At a time of public health challenges, self-imposed isolation does not require you to forgo good food or good wine, despite the social stigma. In short, the world has changed, and so is the thinking of public gatherings. drinking concerts and parties have been postponed, bars and restaurants have closed. People usually shy away from drinking alone, probably due to the social stigma.
People who grew up watching American TV shows have always known people drinking alone in a bar are alcoholic, depressed, lonely, looser, greasy, sad. People create the image of a person drinking alone being loveless, unlovable, and having a terrible fashion sense. This image haunts them. In this new age of social media, everyone wants to portray themselves as happy, outgoing, and fun-loving extroverts. This includes drinking chilled beers with the boys, going for clubbing, doing shots and dancing away in alcohol.
But what about introverts who enjoy their own company? Or the extroverts who had a long day at the office and just want to kick back and relax? The moment they start pouring down wine or a good glass of scotch questions like: “Are you ok?”, “Are you Depressed?” start rolling up. No Drinking wonder people don’t post-drinking alone on social media. People hide the time they are drinking alone; they dim the lights and close down the blinds.
But now in this age of pandemic where there is social distancing to be maintained. Social drinking is now out of the way. People are now drinking alone in their homes which is now the “New Normal”.There’s a stigma when it comes to drinking alone as drinking alone, in excess, can be a sign of developing alcoholism in the future. Drinking alone can indeed turn into a problem if you turn to it as your only way to self-medicate and regulate your emotions. But right now, it is different — right now, we’re in a terrifying global pandemic. This change social norms surrounding what is and isn’t OK to indulge in.
The World Health Drinking Organization has labeled alcohol as an “unhelpful” coping strategy during this pandemic, but everyone’s doing it anyway. People across the world are upping up the intake of Alcohol intake right now. The coronavirus crisis shined a light on this fact which many would often ignore: there is absolutely nothing wrong in enjoying a drink just by yourself in the comfort of your home. Drinking alone is normal and OK. As long as you’re drinking responsibly and enjoying alcohol rather than using it as your only crutch, there’s no harm. Simply be mindful and balance drinking with other, more productive coping skills — walking outside, calling your friends, eating healthy, and binge-watching Netflix.
Paired with these other coping methods, enjoying a glass of wine or two during the day hurts no one. If anything, let this pandemic teach you to let people be. Stop shaming people for normal acts such as drinking alone and I wished it wouldn’t have taken a pandemic for us to realize that. We can argue whether the vaccine will be out in 12 months,18 months, or by September.
The point is it could take time and this has to be the new accepted standard way of living. The best thing we can do for now is to “toast” to this new way of living.
