The Truth about Cats & Grog

by Sarah Walton

Okay, so I don’t know much about cats, but having grown up in Western Society I've had a decent amount of experience with Grog (an Australian term for alcohol).  I’ve talked about how I think most of us drink alcohol because of a misconception that we can’t have fun without it.  I’d like to explore more of these myths and why we grow up believing them.

Most of us started drinking alcohol during our late teens.  We had just survived voice breaking, bra slinging, period aching, pimple popping madness.  Ah, the Wonder Years!  Puberty and adolescence meant big changes.  Not just physically, but hormonally, socially and emotionally.   By beginning to drink as we "grew up" did some of us learn to associate drinking alcohol with the development of our coping techniques, our emotions and our confidence?

Here are a few common phrases that could be partially responsible:

“Have a drink to ease the pain."

MYTH:  We are weak, incapable of dealing with pain and therefore need alcohol to numb it.

TRUTH:   The human mind and body make us one of the most complex, resilient beings on this planet.   Our mind is a muscle and just like our bicep, the more we use it, the stronger it becomes.  When we don’t rely on alcohol and we use our mind to deal with pain, we not only learn to control our response to it, but we increase our resilience to pain in the future.

  

“A couple of nerve settlers will do the trick!”

MYTH:  We’re not competent in coping with nerves and alcohol helps to calm us down.

TRUTH: Research on the central nervous system tells us that alcohol systematically destroys our nerves and can cause anxiety.  All we have to do is take note of the fragile state we’re in when we’re hung-over to experience the effects for ourselves.  When we address the core beliefs that are responsible for nerves not only are we competent in coping with them, but we can often prevent them from surfacing in the first place.

“Alcohol gives you dutch courage.”  

MYTH: We lack confidence and alcohol provides us with the confidence we need.

TRUTH:  Alcohol hinders our judgement which often means we do things we later regret resulting in a lack of confidence and lowering of the self-esteem.  When we are brave enough to take measured risks without alcohol, it strengthens our confidence and helps us build a healthier self-esteem.

I love our Aussie commitment to being "true blue", but are the blurred lines between arrogance and self-confidence causing us to encourage low self esteem to the point where the only socially acceptable antidote is alcohol?  Have we grown up relying on alcohol as a confidence potion?  How many of us take a dose before we hit the dance floor or make a move on the opposite sex?  So many questions, yet the answer seems pretty clear:  I've never felt more calm, centred, happy and self-confident.  Coincidently I'm not drinking alcohol.

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