'An alcoholic?! Me?! No way!'

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

A barrio acquaintance, one who is not only very fond of marijuana and the hip psychedelic tusi but has also been a petty peddler of same, called me an alcoholic the other day.

A case of, an outside observer might say, one addict knowing another.

One man's alcoholic is another's merely mild drinker, right?

However, seeing how this acquaintance, in her early 20s, has barely worked a day in her life — outside of her minor drug dealing — and usually appears more out of it than with it, I initially shrugged off her labelling me an alcoholic.

Yet, as an Irishman who likes the occasional beer that often leads to a questioning of my relationship with alcohol, her remark did end up bugging me a little.

'Am I an alcoholic?'

Habit addict

To answer that, we must define what an alcoholic is.

One dictionary definition describes an alcoholic as 'a person addicted to intoxicating drinks.' Another definition is 'somebody who drinks alcohol to excess habitually.'

Those definitions, however, in using words such as 'addicted', 'excess' and 'habitually', are open to much interpretation.

Some commentators and scholars on the subject dismiss the concept of addiction outright. They see it as a mere cover for one's failure to take responsibility.

According to this school of thought, it's not an innate, incurable addiction that's at play but rather a very fixable fixation. It's a harmful habit that can be replaced with a more beneficial — or at least less-bad — one. What's lacking is willpower, as well as any real desire to change in many instances.

'That four-day booze-free stint coincided with an annoying head cold. Was my body telling me something? A case of a beer a day keeps colds at bay?'

In other words, people know they're doing something that's not good for their overall well-being but they do it anyway. (Of course, few of us live vice-free — even exercise can become a problem if one overdoes it regularly. Some vices, though, are more damaging than others.)

Mild imbiber

Returning to our definitions of alcoholic, it's easier, at least officially, to find consensus for what excess and habitually mean.

In Ireland, a standard drink is defined as one which contains 10 grams of pure alcohol. The advice is that a man should drink no more than 17 such servings a week, a woman no more than 11.

If one drinks alcohol more days in a week than not, few would argue that this is habitual.

On that last one, despite publishing a few months ago a hopeful post, Abandoning the beer standard, I've been quite the habitual drinker of late.

The longest run I've had without a beer in 2023 has been four days, and that was on one occasion only. Frustratingly, that four-day booze-free stint coincided with an annoying head cold. Was my body telling me something? A case of a beer a day keeps colds at bay?

Plenty of downtime this year and not wanting to be in my shared accommodation for too long at any one time are two big reasons for this regular revelling, tame as it normally is.

What's more, as a pastime, sipping on a Barrio Santandercito tienda beer is a fairly economical activity compared to some other pursuits one could get up to in Bogotá.

As alluded to, in terms of excess, my consumption levels each time I drink are nothing like they were in the past.

Where previously when I would go at it, as we Irish say, I'd have at least four litres of Poker beer or the equivalent, these days I'm usually looking for the exit door after two or at most three. (Do note, Poker's alcohol by volume [ABV] is four per cent.)

So my binge-drinking days do appear to be largely behind me. Compared to other regular drinkers, I think it's fair to put me in the mild category. I'm certainly no Brendan Behan — no sniggering — who described himself as 'a drinker with a writing problem.' Some might say writing is my main problem and I should give that up!

Constant craving

Whatever the case, there is another factor to be considered: cravings.

This ties in with addiction, whether one believes addiction to be a genuine disease or not.

I surmise that people who I consider to be alcoholics crave alcohol, it's constantly in their thoughts. When they get up in the morning, if a beer or whatever was put in front of them, they'd have no issue downing it. What usually prevents such types from doing so is a job commitment or suchlike.

I, on the other hand, rarely if ever desire an alcoholic drink first thing. For me, imbibing has a time and a place — the time is normally late in the evening, the place is a tienda/public house, certainly not my own dwelling.

And as I've already pointed out, I'm more than content to retire to my bed after a couple of litres. Where perhaps in my earlier drinking days I suffered from fomo, fear of missing out, these days I'm more in the jomo, joy of missing out, camp.

So, yes, I do like beer and I may regularly drink more units of alcohol per week than most health experts recommend.

Nonetheless, life in my late 30s doesn't revolve around the next alcohol-fuelled session like it did to some extent in my 20s and early 30s.

Of course, how I feel and what I believe is one thing. How others view me is another. Perception is reality in this regard. Yet, it's only the perceptions and opinions of certain people in my life that I should really value. Others are best ignored.
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'Hi! I'm a workaholic and I'm great'

It's generally not seen as a good thing to be a 'holic' of anything. Everything in moderation and all that.

Yet, in today's world, it seems that being a workaholic is almost universally accepted and even expected in some quarters. And, of course, in jobs where the latest communication technology is utilised to get things done, it's easier than ever to be 'able' to work 24/7. This is something some people have embraced.

It's not always good to get too caught up in work-related things ...

It has certainly blurred the lines between off-duty and on-duty. If you don't actually turn off the technology at your fingertips, you're effectively always 'on' to answer work queries, deal with existing clients, negotiate with potential new ones, write emails and suchlike.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that a lot of people can't resist the temptation to answer that work-related email or WhatsApp message or whatever, regardless of what time of day or night it is and the amount of time they've already worked.

Now, if you're self-employed and/or freelance, and depending on the type of work involved, your day may not have a clear schedule to it. 

In such a scenario, in order to find that often talked about but seldom found work-life balance, it's important to monitor the hours you work on various projects. Those you work with must realise that you have your downtime, if you want it, that is. For freelance types, the distinction between work hours and free time can become difficult to decipher.

The blurred work lines, though, are at their most dangerous for direct employees of companies, especially those who should have a clearly demarcated work schedule and place. 

When you're at home, having done your lot, responding to work-related queries shouldn't become a regular practice. Some people, however, just can't resist; and increased stress levels (and related health problems) can be a direct result of 'engaging' round the clock.

The argument could be made that if you're a manager, the above is par for the course. Yet, unless it's explicitly written in your contract, it shouldn't have to be that way.

Drawing from criticallyrated.com.

In fact, looking at the workaholic in terms of spending time at their workplace, a former boss in Ireland used to ask us newsroom employees, when we were working late, 'What are you still doing in the office at this time?' He would see it as a sign of inefficiency. 

Of course, we couldn't plan when news would happen, but he had a point, all the same. A lot of Colombian bosses could learn from that, something touched on before on this blog.

Another side to all this is the people who work in something they genuinely love, where the word 'work' doesn't conjure up negative images. 

Be that as it may, forcing a break or change is generally a good practice, if only just to aid productivity, to return to your 'thing' with more vigour, so to speak.

It's unlikely that we'll start viewing the workaholic in the same shady light as we see the alcoholic any time soon. But at least we could start re-appreciating those who seek to 'work less and earn more.' And in some respects, more gets achieved that way.