What should be a fun and fruitful time of life can turn into a total nightmare. — Sadly, I’ve seen a number of people, including close friends and relatives, suffer premature ill health and even death due to alcohol problems that developed or became worse following their retirement from work. Retirement should be a joyful and fruitful time of life but when excessive alcohol is added to…

I’m an experienced writer and it alarms me — I watched Tom Scott’s video: “I tried using AI. It scared me.” last week. While Scott’s main concern is coding, it made me realize just how much unease and dread I’ve been feeling since the launch of ChatGPT and the threat posed by artificial intelligence to writing for an income. …

If you don’t have these things, then you need to acquire them — Acquiring an alcohol problem can be a surprisingly easy trap to fall into, and happens to many people. However, some people are able to understand what’s happening to them and can extricate themselves. Others, though, are not so lucky. They carry on drinking, often with tragic consequences. What differentiates the…

Smoking isn’t a natural act but drinking is — One thing that I noticed after I quit cigarettes was that eventually the act of sucking smoke down into my lungs just didn’t seem appealing anymore. Even the mere thought of all those fumes inside my body actually seemed repulsive and made me feel sick. Just being in a smoky…

If you drink to relax, you will need to find new tools when you go sober — Quitting alcohol for many people means having to deal with feelings of anger, agitation, and anxiety. There are two main causes for this: People become psychologically dependent on drinking to make them feel relaxed and provide them with feelings of well-being. …

The new safe limit is two drinks per week instead of two drinks per day — An intense debate has been ignited in the scientific and drinking community over Health Canada’s recent decision to drastically reduce their recommended safe levels for alcohol consumption. Their previous advice was that people shouldn’t consume more than two drinks per day, which is similar to the guidelines in most other…

No alcohol was consumed and I experienced my first snow in six years — My wife hates snow and gets cold easily. Even at the best of times, her fingers can feel icy. It’s one of the reasons that she chose to move down to Florida. I’m the opposite: I love a little wintry weather and my hands are always warm. While I appreciate…

Cannabis is as bad as booze in many ways — One idea that’s popular in certain circles is for serial boozers to go “California Sober.” This essentially involves problem drinkers tackling their issues by using marijuana as a substitute for alcohol. It’s an effective form of harm reduction, the argument goes, because smoking cannabis provides a great way to unwind…

For a time, it felt like I was the #1 enemy of cat lovers everywhere — Writing and publishing articles online can be a perilous pursuit in all sorts of ways. It’s certainly not a profession that I would recommend for those of a sensitive disposition. Looking back over my writing career, it still surprises me that the piece I published that aroused the greatest hostile…