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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   33351 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 27, 2023

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It’s almost like you get incredibly bored without alcohol to distract you and need to find major goals to carry yourself.

As someone whose normal alcohol intake rounds to zero, I have no idea what the rest of you are talking about. Being drunk is awful. My head hurts, I can't think or talk straight, I'm super sweaty, plus a few other random pulls from the Grab-Bag of Unpleasant Symptoms! There's like this teeny thin line where I've had just enough to disinhibit myself, but not so much that my body starts going haywire that's pleasant, but it's just about impossible to maintain for more than about 10 minutes at a time. I enjoy the taste of a few beers, wines, and whiskies, but barely ever drink them because the side-effects of the booze are so unpleasant.

That's not the normal reaction. Are you Asian? Could it be ALDH2 deficiency?

I am not asian. I have not had medical testing done to determine if there's a genetic component. But I do notice that I dislike most mind-altering substances. I've gotten stoned a few times and disliked it each time, and generally disliked the feeling that psychotropic prescription medications (e.g. vyvanse) had on me. Maybe I'm just ornery and/or literally don't know what's good for me. IDK.

Being drunk is awful. My head hurts, I can't think or talk straight, I'm super sweaty, plus a few other random pulls from the Grab-Bag of Unpleasant Symptoms! There's like this teeny thin line where I've had just enough to disinhibit myself, but not so much that my body starts going haywire that's pleasant, but it's just about impossible to maintain for more than about 10 minutes at a time.

Maybe you are consuming too much at once

For reference, the amount of alcohol intake I find pleasurable in an evening is [two fingers of whisky / a glass of wine / a beer] consumed slowly over a 2- to 4-hour period. Anything more turns unpleasant quickly.

Yeah but that's the thing with alcohol. Need to consume your way through initial discomfort into a tolerance that allows for responsible, pleasurable drinking.

What initial discomfort?

My first impression in my late teens after discovering there were other drinks than just beer and wine (which I still don't like) was "Wait, this actually tastes pretty good?" followed some half an hour later with "Whoah, this is fuuuuuuun!" (being mildy and sometimes not so mildy intoxicated in good social company). That qualifier is also the reason I've never been in the slightest danger of getting addicted to it.

Taste of alcohol takes some getting used to, and some people are just super low tolerance initially.

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