So for those unfamiliar with the acronym, fear of missing out. I definitely used alcohol as a crutch for socialisation (autism, and when I drink, I don’t feel so autistic). I have been out to a pub / karoake night and successfully not drunk alcohol, twice so far.
When I think about the future and the idea of ‘never drinking alcohol again’ it makes me feel a little sad. I imagine all the fun nights out I used to have, that I won’t have anymore… I imagine sitting around sighing, twiddling my thumbs while everyone has raucous fun.
I don’t feel like these are unreasonable worries, so hoping for some insights to puncture them. My main weapon to fight back is to imagine how I feel the morning after (nauseous, pounding head, sweating) and how that day is wasted; then to remind myself that drinking kicks me into a manic phase, with inevitable week+ of depression to follow.
I used to know a guy called Brian, friend of the family… he was always the life and soul of every party despite being teetotal. Always admired him, maybe that should be my mantra… “WWBD?”
I think many of us used alcohol as a crutch for social situations. I recently tried CBD drinks, which don’t get you high, and found I can still have one out with friends at the pub. As they get slower and slower from the alcohol, suddenly I’m funny. It’s like the playing field has been leveled, and suddenly I’m just so much more insightful -because I’m sober-.
That’s a really good shout. I also have heard on the Always Sunny podcast, they mentioned a drink made by someone who quit drinking but didn’t want to feel left out of getting a buzz on called ‘Feel Free’ but I did some reading on it, and it appears that their ‘proprietary blend of herbs’ is actually mostly just kratom :/
I also looked into some other leading ‘adaptagen’ drinks and it seems like they’re not suitable for people taking an SSRI which is a shame, the Kin range looks really interesting. I had a look for the city I’ll be moving to, and they have a bunch of bars which do CBD cocktails / mocktails so perhaps I’m being pessimistic with a FOMO attitude.