Rethinking Drinking

[Patrick Bauer]

Do you enjoy a drink now and then? Many of us do, often when socializing with friends and family. Drinking can be beneficial or harmful, depending on your age and health status, and, of course, how much you drink.

For anyone who drinks, this site offers valuable, research-based information. What do you think about taking a look at your drinking habits and how they may affect your health?

http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/default.asp

The drink calorie calculator and how many drinks are in common containers tables are worth the visit.

[Jack]

I call BS.

I usually have a few drinks once or twice a week. I exceed the 4 drinks limit no more than 10 times a year and I'm at "higher risk". BS, I'm a light to moderate drinker. The bonehead who put this together has no concept of what a real heavy drinker drinks.

[Hagbard Celine]

Originally Posted by Jack

I call BS.

I usually have a few drinks once or twice a week. I exceed the 4 drinks limit no more than 10 times a year and I'm at "higher risk". BS, I'm a light to moderate drinker. The bonehead who put this together has no concept of what a real heavy drinker drinks.

I'm with you buddy.

[Abused Student]

Why would anybody want to rethink their drinking?

[Patrick Bauer]

Originally Posted by Jack

I call BS.

I usually have a few drinks once or twice a week. I exceed the 4 drinks limit no more than 10 times a year and I'm at "higher risk". BS, I'm a light to moderate drinker. The bonehead who put this together has no concept of what a real heavy drinker drinks.

from the website

The Rethinking Drinking Web site and booklet have been produced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health. The NIAAA is the lead U.S. agency supporting research on the causes, consequences, prevention, and treatment of alcohol-related problems. The content of Rethinking Drinking draws largely from the results of major NIAAA population studies and clinical trials.

The main target audience for Rethinking Drinking is the 3 in 10 U.S. adults who drink more than the low-risk limits. Of these drinkers, about 1 in 4 already has alcoholism or alcohol abuse, and the rest are at greater risk for these and other health problems.

Many of these drinkers may be unaware that their drinking habits are putting them at risk for alcohol-related problems. Some may already have symptoms of an alcohol use disorder without recognizing them. Others may know that their drinking is causing problems, but don't know where to turn for help in cutting back or quitting. Rethinking Drinking provides evidence-based information for all of these people, along with support for making a change.

[Person Man]

Brian: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Brian: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Brian: Now, **** off!

[Patrick Bauer]

Originally Posted by Abused Student

Why would anybody want to rethink their drinking?

1. More bang for the buck.
2. Know your strengths, know your limitations
3. To meet chicks.
4. Be cool, not a tool or a drunken fool.
5. To get a Masters in Buzz Enhancement.

Originally Posted by Jack

I call BS.

I usually have a few drinks once or twice a week. I exceed the 4 drinks limit no more than 10 times a year and I'm at "higher risk". BS, I'm a light to moderate drinker. The bonehead who put this together has no concept of what a real heavy drinker drinks.

Well, if you go through a few more screens, you will see that if you drink more than 4 drinks in a day about once a month, they think your risk of alcohol problems is 1/5. That's certainly "higher risk" than the population at large, but it's not like they think you're a lost cause.

Of course, they seem to think I "never drink" because I said that in a typical week I have zero drinks. Which is true, but I also reported that on days when I drink I typically have 2 drinks, so you'd think it would figure out that I drink from time to time. So I'm a little dubious about how to interpret these numbers.

[FormLetter]

I don't think the designers of the website had the forethought to allow people to input an empirical distribution of their drinks/wk.

Therefore it is flawed.

[Quasi]

Originally Posted by Jack

I call BS.

I usually have a few drinks once or twice a week. I exceed the 4 drinks limit no more than 10 times a year and I'm at "higher risk". BS, I'm a light to moderate drinker. The bonehead who put this together has no concept of what a real heavy drinker drinks.

If you input that you have exceeded the 4 drink limit once in the past year and that you normally drink 0 days per week it still says you are at a "higher risk". That's its definition....anyone who ever drinks more than 4 drinks in a day is at higher risk.

I agree with the BS call.