Gray Area Drinkers (E30)
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Gill discusses gray area drinkers. She explains the idea of the popular saying, “rock bottom is where you stop digging”, what misery threshold is, and how positive alcohol expectancies play a large role in how we drink. Gray area drinkers have a unique challenge of not having their drinking be bad enough to quit, but having it be bad enough to make them miserable all the time. She discusses this idea and why it is so hard for them to stay sober in this episode
Key Takeaways
Gray area drinkers might realize that saying no to another drink is hard, and sometimes they can do it sometimes they can’t. They might worry about their drinking so they do dry January or sober October every year to prove to themselves they aren’t an alcoholic. They might struggle with a ton of shame and guilt about their drinking. On the outside, a grey area drinker looks perfectly normal most of the time. They haven’t had any consequences and everyone tells them they’re fine, but inside they worry about their drinking.
The positives that we think alcohol is bringing to our lives are called positive alcohol expectancies. These are associations that we’ve made about how alcohol makes us more social, makes us have fun, helps us unwind after a long day, or eases our anxiety. You’re more likely to repeat a behavior if you believe you’re getting good things out of it.
Studies have shown that having more positive alcohol expectancies is associated with drinking to cope and drinking more, and with more negative consequences from drinking.
Cite this page
Tietz, G. Episode 30: Gray Area Drinkers. Sober Powered. 2021
Sources
McBride NM, Barrett B, Moore KA, Schonfeld L. The role of positive alcohol expectancies in underage binge drinking among college students. J Am Coll Health. 2014;62(6):370-379
O’Conner, P. What’s Wrong with “Rock Bottom”. Psychology Today. 2014
