Drinking has lost it's mojo

[Swede]

Not sure what this is all about, it just doesn't feel good anymore, not like it used to.

My dad has pretty much stopped drinking. He might drink a couple of beers but that's about it. A couple of years ago I asked him why that is and he said that he didn't know why, it was just that drinking made him a "sourpuss" (his exact word). I didn't get it back then. I could relate to beer sometimes making you feel stuffed but usually it's just about keeping up a good drinking pace.

To him, drinking had lost it's mojo.

A couple of years ago also for me drinking started giving me a different experience; drinking wasn't fun anymore. I found myself becoming a sourpuss just like my dad said he did. The mojo of drinking wasn't there anymore or at least not the same as before.

I can't find any apparent reason why this is. At least nothing I can think of. Maybe it has to do with the level of stress you're experiencing in your average day? Because I've been stressed out at work for the past years and the Friday-directly-after-work-drinks has become more of an unwinder that puts my brain back in a somewhat normal pace instead of what it used to be and what it used to do; a quick way to find the comfort zone with that cozy buzz. I don't get the buzz anymore. Stress reliever yes, absolutely but the mojo, the charm, the spell, the magic; it's all gone. I'm left a numb sourpuss.

I'm 36 years old and have never experienced anything like this before. I've been trying to fight this and I still do, hoping to become friends with the mojo once again but right now it feels like drinking has forever changed.

You older guys out there, have you also experienced this? If so, did it pass and do you know what triggered the change?

[Mr Boozificator]

Never experienced anything such my friend, but the following assumptions come to mind:
-Could it be that you think there will be too high a price for the drinks you're having ?
-Could it be that you feel guilty because you think you should be doing something else instead of just drinking and relaxing ?

Guilt and alcohol are just a very very bad mix, and from what I've seen with many of my friends, as long as you haven't gotten rid of what possibly causes the guilt, you can't drink the pleasant way.

[Wingman]

that sounds awful. i have had the very occasional "do i really want this next beer, or do i just want to go to bed?" thought, but nothing like what you describe.

let us know what happens. maybe if you took a little break, you would get your mojo back? or maybe if you really embraced it, went on a bender to reacquaint yourself? like i said, though, just thinking off the top of my head.

good luck.

[ThirstyDrunk]

You are not drinking enough. Don't fight it, keep drinking until you are laughing yourself silly.

[Joe_Twelvepack]

Is it the drinking or the circumstances that have become boring? Go out if you normally stay in. Try a new circle of codrinkers. Get a few people and go do bar trivia or something. It may be that you're just bored.

[JimLahey]

I can sort of relate to Swede if he's in the same situation as me... I'm working lots, I'm always tired, I'm moving to a new house, there's just too much on the go right now. And I know that if I sit down to get drunk it will take a long time, and then I'll be grouchy in the morning when I work and move shit around. Can't wait until New Year's when things die down a bit and I can get hammered properly.

[treetop]

whiskey tango foxtrot?

[Chimneyfish]

Do you usually drink at home or do you go out? I know people like to glamorize the idea of drinking by yourself, but I think it should be considered more of a last resort. Part of the fun is the anticipation of not knowing what the night has in store or where you'll end up.

[G_W]

Don't force it. If you need a break, take a break. You'll most likely come back with a new thirst and hopefully a lower tolerance.

[MasSangre]

Its never gonna be like the very first good times you had with alcohol when you alot younger ever again. and If your already stressed and in a bad mood alcohol can make this worse because alcohol is a depressant drug. take a break and try to sort things out and become less stressed in general.

[Fool Ishy]

It's all good, Swede.

You make a subtle distinction in your drinking: you no longer feel the "mojo" of the joy of the buzz, but you feel the relaxation, the recharge, the "unwinder that puts my brain back in a normal pace."

Well, sir, we call that maturing where I come from. You have changed since you were younger and started drinking, the reasons and effects for/of the drinking have changed for you as well.

Basically, you have experienced what many of us have- you have grown up. Your drinking has just followed suit.

Relax and enjoy. If drinking has taken on an aspect of putting things in perspective for you that's probably what you need now. The exciting "mojo" that it used to provide you with was what you needed then.

Dude, just have a drink. Whatever the effects...well, it's all good.

[Swede]

Never experienced anything such my friend, but the following assumptions come to mind:
-Could it be that you think there will be too high a price for the drinks you're having ?
-Could it be that you feel guilty because you think you should be doing something else instead of just drinking and relaxing ?

Guilt and alcohol are just a very very bad mix, and from what I've seen with many of my friends, as long as you haven't gotten rid of what possibly causes the guilt, you can't drink the pleasant way.

- No; I've started ordering my liquor from Germany which means my drinking habits are really cheap, never have been this cheap ever.
- No; I'm comfortable doing nothing but relaxing.

I don't feel any guilt at all, or, that would be guilt over not being able to feel the mojo.

You are not drinking enough. Don't fight it, keep drinking until you are laughing yourself silly.

I don't fight it, I still drink and I drink plenty but I can't break free from this feeling and the restraint that keeps me from getting into the feel good mode. I get drunk yes, I'm a blackout island borderline drinker so there's the occasional memory loss so the amount I consume isn't the problem. I actually had a month early last year when I just couldn't bring myself to drinking at all, it literally made me feel nauseous just thinking about drinking a drop. But that feeling passed after a month and I got right back up on the horse. That dry spell didn't change the feeling though.

Is it the drinking or the circumstances that have become boring? Go out if you normally stay in. Try a new circle of codrinkers. Get a few people and go do bar trivia or something. It may be that you're just bored.

