Binge Drinking Like Your Teenage Self?

How can you re-anchor freedom and adventure with healthier behaviours?

Meg and I had terrific downloads and emails responding to our Binge Drinking Podcast episode and I’ve being thinking about it a lot of late.

A quick recap, binge drinking is defined as drinking more than 4 standard drinks in one session and  is characterised as drinking quickly with the intention of getting drunk.

So there really exists that desire to escape, numb out, abandon yourself and your responsibilities to some extent.

Drinking for the majority of us (not all though) started with binge drinking. We tended to knock it back quickly within limited time-frames without parents knowing. There was a hint of secrecy about it and it often came with a rebellious and adventurous feeling that embedded us within our tribe, and appealed to our need to spread our wings and operate autonomously from our parents and society.

In counselling speak: our feelings of adventure and freedom were anchored / attached with binge drinking behaviours.

It’s no secret that binge drinking is embedded within the fabric of Australian society. The cultural incentives, like pub promotions and discount nights, are designed to lure in the young and impressionable, further entrenching dangerous drinking patterns.

As we get a little older and our kids become more independent, many of us long to tap into something more adventurous and fun to escape the routine and drudgery of life.

So is it any wonder, our instincts are to go back in time to when we last felt adventurous and carefree, when possibilities felt limitless (or to go back the the behaviour where those feelings are anchored?). If alcohol was always involved in these formative moments, then it’s no wonder that we use alcohol now to try to tap back into that wild side.

I certainly found myself drinking like a teenager with my mum’s groups at long lunches, trivia nights and school fundraisers. It was honestly like being back in my wild crazy years on the dance floor and smoking the cigarettes. Ouch…

In hindsight, I was craving freedom, adventure, validation and laughter. Not to get too deep here … but my inner child needed a bit of expression! It certainly didn’t need endless bottles of champagne, sleepless nights and spiralling self confidence. I needed something purposeful to do as well.

What’s more, and I say this often, there is nothing more rebellious in my books than not drinking!

So if any of this resonates, just a query – in what other ways could you source adventure in your life that allows you to honour the autonomy and rebellious freedom you may be seeking?

Comedy nights? Bands? Early morning swims? Singing? Dancing? I’d love to hear them!

How can you re-anchor your adventurous spirit to new healthier (yet perhaps still a little crazy) behaviours?

Yours faithfully