Why do people drink alcohol?

+13 votes
asked Apr 3, 2018 in Food & Drink by Ashton (470 points)
edited Oct 11, 2018
They are bitter and difficult to drink, I just don’t like them. It’s not “acquired taste”, it’s peer pressure. How about other people? Why do people drink alcohol?

3 Answers

+18 votes
answered Sep 18, 2018 by Edith (710 points)
edited Jun 10, 2019

There could be much reason on why do people drink alcohol, but these are the ones I can think right off my head:

They do have a good taste. People who enjoy drinking often also enjoy the taste of cold beer, a glass of wine or a cocktail. Be it for food pairing or just the drink by itself.

There is also the social aspect of drinking. We could drink in a bar with friends or at a night club. It’s just the norm to drink in these situations, or at least we make it natural. Having a good time with alcohol often goes together subconsciously, that is probably how people end up liking alcohol themselves

Alcohol helps you to relax, to lose that daily anxiety and stress, makes you more spontaneous and courageous. People have more fun under alcohol because they are likely to put themselves in fun situations they would not do otherwise.

There is also the peer pressure I guess, especially among the youth. You are pressured to drink to a harmful amount, ends up getting people forcibly hooked on it.

+9 votes
answered Oct 19, 2018 by DoloresHoney (480 points)
edited Jul 7, 2019

I enjoy alcohol because different beers have different taste and I love the taste of alcoholic drinks. You do need to train your palate to have true appreciation for wine. Beer varieties are delicious and hard liquors are great for mixing drinks. Some alcohol is excellent with food, maybe a Cabernet to pair a rare steak.

I also agree that alcohol can be a drug. It makes you feel more outgoing and relaxed yet there a danger of addiction. It makes you feel better no matter what is going on in your life. So I am always wary of how much I drink and the timing as well.

+1 vote
answered Jun 17, 2019 by Julianna (1,200 points)
edited Jun 20, 2019

The reasons people drink are more often than not just excuses.

People think drinking can help to deal with problems. But tbh, it is a way to escape them, to forget about them. Alcohol makes your mind goes fuzzy and helps people forget what troubles them, for a while anyway. The problems remain unsolved the next day. Alcohol does not fix what is wrong, it just makes it worse, because you are potentially adding alcoholism to your list of problems.

Many people think it’s cool to drink. The truth is, drinking isn’t “cool” by any stretch of the imagination. That’s just a lie the “cooler” people so they seem cool to people. Drinking makes you have slurred speech, clumsy, saying things that you don’t mean (or being honest which might be worse) and even throwing up.

Alcohol does not keep you warm but gives the illusion of doing so. You blood vessels are closer to your skin with drinking and so you lose body heat. Drinking makes your entire body colder, not warm.

And those excuses are often used by people to answer why do people drink alcohol. Perhaps they never think alcohol has been given wrong impressions to them. Meh

Welcome to Instant Answer, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community.
...