Major changes in the lives of people who quit drinking alcohol in any quantity

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The stories of four residents of Yekaterinburg, who at different ages deleted alcohol from their lives, about why they did it, how others perceived it and what changed in their lives after a complete rejection of alcohol …

"Alcohol takes several things that are always scarce: money, energy, time and health."

Today alcohol is a traditional part of life, which accompanies both joy and sadness. For some, a glass of wine with dinner and a couple of cocktails on Friday night are considered mundane - it seems that from a little alcohol there will be nothing but pleasant relaxation. But in August 2018, UN experts concluded that even the smallest portions of alcohol cause serious health damageand significantly increase the likelihood of premature death from heart disease, cancer and accidents. In total, alcohol takes the lives of three million inhabitants of the planet and 82 thousand Russians every year. In February, the Ministry of Health named how many deaths of able-bodied men are associated with alcohol - about 70%.

The Village talked with four residents of Yekaterinburg, who at different ages deleted alcohol from their lives - about why they did it, how their decision was perceived by those around them, and what changed after.

Dmitry Kolezev

DOES NOT DRINK 2 YEARS

When I was a child, I constantly saw adults around me drinking. Probably, it was then that alcohol began to be associated with adult life and "coolness". I dreamed that I would grow up and swallow alcohol with an indifferent face without even frowning. At the age of seven, the adults gave me a beer to taste.

For the first time I got drunk in the seventh grade - together with friends we drank disgusting fake vodka "Ladies Caprice" from a stall. Everyone was vomiting. When we got older, we started drinking beer. After school, we often sat down for a drink in some cafe or courtyard - for most of our peers this was the norm: rather, it seemed strange to us if a person did not do this. When we drank beer instead of lessons, we felt that we were doing something forbidden - the mystery united us even more.

In my student years, I often got drunk at parties with everyone, but gradually the interest in alcohol began to disappear. During my student days, the peak of alcohol in my life came - we often hung out in the hostel, drank beer on the street or cocktails in bars. Cocktails are generally one of the most insidious types of alcoholic drinks, they contain a lot of sweet soda and syrups that drown out the taste of alcohol. The body is designed in such a way that when you drink pure alcohol, it tells you: "Dude, this is not for you, you should not drink this," so when you first try alcohol, you feel nauseous. But when alcohol is mixed with something sweet, the taste of alcohol is masked, and the body does not react to it in time.

Society does not particularly condemn a person who got drunk, fell asleep under a tree and did not come home - this only causes kind smiles. A person who does the same on heroin will cause completely different emotions - it will seem to us a human tragedy. But is the difference so big?

Two years ago, I decided to try to live without alcohol at all, but did not set myself any obligations: I knew that if I forbid something to myself, it would not work. I had moments before when I woke up with a hangover and thought: that's it, I will never drink again. Naturally, after a while I again drank somewhere, but almost always felt an internal conflict about this. In the end, I realized for myself that in fact I just don't like drinking alcohol and decided to stop doing it.

The first six months after the refusal, I had to regularly explain to people why I did not drink. People thought that if they were better at persuading me, then I would break down and agree. But if you really have no desire to drink, then no amount of persuasion will help. Many times I found myself in situations where, it would seem, according to all the canons, I could not help but drink - for example, at a Georgian feast. But I just answered people that I do not drink - and when people see that you are not flirting, but telling the truth, they shrug their shoulders and say: "Well, okay." Even Georgians.

Alcohol takes away a few things that are always in short supply: money, energy, time and health. After giving up on it, I feel better - I am 34 now, but I feel better than 25 when I drank regularly. I don't know exactly how much I began to save - perhaps up to several tens of thousands of rubles a month.

At one time, I was greatly influenced by Allen Carr's book The Easy Way to Stop Drinking. I read it while studying at the university - I came across the book during the New Year parties, after one of which I went to the supermarket for mineral water. This little text changed my attitude to alcohol - since I drank, I never felt like I was doing something right again. The belief has formed that even a small amount of alcohol is not normal.

I realized that alcohol is a thing largely imposed on us by society, culture and habits. The book debunks the myth that alcohol is okay. Carr says that by drinking alcohol we are deceived. People perceive alcohol as something common, allowed and approved. Our popular culture played a big role in this: in all films, books, and even in some cartoons, the heroes spend their free time in bars. People are used to it: if it's sad, you fill up your grief, if it's fun, you drink with your friends.

Carr describes in detail how alcohol affects the human psyche and suppresses it, as it is addictive. When you drink alcohol makes you thirsty - you crave even more beer or wine. At some point, you can completely lose control of yourself.

On the Internet, you can find a huge number of signs about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs, based on WHO research. Alcohol tops the lists of the most harmful substances - even heroin comes in second, and marijuana is in eighth. At the same time, marijuana is prohibited and illegal, and alcohol is allowed.

