Alcohol ?

[ghstlght74]

Question. . .why does it seem that rampant alcoholism is commonplace amongst the gay community??

Comments

[artkouros]

I don't know any alcoholics - maybe you hang out with the wrong crowd?

[ghstlght74]

I don't hang out with any crowd *sighs*. . .just querying off of what I see here on LJ, and elsewhere.

[artkouros]

I'd be very depressed if I thought that LJ was representative of RL.

[dendren]

I don't think it's much higher than in any other community. I think alcoholism is pretty rampant nowadays all over... sigh of the times?

[ghstlght74]

Maybe. . .I do know that if given the access and the funds I probably would end up a drunk. I've had some incidents in the past that have scared me.

It just seems from my point of view that it's just more prevalent in our community. We (in the broad term) tend to build our community around alcohol. Everything we do involves alcohol in some way. It's as if we can't survive socially without it.

[snikelfritzz]

I've never been overly involved with alcohol. Turned 21 earlier this month and I've been to one bar and had a total of three drinks there and since combined. even before I was 'legal' I didn't have much to do with it...

but I do see what you mean

[kishenehn]

I don't think it is, at all. But your question seems to be structured in a way to generate or strengthen a false stereotype. :(

[ghstlght74]

*rereads the question* I suppose you are correct. It's just something that has been on my mind for several years now. It seemed that my old social group in Jacksonville couldn't survive without alcohol. . .it was at everything we did together. And since I seem to have nothing to do but skim through random LJ pages, I see lots of entries that deal with alcohol and the consumption of alcohol.

See what happens when I get bored. :-(

[leolz]

Wow, that's a pretty pretentious, if not soap-boxy stance.

People like to drink. They also still maintain their professional lives, responsibilities and their relationships.

What's the problem here?

[ghstlght74]

*sighs*

I didn't mean to sound pretentious. Should I remove the question?

I'm sorry, this is just something that has weighed on my mind for several years now. I have always seemed to be involved in groups that revolved around alcohol. I can never seem to find a social situation or gay friends, that don't involve alcohol. I personally believe that it was excessive drinking on my part that led to the incident that infected me as I have no recollection of either who or how or when I could have gotten infected. Then again I also have a family history of alcoholism and do recognize the signs in myself. For example, I once drank 4 gin gimlets and a shot of tequila in the span of 45 minutes. As I sat there under the air conditioner as my entire body broke out into a sweat and then driving to an after party that involved more alcohol, I realized I had a problem.

Maybe this question does externalize an internal bias I have developed towards alcohol in general. I do realize also that I'm painting with a very wide brush here. Maybe artkouros

[khrysso]

The question may not be worded the best, but it's certainly not a soap-boxy "stance," and what are you accusing Greg of pretending? The question has been being asked about the gay community longer than any of us have been alive (and I, for the record, am nearly 49). If you want to deconstruct his premise, there are lots better ways of doing it than by all but calling him names

[leolz]

Honestly, I'm not even sure how exactly you drew all that much information from the original post. It was a pointed statement intended to make himself feel better about himself. That is all.

Yes. Alcoholism is a problem for some people. But to say it's a problem for an entire community exclusively is ridiculous.