by Lisa Lemke

Created on: January 09, 2008

The day started off terrible you had a fight with your teenage daughter about her new boyfriend, your wife told you that you need to spend more time at home. Finally, you get to the office to confront the piles of paper left over from yesterday, and then your boss decides to criticize your lack of performance. Finally it is five o'clock in the evening and you plan on going home sitting in your recliner and having a drink or two, just to relax and unwind.

Many people do exactly that; they come home and have a glass of wine or a beer to unwind. For most people this is where their drinking ends. They make up with their daughter and wife and go to bed ready to take on the next day. They may or may not have another drink the following evening after work.

Another familiar scenario is that of the social drinker. When the social drinker gets together with family and friends they have a few drinks and have a good time. They may have 1 drink or they may have 4 drinks, it doesn't really concern them because it is only something they do once in a while when they see friends and it is a way to have a few laughs and have a good time.

A third group of drinkers are what can be called the "weekend warriors". They usually don't drink much throughout the week but use Friday, and or Saturday nights as a reward for a hard weeks work. It is party time and these people sometimes binge drink to the point of being hungover the next day. Monday rolls around and they resume their regular schedules and may drink throughout the week or not. Friday then comes again and it's party time. For these people alcohol may be a reward for a job well done the rest of the week.

Probably every one of us can identify either ourselves or someone we know who fall into one of these categories. These are the most common and socially acceptable ways for a person to consume alcohol. While any of the above situations can be described as a habit, because of the pattern to the drinking, that habit in itself is neither good nor bad. In fact, a habit can be any action we perform repeatedly. For some people making their bed as soon as they get up in the morning is a habit. The action itself is neutral it is how we think of our habits that make a difference.

The vast majority of people can use alcohol in a generally positive way. They may have a drink after work or be a "weekend warrior" but they still lead happy and productive lives and may not think about alcohol at all unless they're in a place where it is present.

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