Lots of people, like me, don't drink. Lots of people, like me, also go to parties where everyone else gets totally inebriated.

Non-alcoholics anonymous would be a support group where non-drinkers can go to discuss how they cope with their teetotality in various social contexts. Some may feel left out by not drinking, and others may simply be left at a loose end at such gatherings.
N-AA groups could discuss what to do if everyone else has passed out in a heap on the floor, how to win arguments about why you don't drink, or maybe just what to do when everyone else is down the pub.
-- Parvenu, Mar 08 2003

Alcohol is good for you http://tinyurl.com/740g
[mrthingy, Oct 04 2004]

Depression and anxiety in non-drinkers http://www.alcohol-.../papers/abstain.htm
You need help! Compared with drinkers, non-drinkers "were the most introverted and least fun-seeking and scored lower on drive". This may be linked to double the prevalence of poor health compared with moderate drinkers, and a tendency to anxiety and depression. Non-drinkers also typically have less "social support" than moderate drinkers. (This paper is frustratingly lacking in detail, however.) [pottedstu, Oct 04 2004]

Temperance Movement http://www.loyno.ed.../1992-3/smith-r.htm
Wasn't this kind of baked in the 19th century? (If you read this, you will see there was much more to the movement than just campaigning against drinking: some organisations seemed more like the Freemasons.) [pottedstu, Oct 04 2004]

Parvenu, it's never too late to start.
-- thumbwax, Mar 08 2003


//This makes a mockery of support groups.//
The same might be said of any idea in this category. I know, I know...."just because the category exists, that doesn't mean....etc."

//people who get pissed//
I wonder if this problem could be leveraged into discounts for N-AA members at some establishments.
-- krelnik, Mar 08 2003


So I guess there's no support group for Non-Anonymous Alcoholics?
-- FarmerJohn, Mar 08 2003


Isn't this the Moonies or the Shakers or something?
-- DrCurry, Mar 08 2003


The implication appears to be that everyone who drinks gets drunk; and further that every such person is, or is about to become, alcoholic. I drink socially, I occasionally drink alone, mostly in moderation. On the rare occasions that I get noticably drunk, I am never offensive or annoying (well, no more than I am normally). Why do you feel the need for a 'support group' simply because you don't drink? I don't gamble, but I feel no such need.
[UnaBubba], I also despise those who 'get pissed and make life hard for staff'; I also despise those who stay sober and make life hard for staff. Drinking - drunkenness even - does not per se make a person annoying.
-- angel, Mar 08 2003


Parvenu is very clearly looking for support for *not* drinking, even though s/he is a teetotaller not a recovering alcoholic. Depending on my mood, I often don't drink at social functions, but the pressure to drink can be enormous. (We have lost friends because my wife doesn't drink at all.)
-- DrCurry, Mar 08 2003


//what to do if everyone else has passed out in a heap on the floor//
(a) Go through their wallets. Leave.
(b) Shave their eyebrows. Leave.
(c) Leave.

//how to win arguments about why you don't drink//
You can't. Don't try.

//what to do when everyone else is down the pub//
Well, you've only left yourself with "women and song." That should do yer - form a girl band.
-- my face your, Mar 08 2003


So does that mean we can have a Non-Smokers annoymous, a Non-drug takers anonymous, a Non-sheep-dipping anonymous, a Non-.... I think you get the idea. If you don't want to drink, don't! If you feel you have to explain yourself, your in the wrong company. Sorry but something smells fishy...
-- silverstormer, Mar 08 2003


You need a t-shirt: I don't drink, I fall down. The problem is, I feel the pain immediately.
-- thumbwax, Mar 08 2003


I know the feeling [Parvenu]. It's pretty boring being the only sober person in a room full of drunk people. Nice piece of satire (+)
-- madradish, Mar 08 2003


Sheesh, you get that feeling around here all the time!
-- DrCurry, Mar 08 2003


Sheesh! For people who spent two days making dead fish jokes ya'll are taking this way to serious.

It is a pain in the ass to deal with pressure no matter where it comes from, and the twist in this idea, playing off the "whoa is me" "I'm a victim" aspect of our current cultural mindset is clever and well done. Would that I had more than one crescent to give. (+)
-- ato_de, Mar 09 2003


// How can I lower the threshold of what's socially acceptable behavior and relax someone without getting them drunk? //

Sodium pentathol?

("whoa is me".. haha that's great.)
-- waugsqueke, Mar 09 2003


jutta: sobering post. It is a feature of people with a drinking problem that they get intensely self-conscious around (and thus avoid or heavily pressure) people who do not drink.
-- DrCurry, Mar 09 2003


<Yosemite Sam> Woe, mule! Woe! </YS>
-- DrBob, Mar 10 2003


Love the idea, had this problem a lot of time. Same goes with drugs, and actually, any kind of group-like activities (sports, heavy metal, role playing games, trading cards, video games........)

The thing is: the goal of AA is to STOP drinking. Would N AA help people to START?

Now that would REALLY be great. "yesterday I stayed in front of my beer until it got warm. I just couldn't!!"
-- sidi, Nov 13 2003



random, halfbakery