At what age did you slow down or stop drinking, and why?

39 comments

  1. After giving birth pretty much. Can’t be drunk and take care of your kids if there is an emergency.

  2. I (19F) started thinking about being sober at 18y/o because I’ve been drinking since 13y/o and this past year I spent a lot of time researching about self development, stoicism and trying to overcome some depressive episodes. Being someone who drinks alcohol doesn’t match with the version of myself I want to achieve.

    I want to train my discomfort and discipline, and I don’t want to rely on the drunk version of myself. Also, lately I’ve been really concerned about my health and currently thinking and making decisions based on the long term so yeah.

    Now I’m 5 weeks sober. I have never been an alcoholic but sometimes wanted the comfort it gave me. I think it’s more rewarding to create that comfort zone myself.

  3. Slowed way down in my 40s because the hangovers are fucking brutal now and I don’t have 2 days to burn every time I have 4 cocktails.

  4. Around 23 probably

    It just didn’t fit my life style to heavily drink. My husband and I usually share a bottle of wine on Friday nights. Then a couple drinks at dinner on Saturday.

    Rarely we get hammered. That usually only happens a couple times a year at weddings or if a friend is throwing a party.

  5. I didn’t drink from 20 to 23 and then again from 25 until now. I don’t drink when my agoraphobia is bad because it makes it spiral a lot. I’m probably one of the few people who can say that drinking a lot would be a sign of improving mental health lmao

  7. I partied my fucking ass off until I finished college at 25, then I focused purely on working and saving money to move to my dream location

    Now I don’t drink that much, where I live now has pretty heavy anti-drinking laws, you can only buy a certain amount of booze and places are unable to serve any past 10:30 PM.

  8. Around 25, when I finished college. Work friends were less party people than my school friends, so I got out less.
    Then I realised the health and financial benefits of not drinking a lot and kept those habits.

  11. After partying my way through university, I lost almost all interest in alcohol around 23. I hate being hungover and I used to basically just drink to get drunk, not because I actually like alcohol

  12. Around 26? I barely drink anymore because it gives me the feeling of being on the edge of a headache. I’d also rather just have Pepsi or something.

  13. Around 24. I still have the occasional drink but I don’t go out with the intention of drinking to get drunk. I’ll meet friends for a drink or two but that’s about extreme as it gets.

    Being drunk interest me and it’s expensive to drink all the time. I’d prefer to drink less alcohol and use the money for other things.

  14. I was 23 when my attitude to alcohol changed.My son was born and my first hangover with a new born was horrific. By the third hangover I realised I was no longer enjoying drinking. I’m now 38 with 3 children. I’ve drank maybe 4 times since then, but never gotten drunk.

  15. Honestly like 18, after taking a health class and realizing how bad drinking is for you. Not just being drunk and lowering inhibitions and falling, but the fact that these are just empty calories. My family has a history of short life spans due to health (and a few due to cirrhosis), and I am very conscious to stay healthy

  16. I cut back last year after I got covid for halloween. My taste buds still haven’t gone back to normal and my go-to drinks (seltzers or hazy ipa) taste like shit.

    I did dry january but still drink now, just nowhere near as much as I used to.

    I like mead a lot more now 🙂 and vodka/soda water.

  17. I began drinking when I was 17. My friend group drank a lot and so I just fit in. When I got married at 22 to someone who didn’t drink, I began drinking less. Drinking alone is never fun for a 22 year old. I didn’t drink for years because of it.

    After I got divorced at 32 I began drinking again, nothing outrageous though. There were only a couple of occasions where I got stupidly drunk. Being a single mother was, of course, hard and I began coping by drinking. It got really messy at times and I decided that I needed to quit while I was ahead. My mother and father were both unpleasant alcoholics and I never wanted to be the parent that they were. I stopped almost a year ago.

  19. 23. Because I was getting shakes in the morning and my life was getting more and more out of control.

    I got arrested for making “terrorist threats” 🙄 really I was calling and calling my cheating ex and telling him how I would ruin his life.

    I was in a blackout and only remember snippets.

