adopt to replace the drinking, and in this way stave off that sense of something missing (if that's what you feel) in the early evenings when the news comes on.
I am no longer teetotaling, but like to think I am more aware now of when I drink and how much, and consciously limit myself. All this as commiseration and a wishing you luck in whatever your goal ends up being.
Edit: With doctors, on reflection, it may not be that booze is so much part of their culture as it maybe the Japanese tendency, even among professionals, to not want to introduce any sort of discord into a moment. Saying "Don't do xyz" could be met with resistance. So they assume, I suppose, you already know, or will read the papers they give you, without having to say it directly. But now I'm armchair theorizing.
This is caused by the accumulation of acetaldehyde, a toxic intermediate product of alcohol metabolism, in the blood. They're literally poisoning themselves.
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The ritual aspect is a huge part of it. Since I'm WFH, my routine is: finish last meeting and clock out (lol Japan) -> pour drink -> family time. I think I use it to help me transition between my work and home life since the shift can be pretty jarring. I've started going on a "pseudo-commute" where I go for a 20-30 minute walk directly after work before coming back home and going full dad mode. That seems to have helped.
I'm hoping you're right about the first few days. This morning (Day 5) I've felt the best yet, so perhaps the worst is already behind me. Though when quitting addictions and habits, I find that it will feel like smooth sailing for a bit until some unexpected stressor pops up, and then the temptations will come back stronger than ever in that moment. So I'm trying to be mindful of that.
When I've gone for my company-mandated health checkups here, I usually get a mild, friendly chiding from the doctor about my liver and my drinking habits (and also my weight... BMI 26.0 is pretty fat in Japan). It might have to do with my clinics being in hip, modern areas of Tokyo where the doctors are all younger. My experience with older docs here has been that they mostly just want me to GTFO ASAP.
Also chuckled at your wife's reaction. My wife also thinks I'm fun and outgoing when I drink, and she says that she thinks it's cool that I can hold my liquor far better than any of our family friends. I think you're right that drinking is seen as just part of (male) life here, although I've also spent a lot of time wondering how that's so considering the high rate of alcohol intolerance among Japanese.
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