[houseinthesky]

> If you struggle talking to people Like I have, have a few drinks. That's been my experience anyway.

This is a lot of people's experience... and a whole lot of us really, really, really regret it years later. Alcohol is an incredibly dangerous and insidious tool to use for social anxiety. It works great at first, so you ignore the negative effects. But over time, it makes everything worse.

Drinking alcohol decreases anxiety initially, but over time causes the body to raise base anxiety levels. It also lowers testosterone, messes with the lining of the gut and gut microbiome (which can also increase anxiety and negatively impact mood due to the strong gut-brain axis of emotional regulation and signaling) and negatively impacts numerous other parts of the body.

My education around "alcohol is bad" was either warnings about bad behavior while inebriated or vague intangible health risks in the distant future, both of which were easy to ignore. Sharing because I wish someone had informed me that the drink in my 20s to temporarily blunt social anxiety would make my life so much worse by my 30s.

[mtlmtlmtlmtl]

I'm not suggesting becoming an alcoholic, which I am not. But I have become addicted to other drugs before for similar reasons. But to say that light-to-moderate drinking will seriously worsen your life is a bit hyperbolic. It can very much help if your anxiety is so bad you can't even bring yourself to say hello to someone and if someone does, you disappear up your own a-hole. That used to be me. Alcohol helped me take that initial step of talking to anyone at all, about anything, ever. Once I did, I got more practice and I managed to get more comfortable talking to people even when sober.

One unit of alcohol can be sufficient. No need to get drunk or even be around other people who are drinking.

Drinking is just like anything else. It can be a tool or a crutch. The really hard thing me was it was so bad I couldn't even have a meaningful conversation with a therapist. And meds were a total waste of time for me(though I very much recommend trying if you think they might help).

I don't want to trivialise your experiences, but you might be unintentionally trivialising my experiences too, though I'm not at all offended :)

Strangely enough, I never even began to approach any risk of addiction with alcohol. It's puzzling to me because I get easily addicted to just about anything else, even weed.

[mancerayder]

Somewhat of a Puritanical/ probably very American take on alcohol. Most European cultures have alcohol baked into lunch and dinner meals from the teenage years, and those countries seem to have better health metrics than Americans do.

Having a few drinks is not inebriation, that's all-or-nothing thinking.

Have a few drinks to reduce social anxiety except if you're prone to addictive behaviors (in which case there are a suite of things to watch out for).