It seems to me that alcohol is a more dangerous and insidious thing than marijuana. How many crimes are committed under the influence of alcoholic intoxication, how many families are destroyed because of alcoholic beverages? I don’t know a person who would grab an ax under the influence of marijuana, but in the context of alcohol, this is a common story.

Society does not particularly condemn a person who got drunk, fell asleep under a tree and did not come home - this only causes kind smiles. He is a gay alcoholic. A person who does the same on heroin will cause completely different emotions - it will seem to us a human tragedy. But is the difference so big?

There are various theories about why alcohol has become such an important part of human life. Most likely, it happened so simply historically - the states received large revenues from alcohol and were interested in its distribution. As for the people themselves, they probably just need some way to self-destruct, release energy and release aggression. Some people drink for this.

I do not think that society as a whole is capable of completely abandoning easy ways to destroy internal barriers: several times a year people need a holiday of orgiastic content, where they may not feel constrained by rules, break barriers, take off their usual masks. People need rituals that will help them feel more refreshed and temporarily free themselves from psychological stress. The problem is that for the majority, alcohol has turned from a holiday phenomenon into a routine.

Vasily Semyonov

DOES NOT DRINK FOR 21 YEARS

I first tried alcohol when I was a child - I was about eight years old. Then I found alcohol at home, put it in my mouth and began to gurgle. For some reason, the sensations were pleasant: my mouth was warm and a little burning. Now it seems surprising - almost any adult, having felt a "bouquet" of pure alcohol in his mouth, will almost certainly say that it is disgusting.

At the age of 14, my friends and I went to the rocky outcrops near the station "Peregon" to celebrate the birthday of one of us. We bought port wine and a cheap herbal wine drink at the station kiosk - they drank no less than 0.7 liters per person. I was not very drunk then, but my childhood friend could not even stand on his feet - we had to drag him on ourselves. Later, as the most responsible in the company, his mother flew in to me for coming home with hands that looked more like the paws of frozen chicken. He studied at a music school and lost the ability to play the piano for a month.

When we drank with friends, it was fun - we did it to laugh. At school discos there was nothing to do without vodka. Alcohol affects the processes of excitement and inhibition - people become liberated, become bolder in expressions. For us adolescents, he was a way of socialization - it was easier for those who were drunk to interact with people.

Now I see how friends enjoy good wines, and I think that I am missing something in this life - Omar Khayyam was not a fool either

At first we didn't drink very often, usually on holidays. Sometimes they drank beer after school. On my sixteenth birthday, I bought vodka in front of school at a stall at the intersection of Kuibyshev and Vostochnaya Streets - I came to class with a gurgling and tinkling backpack. We began to prepare for a bright future during breaks, in the toilet on the third floor. The guys sat with red faces and smiled, and for the whole history lesson I could not bring my eyes to one point, so I had to close my eyes or close my hand. The teacher probably noticed this, but I had a good relationship with her, so she did not focus on this.

When I turned 17, I decided to give up alcohol. I even remember the exact date when I last drank - on September 30, 1997, I was visiting my friend, where we drank a glass of Johnnie Walker Black Label. By that time, my other friend and I began to drink really a lot - in the summertime we could buy a box of "Velvet" beer and slowly drink it together in the arboretum. I began to realize that I am a cheerful person and without alcohol - and so it pins me. Alcohol, on the contrary, slowed me down. I remember this feeling: you raise your hand, and it performs the command with a delay, and you clearly see how your body slows down.

At first, my friends took my rejection of alcohol hard - the culture was such that everyone drank on holidays. They even tried to tie me up, pour alcohol directly into my mouth. Everyone around was against me and were betting how long I would last. I was offered a lot of money, or, for example, to buy the best Armenian brandy, just so that I would drink it. But my decision made my mother happy - my father and grandfather had problems with alcohol.

Sometimes I have nightmares - in my dreams I am dying of thirst, but next to me there is only beer. Sometimes I drink it and suffer for a long time. I tried non-alcoholic beer, but I don't see the point in it - besides, it still contains alcohol, only in an insignificant amount. At first I drank kvass, but now I try to avoid it too, because then I feel alcohol in it. I don't use alcohol-containing medicines either. I compensate for the absence of alcohol in my life with delicious food and a gym.

Now I see how friends enjoy good wines, and I think that I am missing something in this life - Omar Khayyam was not a fool either. Friends, with whom I go to rest, are great wine lovers and are systematically educated in this direction. My wife is not against alcohol, but lately she has also been thinking about quitting. True, at home we have a wine cabinet for forty bottles of good wine. Perhaps at some point I will also start my education in this direction, but so far it’s easier for me without alcohol.