    The prosecutor wanted to give me like 5 year’s probation, but when the judge saw me standing there all 100lbs with a Hello Kitty purse he dropped it to a year, an anger management class. He also dropped the charge down to something like “harassing phone calls”

  20. My peak drinking was from 18-21 when I was binge drinking at least once a week but often more like 2-3.

    I started to slow down by 22 because I was going into my last year at university and my best friend (and drinking parter in crime) was going to college in a different city. I just buckled down to try and do well my last year. Plus the bar scene got boring. Drinking and going to the same bars every weekend got repetitive. And I remember already feeling “old” as more and more bar goers were clearly freshmen.

    And then at 23 I got diagnosed with mental illnesses and went on an SSRI and my doctor told me that drinking would a.) Interfere with the SSRI and b.) Make me feel more anxious after drinking. I felt my absolute worst at that time and was desperate to feel better so I stopped drinking for about a year.

    I tried drinking after that but it’s not the same. Alcohol, no matter what kind and how much I consume, just gives me brain fog and makes me feel tired. Not a nice feeling, especially when at social events. Then last year my boyfriend went through gastric bypass surgery and is not supposed to ever drink now.

    So I’m 31 now and we are an alcohol free household and I don’t miss it at all.

  22. 24 going on 25 quit drinking and smoking cigs November 2020. Didn’t want to anymore, didn’t like the feeling of getting drunk, I have health issues and on top of it had two kids. I found out at 21 I have a malrotated kidney on my right side functioning at 20%, my left is normal but at 70% function. I get tons of urinary and bacterial infections it was better just to stop. Currently trying to stop drinking pop cold turkey as well.

  24. Early 30s.. realised I was just putting on weight, adding to health problems, feeling ‘heavy’ and lethargic and just generally not liking myself.

    It was due to a bunch of reasons but I figured cutting out alcohol would be like an easy and significant change to start with.

    I still drink but like rarely.. on birthdays or so, and just a drink or two..

  25. 22-23. I realized that drinking just wasn’t worth losing sleep or feeling sick anymore. I still occasionally have a drink but never get to the point where I know I’d be hungover the next day.

  27. 20, I’d been drinking like once-multiple times a week before. Cut it back significantly, I think last year (22) I only drank about 6 times lol

  28. 22. I was in my final year of college and drinking just didn’t serve me anymore. I was tired of using it to numb myself and I was tired of not feeling like I could control it and feeling shitty all the time the day after. I had goals I wanted to chase after instead and to feel good when I woke up in the morning.

  30. Started slowing down at 24. I’m 25 now. Just got over spending money on drinks and going to nightclubs. I got over the petty drama that would start from friends. Guess I just got older and started seriously thinking of saving up for a car and a house. I’ll have a social drink every now and then. But I don’t drink to the excess I did when I was 18.

  32. I didn’t drink for almost a year at 26 because of severe anxiety. I started again when I thought I could handle it but realizing again at 28 that it just isn’t worth it for me anymore.

  33. My drinking patterns ebb and flow.

    In early 20s I drank a lot but it was fun with friend gatherings and cookouts.

    I was pregnant at age 25 so obviously zero drinking.
    Then I had a baby to be responsible for so I never drank much just a bit socially.

    A few years later I drank a bit more.

    Then I was pregnant again and went back to zero.

    I enjoy drinking in moderation. Tonight I walked around a friend’s farm drinking a two glass bottle of champagne.

  34. I just never really got into booze. Tried some in college, but nowhere near as much as other students. It just wasn’t my scene. Didn’t like boorish behavior. Didn’t like a nauseated stomach. Probably dabbled with alcohol less than 10 times total in those 4 years.

    Other than baked goods that have some boozey finish, no alcohol since age 22.

  36. I’ve never really enjoyed clubbing and binge drinking so I did it a bit in my teens and during my university years but now I only ever drink up to 3 drinks in any one day.

    I’m a bad drunk too – I always either end up getting overly emotional and crying over nothing or I’ll pick fights and argue with people all night so its just not worth the hassle for me.

  37. Never started. I get addicted to things very easily and I like not drinking to death.

  38. I had my first drink on a camping trip after graduating. I had a crush who snagged my friend under my nose for a week and got really drunk to forget it all, and I was so sick the following day it put me off drinking for good. I now have a couple cocktails and a few (3-4 tops) chilled rosé per year.

  39. I was 34 and pregnant with my fist child. I’m now 38 and have two kids and don’t really have the urge to drink.

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