At What Age Can People Start to Drink Alcoholically? It Can Happen at Any Age and is Increasingly a Problem of the Older Generation…..

As a teenager, I was not known for being a heavy drinker. I had my first alcoholic drink at the age of 13 when my sister and brother decided to give me a vodka and lime rather than the lemonade and lime I requested when I attended my first ‘disco’. I did not like the taste at all and can’t really remember feeling any particular effect – perhaps because I took such miniscule sips and took all evening to drink it.

The first time I remember feeling what alcohol could do for me in a more positive way was when I was around 15 and was at a family friend’s house at a social gathering. We were all sitting in his living room drinking his home made wine – which I recall was lemon flavoured. I felt relaxed, more confident and able to speak my mind more freely. Luckily I still exercised some restraint and did not declare the love I suddenly felt for him!

Drinking was Normal…

In my late teens and during my 3 years at university my drinking was relatively ‘normal’. During the week, my academic studies came first and I looked askance at those of my fellow students who frequented the university bars at lunchtime. How could they ever focus on their studying in the afternoon? I did drink at parties and at the weekends in the evenings. Also occasionally at the end of the evening in the week. I rarely got very drunk and only drank to the point of being sick once during all my student years.

Liebfraumilch was in vogue at the time! Perhaps there were a few signs of my enjoying drinking rather too much at this point as I did try to make my own wine on a couple of occasions with a Boots wine kit. I can remember it fizzing out of the top of the demi-john and tasting a bit like paint stripper – but I valiantly drunk it at the end of an evening out nonetheless.

Serious Drinking

I left university and was fortunate enough to get a job in my chosen field almost immediately and, in hindsight, I believe this was the beginning of my serious drinking. I worked for a market research agency, in a marketing and advertising environment. Instead of a canteen, there was a wine bar and drinking at lunchtime was common. A way of getting to know the people you worked with. Not only that, work continued over a glass of wine or two both at lunchtime and in the pub next door at the end of the day. Wine would be brought out during lunchtime or late afternoon meetings.

On Friday lunchtimes we drank quite seriously in the pub until last orders at 3pm. We would then on occasions continue drinking in the office. I recall redoing the work I did on at least one Friday afternoon as I knew it was not of a good enough standard. At this point I became known as a good fun drinker, always up for a drink and a good time. But increasingly my drinking was now becoming a habit. Not only did I drink weekday lunchtimes at work but I was now usually indulging in lunchtime drinking at weekends.

Drink too Much and too Often

In my mid-20s I married and fairly early on my husband made it clear he thought I drank too much and too often. However, he still appreciated the fact that I could join in with the men drinkers at his sports club and was a popular only female member on the hockey tours. They all encouraged me to drink more and it all seemed like good fun at the time. It still did not seem like it was a major problem.

I just joined in and had a good time. Also I did stop when pregnant – though I did not enjoy being pregnant, I think because it stopped my drinking. I allowed myself around 4 glasses of wine a week and I savoured those. As soon as my babies were born (four in total, though  I miscarried 3 times, possibly due to conception related drinking) I thoroughly enjoyed daily drinking sessions throughout my maternity leave.

Drink Dependent

I would say that from my late 30s I had crossed the line and become alcohol dependent. I can even remember the moment at which I admitted to myself that my obsession with having a drink each day was not normal – but it was a number of years after that that I finally had to do something about it.

Now I know that people can become alcoholic at any age – and for some it is not apparent until after they retire. There really is no age at which it is more likely to kick in than any other. People come to treatment for alcoholism at any time from their 20s to their 70s. And if you are an alcoholic of any age, there is no age at which you can safely drink again.

Recovery

The good news is that for those of us happily in recovery, this is not a message of doom and gloom. You can still have fun, laugh and feel alive without drinking. A life free of alcohol means having a lot more energy and time to do other things which are at least as enjoyable as drinking. Never leave you with regrets the next day.  As a recovering alcoholic, I can certainly recommend it!

Call the Haynes Clinic on 01462 851414