Expert: Joseph Lee O. - 1/12/2008

Question
Hi, I'm very new to alcohol and I was wondering if you could help me understand the subject better. Last night
was the first night that I have really drank alcohol. I am a 19 year old male and I'm about 175 pounds. I have
resisted until now. I just went through a rough break up and it was the first time I went out in 3 months. So my
friends eventually got me to drink. And I had 4 cups of beer by the end of the night. I have social anxiety so it is
hard for me to talk to people. But when I drank I met more people than I probably had in the last 2 months. I even
danced with a girl and got her number too, something I have never done before. My question is, do you think I
am at risk of becoming dependent on alcohol if I drink to meet people? I don't think anyone in my family has
been an alcoholic. I was wondering how much is "ok" to drink. Last night I stumbled somewhat but I could also
control it if the need arose. This morning I still feel very slightly dizzy and my head hurts a little bit. Are 4 cups of
beer not too much? What about 5? What about drinking that much on two nights n a row? What is moderate
drinking and what is binge drinking? I was also wondering if alcohol would have any mental effects on me since
I'm 19. I know that it's more than one question but I want to get this right and if I do decide to keep drinking I
want to be relatively healthy about it.

Thank you

Answer
Greetings to you, Micahel(sp?).

You have written:

>> I'm very new to alcohol and I was wondering if you could help me understand the subject better.

Assuming you are wondering about drinking alcohol safely: Yes, I believe I can.

>> Last night was the first night that I have really drank alcohol. I am a 19 year old male and I'm about 175 pounds. I have resisted until now.

I had my own first drink at age 24, and I weighed about 200 at that time.  I had always been told drinking was wrong and dangerous, and I had know of families who had suffered as a result of husbands' and fathers' drinking.  Interestingly, I truly tried to say "No!" to my own first drink but ultimately found myself unable to do so out of fear of what someone else might think or say.  Many years later, I found this in "Alcoholics Anonymous", the book, page 43:

"The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink."

For me, that was true my very first time ever.

>> I just went through a rough break up ... my friends eventually got me to drink.

Drinking to drown sorrows is similar to taking aspirin for a headache: It can temporarily relieve one symptom or another, but any real problem present would have yet to actually be addressed.

>> I had 4 cups of beer by the end of the night.

Assuming those cups were about an hour apart, that does not sound to me like excessive or problematic drinking.

>> I have social anxiety so it is hard for me to talk to people.

Now *that* could stem from an underlying problem needing to be addressed.

>> When I drank I met more people than I probably had in the last 2 months.

Yes, and I would guess nearly all of them were drinking also.  To one degree or another, alcohol and drugs are for people who cannot handle reality ... and I would doubt you want the social center of your life dependent upon drunkenness.

>> I even danced with a girl and got her number too, something I have never done before.

Alcohol is indiscriminant in its release of inhibitions, it can greatly cloud good judgment (such as while driving or dropping money on the table) and it can even temporarily make just about anyone appear to be a princess.  So then, it is wise to make all decisions and choices while completely sober-minded rather than under the influence of alcohol.

>> My question is, do you think I am at risk of becoming dependent on alcohol if I drink to meet people?

Yes, anyone who drinks to interact with others could eventually become dependent upon alcohol for doing more of the same just as people can become dependent upon pain medications rather than doing what it takes to discover and actually resolve their problem(s).

>> I don't think anyone in my family has been an alcoholic.

Genetic predispositions can be present for some people, but those kinds of factors are not always readily visible.  There are people with predispositions that preclude them from ever drinking at all ... and now it looks like neither you nor I have any of those, eh?!  In any case, and without saying this is also your own:

I was essentially a "sitting duck" ultimately unable to move from harm's way even though neither of my parents or any of my grandparents ever drank.

>> I was wondering how much is "ok" to drink.

Physically, I have heard the human body is *usually* able to metabolize about one normal-sized drink (containing one ounce of alcohol) per hour without any lingering *physical* damage to body organs.  The pancreas produces enzymes employed by the liver, and the alcohol eventually leaves the body as water (urine), carbon-dioxide (breath) and sugar (energy or fat).  However, and here is where the physical aspect of true alcoholism enters this picture ...