To allow myself to drink, I need to have more stability and confidence in my life. For many, alcohol is a way of escaping reality. Someone watches TV shows, someone buys beer. It seems to me that a very large part of the population of our country uses beer in order to drown out the hopelessness of their existence. If you work hard, you have a difficult boss, a meager salary, such an escape from reality turns out to be one of the easiest ways out.

Alexey Ponomarchuk

DOESN'T DRINK FOR 14 YEARS

The first time I tried alcohol was when I was a sixth grader. I don't remember the details, as I was too small. A closer acquaintance happened a little later, when, together with the courtyard boys, I ran across the field of roofs of rusty garages. In order for this activity to awaken in us even greater courage, we poured into ourselves beer, illegally bought in a stall. In those moments I felt very mature and free. Then alcoholic cocktails had just begun to appear, and many boys from my yard were enthusiastically drinking sweet poison on the children's verandas of the kindergartens, but I did not appreciate the new trend and preferred it to the good old beer with a cigarette.

At the age of 17, the realization came to me that it was time to quit smoking. I started smoking when I was ten. I didn't like the cigarettes - rather, it was a tribute to the yard crowd. To quit smoking, I had to do away with alcohol - alcohol and cigarettes were inextricably linked for me. To my surprise, the process was quick and painless, and since then alcohol is not present in my body at all.

At first, those around it did not fit in their heads that fun was possible without any substances. For me, their surprise is incomprehensible: I was fine

At the age of 18, hangouts and nightclubs burst into my life, but they were as comfortable as possible without alcohol and other stimulants. I didn’t even realize that the people dancing around me were crushed to the point of losing their pulse. At that time, a different atmosphere reigned in the clubs - new acquaintances, music and places inspired me much more than the drunken frenzy of club lizards. Although, perhaps, nostalgia speaks to me. There was no money for a taxi, I had to hang out until the early morning and ride home on the first tram, which made the people hanging out doubt my sobriety.

At first, those around it did not fit in their heads that fun was possible without any substances. For me, their surprise is incomprehensible: I was fine. With the advent of "Tightness" in my life, the parties became even more meaningful. Later, staying in clubs became directly related to my professional activity, for which I needed to be in a sober mind.

I really like the state of sobriety - complete control over my body and mind. Now alcohol seems to me to be something artificial and foreign to the human body and rather meaningless for both the mind and the soul.

Anna Kiryanova

DOES NOT DRINK 2 YEARS

To be honest, I don’t remember that very first sip, but it happened long before "it is possible by law." I remember two fairly standard episodes. The first is the gin behind the garages, a can for three or four. I don't remember the taste - it must have been creepy, but I remember the lion's head on a tin can.

The second episode is festive. Parents, friends, children, apartment. The parents left for a smoke break, and the children quenched their curiosity with drops from the bottom of the glasses. Drinking was fun and amusing. Alcohol was banned and it made it even more interesting. It seemed that here it is - the adult world in all its glory, because all adults do this.

Between the ages of 18 and 21, I studied at the university, and there was more alcohol in my life. I drank something at least once or twice a week. It was the peak of parties and get-togethers, where a hand without a glass absolutely did not fit into the environment. It became awkward and empty in clubs, lonely in companies.

After my refusal from alcohol, the format of communication with people changed. It became decidedly boring for me to meet people who were not close to me in spirit and uninteresting.

I can't say that later in my life there were many glasses, if you do not take the university period. In October 2016, I found out that I would become a mother - I needed to feed the child, so I gave up alcohol altogether. Later, a disease came, the treatment of which was incompatible with alcohol. Alcohol was contraindicated for me, but it was not only that - I didn't feel like drinking anymore.

At the time of refusal from alcohol, my decision was logical for others, but later questions began. “You don’t feed anymore, why don’t you drink? Are you sick or what? Such conclusions seemed unpleasant to me - I realized that most people are not ready to perceive a non-alcoholic existence as the norm of a healthy life. I was too lazy to explain to them why I feel good in undistorted reality.

After my refusal from alcohol, the format of communication with people changed. It became decidedly boring for me to meet people who were not close to me in spirit and of little interest. Previously, all the irregularities of perception could be smoothed out by a glass, now time has become more precious to me. There is another funny fact: when I am in pleasant company in those circumstances that suggest alcohol, the brain itself seems to be a little clouded. A feeling of fluidity of time is created, which at the same time passes quickly.

For me, giving up alcohol is a natural event in my life. I didn’t break myself over the knee, I didn’t tie it to the battery, I didn’t put on plasters. The desire to drink sometimes arises, but, as practice has shown, three sips of non-alcoholic beer take it off instantly. This is a story, rather, about taste sensations.