Drinking never gets boring. Boring isn't the right word. I can have a good time when drinking. I*m not bored. I just don't get to the point where I feel like I'm flying, where I'm on-top-of-the-world, you know, the sparkle, the magic, that ultimate feelgood. Although there are times I wonder if it was worth drinking at all and that scares me. That usually happens when drinking with the wrong people. In the past just drinking and it's mojo was enough, it didn't matter if I was alone, with the right people or the wrong, as long as I felt good who gives a shit with whom you drink. Not so anymore :( I miss the ability to drink and just sit in the couch and enjoy the spinning sensation. By the way, things don't "spin" no more. I just drink and somewhere down the line of many drinks things gets too blurry to remember. What the hell is that about?

Is it the drinking or the circumstances that have become boring? Go out if you normally stay in. Try a new circle of codrinkers. Get a few people and go do bar trivia or something. It may be that you're just bored.

Absolutely, there's that. I think that helps a bit. A new bar opened in town the other month and been there a few times. Other crew, more fun, different fun, still no mojo. Had a great time but..

I can sort of relate to Swede if he's in the same situation as me... I'm working lots, I'm always tired, I'm moving to a new house, there's just too much on the go right now. And I know that if I sit down to get drunk it will take a long time, and then I'll be grouchy in the morning when I work and move shit around. Can't wait until New Year's when things die down a bit and I can get hammered properly.

Man, I'm beginning to think that is it. About 6 months ago I got really depressed after 4 weeks of vacation. The last week of vacation before going back to work was hell and the next 3 months I was way down under the ice. But I haven't got much going on at home, it's just the stress building up over the week doesn't get "reset" over the weekend. What I said about drinking to suppress the stress is the one thing that I can think of being added since all this shit started happening. An the work situation doesn't look like it's getting any different for the foreseeable future.

Recently I've found that changing my Friday afternoon routine helps a little bit. In the past I always used to pour a drink when I got home and drink until I have to hurry into a quick shower before dinner was ready. Now I pour a drink or two and bring into the shower, turn on some music, turn the lights out (gets pitch dark) and just sit down on the floor in the shower and don't do shit, don't think about shit. Just try turning everything off. Do this about 45 minutes or so. Seems to help a bit with the stress levels but the mojo? no sir.

whiskey tango foxtrot?

Right on.

Do you usually drink at home or do you go out? I know people like to glamorize the idea of drinking by yourself, but I think it should be considered more of a last resort. Part of the fun is the anticipation of not knowing what the night has in store or where you'll end up.

Home drinker mainly, occasionally a friend who lives near by drops by, he never turns a drink down and he pretty much never leaves once the first drink is poured. Is nice. Most people I know / would drink with live 5-10 km away and I it makes it a pain in the ass to just spontaneously swing by for a drink. No busses so that means taxi. Taxi's are expensive as well so I don't go out much. In Sweden there's not much pubs. Actually here there are two, both are 5 km away. Drinking at bars in Sweden is a rip off and I get cheap and then the taxi. One night out buys me 5-6 bottles of liquor :(

Besides, drinking "elsewhere" or with "other people" hasn't really proved itself being a solution.

Don't force it. If you need a break, take a break. You'll most likely come back with a new thirst and hopefully a lower tolerance.

A couple of years is a damn long time! I don't feel like not drinking like that. Sort of. Well, I don't feel like not feeling the mojo. Drinking is still better than not drinking, especially as it soothes the stress levels. Feels fucked up saying that you partially drink to get rid of stress but that's how it goes. Would rather not feel that way but hey it's the truth.

Its never gonna be like the very first good times you had with alcohol when you alot younger ever again. and If your already stressed and in a bad mood alcohol can make this worse because alcohol is a depressant drug. take a break and try to sort things out and become less stressed in general.

I'm no spring chicken when it comes to drinking so the first few times drinking sensation isn't what I'm looking for. But yeah, bad mood, bad mojo. Stress you son of a bitch. Can get rid of bad mood, usually just thinking positive but can't get rid of stress, when you get home with hands shaking from stress which for some reason always is the worst on Fridays - boss seem to need everything done by Fridays for no particular reason - there's no positive thinking that will fix that for me (although that's negative thinking right there).

My private life isn't stressful. It's just work. We're required to do +hours every week. There's the constant demand to produce 110% because of fictive dead lines. They should hire more people but since the learning period is probably about a year they pressure existing staff with extra hours. Cheaper in the short run, devastating in the long run. Bosses just sees number and they look good in the sort perspective...

It's all good, Swede.
...

Just getting the stress levels down isn't enough to enjoy the drinking. Drinking just to get back to "normal" doesn't really sound too appealing.

Don't at all agree that this would have anything to do with having "grown up". But, sure, maybe drinking transforms with age. Maybe even drinking is supposed to be just something you do to be able to live and not crash and burn. Then again... no that's not it.

Dude, just have a drink. Whatever the effects...well, it's all good.

Yeah, there's that. Doing that. It's not all good.

[JimLahey]

I only like hippopotumusus! AND HIPPAPOTUMUSES LIKE ME TOOO!!!

[DeeboCools]

Boo fucking hoo. Quit.

[Swede]

Boo fucking hoo. Quit.

Should. Too much of a coward though. Whole family is depending on my income. Wouldn't wanna risk not having an income.

Anywho, sometimes identifying the problem can be a sufficient solution. Not having identified something can be devastating , gnawing you down to naught. Putting a problem into words has a very therapeutic effect. Helps seeing things more clearly. Been there many times in the past.