http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25652991

How many of you drink? I was largely out off from an early age when I used to see what it did to my father. Then whilst I tried it in Uni, I found I was becoming more like he was. So I stopped. Completely.

I might have a beer every week or every other week at best. Then a night out with colleagues every other month. Not much at all.

I can go weeks without drinking and when I do I might have one or two beers.

We're both classic binge-drinkers according to the NHS. We don't drink anything at all for weeks at a time, then we'll have people over for dinner one weekend and over the course of about 6 hours we'll polish off a couple of beers and a bottles of wine each, then we'll switch to spirits and I'll usually drink mead while the guys drink whisky, I never feel drunk when I go to bed (room spinny, vomity drunk) and I don't have hang-overs, then we'll be dry again until we have people over again. It's usually about every 6-8 weeks or so.

Binge drinking != alcohol abuse

I rarely drink during the week but will have a good knees-up now and then, or a few after work around pay day or after a rough week

Well, you could argue it is (i.e. that it's an abusive use of alcohol to drink a lot of it in one go) but it's not the same as being an alcoholic for example.

I'm pretty much the same as Zippy.

I don't drink at all for weeks at a time. But when I go out I'll drink a lot and generally feel fine the morning after.

I drank a lot at uni (though rarely was I wasted).
Now I work and have a family I just don't have time for it. I drink once a month at most.

I generally have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner but that's about it.

Drinking more than the lower risk guidelines amount in one sitting is defined as binge drinking
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the- ... uidelines/

2 pints and you are over 4 units if it's anything over 4%

2 pints every friday after work and I'd be classed as a binge drinker, hardly an abusive use of alcohol

I'd hardly argue 2 pints in one sitting is abuse, however it's all subjective, Andre the Giant used to be a legendary drunk, drank 119 beers in a 6 hour sitting, 7000 calories in booze alone a day
http://www.drunkard.com/issues/10_06/10 ... giant.html

As a teen and early 20s, I rarely drank, most times when we went out, I'd be driving, so I'd drink orange juice or water.

When I was away on business in hotels, I'd sometimes drink a couple of beers with the others. I generally had to drink a lot of alcohol to get drunk (on my 21st, the office had never seen me drunk, so they were plying me with double vodkas all evening, after 3 beers and 18 double Vs, I was the only one coherent enough to organise taxis to get everybody home), so I pretty much stayed with OJ without the vodka, saved money and didn't have to get a taxi home.

One of my ex-girlfriends was an alcoholic. That wasn't a good experience.

These days, I probably drink half a bottle of wine every couple of months.

I also had an alcoholic exgirlfriend. Not great fun when she was drunk, she got angry a lot.

Today I drink around 1 unit a day or less. Nothing too extreme so a fraction of my recommended daily limit. I think I am a lightweight when it comes to drinking but do not mind as i can get drunk really quickly but not enough to get a hangover. Years ago you would hear comments about people not trusting non drinkers. Not heard that for a while.

Under normal circumstances I go to the pub about once a month with some mates and jump straight into the binge drinking category (maybe 4 or 5 pints in the evening) but I don't feel terribly drunk or tend to have a hangover the next day. Other than that I don't drink at all unless someone is having a party or celebrating something. I'll normally have a couple of beers if I go out for a meal with friends as well but that doesn't tend to happen very often.

When I see my mates from 'back home' then there is usually one or two heavy sessions but I tend to switch to soft drinks if I start feeling like it's gone too far.

As I live on my own I won't drink in the house as I feel that's possibly the start of a downwards spiral I could do without.
Shame people seem to think getting me beer or wine is a good idea.

It took me a long time to drop that rule.

I had that rule as well, something that my mother always said as I was growing up.

When I was alone in Bavaria, I would very occasionally buy a bottle of wine or a couple of bottles of beer, but that was usually every couple of months.

The last crate of beer we bought is still in the cellar and is past its best before date, whilst still being over half full - we bought it for a birthday party, but only 2 bottles were drunk during the party.