By Sarah Clark

 

In this country we have a rather significant drinking culture; just about anybody could tell you that, probably without even knowing much else about us. As soon as I turned eighteen (and maybe even a tad before) I was a part of it. Fifteen standard drinks in a few hours? No worries. Drinking straight from the bottle? Hell yeah! Wasting over $200 in a night? Sure, why not?

 

For me, the ‘why not’ became apparent with my increasingly regular black outs and extreme unpredictable behaviour. I damaged my reputation and my relationships all in the pursuit of a good time. And you know what the ironic part is? I almost never had a good time.

 

So when I turned twenty and gave up drinking, it may or may not come as a surprise that I found myself entirely capable of having a great time - without ever touching a drop. It wasn’t something that most people understood. I got nagged about ‘finding my limit’ or criticised for just ‘being weak’ or even discovered that people were utterly bewildered that I could meet new people and laugh and dance all night long without being even a little bit intoxicated.

 

Why all this disbelief? Why all the pressure to conform to the social order? According to data from 2010 National Drugs Strategy Household Survey, collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one in five people over the age of 14 consumed alcohol at a level that put them at risk for alcohol related illness or injury over their life time. So basically, one in five people who filled out that survey were not drinking responsibly.

 

Sure, four in five people were then abstaining or drinking in a reasonable manner, but what about that 20% who weren’t? Every other week there is a news story about somebody being injured, victimised or even killed in a drinking related incident and yet the overwhelming attitude of our community is that alcohol consumption is a rite of passage for young Australians. Safe drinking guidelines are utterly ignored and obliterated on a regular basis and instead of showing concern for one another; we’re more likely to high five our friends for their high tolerance to alcohol.

 

From my perspective, everything in life is better sober. The reason? Your connection to it is real. You have more control of your actions, you feel things clearly and you don’t wake up in the morning wondering what you did or why you did it. You just aren’t you when part of your brain is out cold with a bottle of booze. Enjoy an authentic life, consume alcohol in moderation and never ask somebody why they don’t drink, instead, start asking people why they feel like they need to drink at all. You might find that they don’t have an answer or that their answers just don’t add up.

 

Do you think people need to start being held more accountable for their habits? Or would asking questions ruin the great Australian drinking culture?