Is it normal to be pressured into drinking by your friends?

[flanker7]

I like to have the occasional alcoholic drink, but when I go out with my friends usually a Tuesday and/or Saturday. They tend to pressure me and each other into drinking excessive amounts which I am not entirely comfortable in doing. Does anyone else have problems like this? It isn't a huge problem for me, but can get very annoying.

[beanie]

Alternate between an alcoholic drink and a glass of water (if you must drink alcohol at all). That way you'll always have a drink in front of you. Ginger ale would work great too because after a while your friends will probably be too drunk to realize it's not alcohol.

[Jenny]

It depends on how much. If you normally don't like to drink much, then realize your friends are pressuring you and kindly decline. If you are out with your friends for a reason, such as trying to loosen up and celebrating something, your friends probably assume you are like that and want to go out and drink a little more than usual. You know, party a little harder than the norm. Again, you can be pressured, but it's up to you to take the drink. They won't force something down your throat. Sometimes I feel pressured to drink more than usual to 'compete' with fellow friends. If I trust those friends, sure, I'll drink a bit more. If I don't know them, I carefully manage my drinking.

[Edgerton]

Most of the drinking cases are the ones who started drinking by the pressure of his friends. I think you should avoid these kind of friends and look for the good company.Never trust that friend who forces you to drink at least once.

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[TickTock]

Why don't you choose the lower alcohol drinks then you will be able to keep up with your friends and not get as drunk, but, to be honest, friends like this you could be better off without!

[Unregistered]

It's normal for there to be some pressure with your friends to drink and keep up with the crowd. Do what you feel comfortable doing though. Don't get talked into doing something you don't want to do.

[aliciarm]

I understand. I am not a big drinker, and many of my friends go out during random days of the week and pressure me. It is very frustrating. I keep reminding them I have a job and go to school and refuse to go out unless it is the weekend. Remember that you need to be in control of situations like that, especially involving alcohol, so just stay strong and only drink what you are comfortable with. Peer pressure is normal unfortunately. You are not alone =) good luck!

[Newbie]

I can also sympathise with this although i do blame myself most of the time cause i can always say no. Main problem with a few of my mates is if its a night out after 3 or 4 rounds the shots come out, its completely needless and everyone is totally smashed, people end up sick and getting thrown out and it just wrecks the whole night out but this still happens all the time. It definately is a pressure thing though with everyone trying to keep up with each other. One of my mates has never been able to handle his drink and always ends up in bed after a couple of hours with his night over. I wish we could all take it easy but unfortunately where i am from (Glasgow) drinking is probably the most sociable activity there is and lives up to the Scottish stereotype.

[ESP]

Try telling them that you don't want to drink anymore. If they accept this, then the pressure into drinking is more of a cheering-each-other-on type of thing. If they don't accept that you don't want to drink, then this is not normal, and they might not be real friends.



I went to a few parties where the people there that knew me tried to pressure me into drinking, no matter how much I told them I didn't want to drink and to stop bugging me about it. Eventually I just didn't go to one of the parties and spent St. Patrick's Day alone. Looking back on it I'm glad I spent the day alone.