Drinking and your life
Grimy male-dominated pubs are out and sleek bars are in. There are more and more places to enjoy a great night out with friends and switch off from the rest of the day – and from life! But with the abundance of appealing mixtures, spirits and decent wine at lower prices, it’s easy to drink too much. If the Unit Calculator shows you’re over-doing it, think about how
alcohol may be affecting your life as well as your health – it may be having the opposite effect to what you want. Alcohol is a
depressant and lowers your inhibitions – a fairly
toxic mix. After drinking as little as 2 or 3 units, your emotions and your sense of judgement will be affected.
Your relationships
We all feel more
emotional after drinking too much, especially as alcohol is a depressant, and things often feel worse than they are in reality. With lower inhibitions, we are more likely to argue with others. Is your behaviour putting a strain on your relationships with your partner, your family, friends and colleagues?
Your judgement
Do you take risks you’d never contemplate when sober? You may disregard the serious danger of walking home through a remote area. You might have sex and regret it. And if you forgot to use a condom, you risk
unwanted pregnancy and catching a
sexually transmitted disease.
Your career
As your body recovers the next day, your performance at work will be affected as it can be hard to concentrate. You risk turning up late and smelling of stale
alcohol. This will affect the way your boss sees you and, if it happens repeatedly, could threaten your job security or harm your career. It will also affect how your colleagues see you – you could become the object of office gossip.