In certain people such as myself, there is an abnormal body chemistry that can either be present from the beginning or develop over time as drinking continues.  In such people, insufficient quantities and qualities of digestive enzymes can result in an actual "physical trigger" being developed and stored in the brain to be later "set off" by the next incoming drink.  Hence, one drink eventually becomes "too many" for an alcoholic since a thousand would then not be enough.

Emotionally, I would be inclined to say it is "okay" to drink as much as anyone could truly do without ... but then what would be the point of drinking at all?!

>> Last night I stumbled somewhat but I could also control it if the need arose.

With the matter of metabolization aside: The more someone can drink and remain in relative control, the more that person could be in danger of excessive drinking.  Personally, I eventually became a "volume drinker" who could drink just about anybody under the table and then drive him or her home without wrecking the car.  To say that in another way:

When "normal" people drink very much at all, they usually get an uneasy, out-of-control feeling.  In stark contrast, alcohol took away my "uneasy, out-of-control" feelings while sober and fueled my delusion of being quite at ease and "in charge" while drinking.

>> This morning I still feel very slightly dizzy and my head hurts a little bit.

Alcohol is a poison to the human body, and your body is/was still suffering its presence within.

>> Are 4 cups of beer not too much? What about 5? What about drinking that much on two nights n a row? What is moderate drinking and what is binge drinking?

I believe I have already addressed those kinds of questions, but please do not hesitate to ask again if you believe I have not.

>> I was also wondering if alcohol would have any mental effects on me since I'm 19.

Kind of like turning cucumbers into pickles, excessive amounts of alcohol can eventually destroy (permanently dehydrate) the brain in which the mind resides.  I believe bodies are considered "fully developed" a little later in life, but I have yet to hear of an occasional drink significantly interfering with that as one enters into full adulthood.  As to mental effects, however, yes, there are some dangers when alcohol and the human ego become an alloy:

"I studied economics and business as well as law.  Potential alcoholic that I was, I nearly failed my law course.  At one of the finals I was too drunk to think or write.  Though my drinking was not yet continuous, it disturbed my wife.  We had long talks when I would still her forebodings by telling her that men of genius conceived their best projects when drunk; that the most majestic constructions of philosophic thought were so derived.
"By the time I had completed the course, I knew the law was not for me.  The inviting maelstrom of Wall Street had me in its grip.  Business and financial leaders were my heroes.  Out of this alloy of drink and [ambitious] speculation, I commenced to forge the weapon that one day would turn in its flight like a boomerang and all but cut me to ribbons." (From "Bill's Story" in "Alcoholics Anonymous", the book, page 2)

This matter of "mental effects" can easily be a lengthy discussion in itself, but yes, our minds can be greatly affected by "spirits".

>> I know that it's more than one question but I want to get this right and if I do decide to keep drinking I want to be relatively healthy about it.

Here are two "tests" you can print out and either hang on the wall or carry with you at all times to be sure about yourself for the remainder of your life:

1) "We do not like to pronounce any individual as [physically] alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself.  Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking.  Try to drink [no more than one drink per hour] and stop abruptly [after no more than three or four].  Try it more than once [on different days].  It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it.  It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition." (pages 31-32)

2) "As we look back, we feel we had gone on drinking many years beyond the point where we could quit [altogether] on our [own] will power.  If anyone questions whether he has entered this dangerous area, let him try leaving liquor (alcohol) alone [completely] for one year.  If he is a real alcoholic and very far advanced [in his emotional or mental dependence], there is scant chance of success.  In the early days of our drinking we occasionally remained sober for a year or more, becoming serious drinkers again later.  Though you may be able to stop for a considerable period, you may yet be a potential alcoholic.  We think few, to whom this book will appeal, can stay dry anything like a year.  Some will be drunk the day after making their resolutions; most of them within a few weeks." (page 34)

I commend you for asking the questions you have, and I look forward to any future correspondence we might have if any time might ever come that even your own very life might be as dependent upon it as is mine.

Peace to you,

Joseph Lee O.
leejosepho@hotmail.com