It’s hard to get in the Christmas spirit when I’m drowning in deadlines but it’s even harder when the Christmas spirit is vodka, and I don’t drink a lot.
Being a 21-year-old university student who hates being drunk is hard enough at the best of times but at Christmas it becomes even more difficult and often quite isolating.
While the number of sober young people seems to be increasing – a 2019 study found that 16% of 16-24s in Scotland do not drink – it does still feel I am very much in the minority.
One of the biggest reasons I stopped is because my dislike of alcohol seems to be a mutual relationship. I would lose my inhibitions and put myself in situations that were dangerous.
One morning I remember waking up having absolutely no recollection of the previous night including how I got home, and I realised that I was lucky to have got home at all. I knew that anything could have happened to me which scared me so much I didn’t drink for three months. After that, I realised I didn’t really miss it.
I am not quite teetotal (I like the option to have a glass of wine with my dinner or at special occasions – although I did spend my 21st birthday having a hot chocolate on Brighton beach) but the build up to Christmas always seems like a mad dash to get jolly for the whole of December. Almost all social events at this time of year revolve around booze and, whilst I can go on a night out sober and enjoy myself, there is often pressure from others to drink.
It’s not just Christmas either. Every work night out I have ever been on sees me being bought shots that I have specifically said I do not want. I have been called a lightweight or even booed if I stopped drinking earlier than everyone else, which I almost always did. I know this is all meant in jest and I don’t take it too seriously but, according to a Drinkaware study, one in ten people have admitted that they avoid social occasions over the festive season due to pressure to drink alcohol.
At the dinner table on December 25, I am usually the only one without an alcoholic drink. But what is wrong with that? Christmas Day is quality time I get to spend with my grandparents, help my mum in the kitchen and eat good food. Of course I want to remember that.
So, instead of getting drunk, I’m happy to sip Appletiser from my wine glass because nothing to me outweighs the feeling of not waking up with a hangover and the inescapable hangxiety (anxiety induced from a hangover).
Not drinking has improved my mental health, my wallet and productivity. Almost all of Sundays are spent either doing university coursework, seeing my friends or family and I’m able to enjoy their company a lot more when I’m not fighting the urge to be sick or fall asleep.
Not being a big drinker at Christmas does come with its challenges but, come the New Year, at least I can say I will be completing dry January with ease.
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