Is anyone else thinking that they are drinking too much in an effort to relieve stress?

legit subject imo. dementia care especially is so taxing on a more sane mind that its either a booze bender a couple of times a week or your head would explode and youd be no help to the care reciever or anyone.
ive sat at my mothers house with a nerve / muscle in the back of my neck slamming. i think booze is a good alternative to a stress cardiac episode..
dementia care isnt for the meek and the meek have no business judging those on the firing line..
lets get drunk and play ping - pong b8alou..

Not at all. Two gin & tonics keeps Malaria and Scurvy at bay.

yup pam. the royal navy has always issued it.. the russian air force doesnt get in the air without a generous splash of vodka. either would feed you to the fish without flinching..

americans get nerve from somewhere tho. i distinctly remember once in germany a couple of american fighters were playing at high speeds -- in the RAVINES .. youve never heard such a formiddable ruckus..

Drinking, no. But I WAS eating too much....stress-eating. I packed on the pounds so much that my blood pressure started heading through the roof and I was teetering on the edge of Type II diabetes. And the stress the added weight placed on my knees left me with moderate to severe arthritis in both joints. Fortunately I wised up and went to see my doctor....now losing weight, exercising every day, and getting everything under control. But I can EASILY see how I could have gone to drink instead of food for stress relief. Food was just handier...and cheaper, especially the junky stuff. Cheetos.....could not put those things down once I got started....
As far as alcohol goes, I don't go for the hard stuff but I do like wine and beer. I make a point of treating myself to one light beer every night once everyone's settled down. I look forward to it. It helps me unwind, relax, find some inner peace....it's my one remaining vice, and may the wrath of God strike the hand of anyone who tries to take it away.

In a word, yes. Its not as if I'm getting raging drunk each night, but I find that I have a new-to-me habit of drinking a glass or two of red wine in the evenings. And they are "heavy pours." I've read that alcohol is a horrible choice for stress relief because it actually increases cortisol - a stress hormone - production in the body. It also robs body/brain of ability to get deeper levels of proper, recuperative sleep. In other words, I really believe chronic drinking - even "glass or 2 per night" - does more harm than good in long run. I think one 4 oz glass with dinner is about the "right" amount, and I know I'm having 2-3 times that much… I also personally think that chronic drinking has added to my recurrent illnesses of past few years. Certainly they would've happened anyway, but I think I've weakened my immune system even further with the drinking.

Thanks for bringing up this topic, ba8, its something I need to address. Hugs.

yaya, we're in the lite beer a nite sisterhood. I don't think of it as a vice, since I know it's good for me. Didn't they say in that CBS 90+ video that people who had a drink or two a day stayed healthier longer? Our nightly beer is like health food, for sure.

If I started drinking too much I would put the brakes on and stop completely.

no - I don't like the feeling alcohol gives me so I stop after a 1/2 to 1 glass of sherry or wine. I enjoy that small amount, but a bottle can last me for years. There have been times I thought a glass a day would be healthy, but then I forget to take it. I prefer my calories in other forms.

A number of years ago, a boyfriend and I would go out to nightclubs and drink (not related to caregiving). I do not drink at all now. Drinking, for me, gave me terrible "broken sleep" and the hangovers were no picnic either. It can cause weight gain, profound depression when the alcohol is wearing off, falls in the home (even with a young person), and, in addition, it can cause people to do dumb things. When I was much younger, I remember calling old boyfriends sometimes at 3:00 A.M. drunk, and saying things that I would have never said if I had not been drinking. Taking care of the elderly is hard enough without having to deal with an added problem of alcohol. Initially, having a drink may help, but in the long run, I think it is doing more harm than good.

Hey whatever floats your boat!

I'm also in the eat too much category. Alcohol has never been my drug of choice. Sugar is. I'm trying to get a handle on that now..it's tough for all of us one way or the other.

I agree that drinking to excess is a problem. For a caregiver, having more than one drink might not be advisable -- depends on the person and how alcohol affects them. Sometimes there is an emergency during the night. There might be a fall, a hypoglycemic episode, an ER visit. We wouldn't want to be impaired if we're needed. I consider myself as being on call 24/7, so drinking too much isn't allowed.