Does drink really make you happy?

[Alex Murphy]

For those of us that partake, drinking alcohol is often seen as a balancing act that weighs up the pleasures of drinking against the pains. Government regulation is often seen the same way, weighing the benefits of pleasure and freedom of the individual on one hand against the cost of crime and health harms on the other. Yet while such simplicity has its charms, it might actually lead to bad alcohol policies that don’t achieve the best balance between pleasure and pain.

For example, in the eyes of some – including simplistic versions of cost-benefit models used by some governments - every time you have a drink you make a fully rational decision to maximise your own utility. This ignores issues of alcohol addiction and the fact that it’s quite a stretch to describe yourself as “fully rational” at 2am after ten pints when a friend has just suggested a round of tequila. But because pleasure is not generally something that alcohol researchers examine, the alcohol debate is dominated by either these naive models or optimistic assertions by lobbyists about alcohol’s happiness-inducing effects.

In a new paper published in Social Science and Medicine, George MacKerron and I examined what evidence there was to tease out the relationship between alcohol and happiness. To try to capture some of the complexities, we took two approaches:

Does drink really make you happy?

 

[SpideyInATree]

You know what makes one happier without the addiction, hangovers and sickness? WEED!

 

[Rocketman]

Drinking doesn't make me happy, but it does make me forget to finish my

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

You know what makes one happier without the addiction, hangovers and sickness? WEED!

Agreed. You know what makes one more open-minded, thoughtful and completely without trivialities of human concern? LSD!

 

[KevanG]

I'm pretty sure that it's the alcohol shrinking the blood vessels in the brain that limits the flow of oxygen.

I may be wrong though.

 

[Victarion]

My friends are happy drunks. But a bunch of drunks decking themselves out in braveheart warpaint with pool chalk at 2 in the AM probably ain't rational. The only time I've felt pain from it was when someone stuck their finger in my nose while trying to grab a pint.

 

[Marvolo]

When I was younger it made me a happy goof ball. As I got older tho it started making me feel sleepy, irritabile, and bleh every time I drank. And the hangovers became guaranteed and awful. So I gave up on alcohol a few years ago. Ill still have a beer or glass of wine to be polite or to not stand out if I get dragged to a bar, but its a one and done thing, and by now most people that know me know Id rather not drink at all so they've stopped dragging me to bars.

 

[redmarvel]

Drinking helps you relax some of your inhibitions.
However, if you're unhappy when you start drinking it is far more likely to make you maudlin then it is to make you the life of the party.
I don't need alcohol to make me want to dance and sing - but I do need other people to relax enough to forget they might look foolish - and they seem to need alcohol to do it.

*** singing *** Come dancing, come out and have yourself a ball, they said to come dancing, it's only natural ***

As far as weed goes - please don't smoke it near me, the smell makes me ill.

 

[Chesterfield]

That's what febreez is for.

 

[redmarvel]

Weed makes me nauseous.

Febreez and any other aerosol actually makes me start coughing and hacking - I litterly have to leave the room if someone sprays that stuff, to find a place with clear air that I can breathe.

Please remember, masking a smell with some other odour does not actually solve the problem.

 

[KalMart]

It makes you happier if you're happy to begin with.

 

[Mee]

Drinking chocolate milk makes me happy.

 

[tzarinna]

It makes me feel a bit euphoric.

 

[Kyle]

According to Mark Wahlberg, drinking cough syrup can make you happy:

 

[Rocketman]

I'm too drunk to read all these replies.

 

[VelcroWallet]

Drink helps me forget which in turn makes me happy.

 

[Asgard]

I never drink alcohol at social functions. Its always water or soda.

I do drink at home though but only during lunch or dinner and never enough that Id get drunk.

Actually, I dont think Ive ever gotten drunk.

 

[ComicChick]

im way too controlling of myself to let myself get drunk, so i've never been drunk.
i do drink socially, very rarely though, as i'm hardly ever social lol

 

[Marvolo]

Weed makes me nauseous.

Febreez and any other aerosol actually makes me start coughing and hacking - I litterly have to leave the room if someone sprays that stuff, to find a place with clear air that I can breathe.

Please remember, masking a smell with some other odour does not actually solve the problem.

The worst is when someone takes a horrible **** and then sprays fruit scented air freshner. When a person sprays citrus scented airfreshner in a rank bathroom it doesnt smell like citrus. It smells like ****trus.

 

[Six]

Only thing that makes me happy is mushrooms.

 

[Rocketman]

You guys who have never been drunk need to try it at least once. Especially with good friends. Just don't let it become a regular occurrence, and make sure you're in a safe place that doesn't involve driving. It's good, innocent fun.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Hi, I'm DJ, and I'm an alcoholic. God willing, this Wednesday I'll be celebrating 2 years sober. I def agree w/ Rocketman's above statement but if anyone has any questions for someone like myself I'm more than happy to share my experience.

 

[Donner]

I like drinking mixed in with some sort of physical activity. Like you hike a difficult mountain and have a cold beer at the summit. Or you spend the day downhill mountain biking and go for drinks afterwards. It's a doing-something-awesome-then-celebrating-with-a-beer type of thing.

 

[Rocketman]

Hi, I'm DJ, and I'm an alcoholic. God willing, this Wednesday I'll be celebrating 2 years sober. I def agree w/ Rocketman's above statement but if anyone has any questions for someone like myself I'm more than happy to share my experience.

Good for you man! Congrats.

I've seen many family and friends suffer from alcoholism and I don't wish it on anybody.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Thank you sir but I by no means did it by myself.