Anonymous #5 7w

The biggest mistake I see people make is that alcohol abuse all comes down to quantity when that is simply not true. Someone could drink a handle of liquor a week and not be an alcoholic. Sure, that’s an example of heavy drinking, but if they’re not psychologically dependent and can stop anytime without issue, they’re not actually an alcoholic.

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Anonymous #5 7w

Meanwhile, another person could do 6 drinks a week and have a problem. If they can’t stop (binge drinking), are dependent, and can’t control themselves… yeah bad. A big part is what people can’t see. It’s really common for alcoholic to get drunk alone and hide the evidence from friends/ family. So if this character is socially drinking and their friends see them have like 3 beers or smthn, maybe they took 2 shots of vodka at home before actually showing up. I def did that before

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Anonymous #5 7w

Sorry for coke ranting in the comments lol, I just get really irked when I see inaccurate representation of alcohol issues 😭 If you have any questions my DMs are open :)

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Anonymous #4 7w

That’s an excellent point. If you’re a “sober” drunk you can show up to stuff drunk and probably even get away with it unless you’re super bombed.

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Anonymous #5 7w

Thank you so much! The character in question is slowly developing alcoholism as a coping mechanism over the course of the fic, and I’ve tried to keep it limited to social situations (going out, going to dinner, etc.) but I’ve also started sprinkling in signs of drinking in private. I guess the next step would be the feeling of “needing” a drink?

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Anonymous OP 7w

I would say so yeah. Now that the character has formed this habit, what happens when they can’t get a drink for XYZ reason? Or another way to show that is how much time they actually think about alcohol. It’s one thing to say “I need a drink” after having an awful day, and entirely another to say that at any mild inconvenience.

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Anonymous #5 7w

Gotcha gotcha. So it’s more of building their addiction around their personality as well as how the addiction alters their personality

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Anonymous #5 7w

In the beginning, I used to drink to cope with bad things and celebrate good times. Think birthdays and funerals — big social occasions. That incrementally spiraled into “I ‘earned’ a drink for making it through the day” even if it was just a regular day. When developing an addiction, it becomes shockingly easy to justify any reason to give into it because it consciously or subconsciously occupies so much of your thinking.

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Anonymous OP 7w

Yeah that’s a good way of thinking it. Like alcohol starts off as a facet of your lifestyle and personality and then slowly becomes an increasingly dominant influence/ factor.

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Anonymous #5 7w

Like let’s say this character has a tradition of bar hopping with friends on Fridays, but has to miss it one week. Most people would be sad bc they can’t see their friends. But to a budding alcoholic, there are two causes of upset: 80% bc you’re not seeing friends and 20% bc there goes your socially acceptable excuse to get wasted. As you start succumbing to addiction, soon you’re waaay more upset about not being able to drink than about not seeing your friends. The percentages basically flip.

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