When I was in college, I didn't drink alcohol - never did. Had my first drink in Moscow, Russia, in an apartment, when I was 21! Because I waited until of legal age, my dad and my grandmother gave me money they had promised each of the four kids if we would abstain from drinking, chewing tobacco or smoking until 21. Two of us got the money! Interestingly enough, what I did become addicted to in college was something socially and culturally acceptable: fundamentalist Christianity. I was friendly and out-going, but I was over-the-top and very zealous with my faith. Fortunately, as I aged and matured, I realized that my extreme faith and all the dogma that went with it was very much like an addiction - maybe healthier on my liver and brain cells, but destructive in other ways. Eventually, through counseling, traveling, a lot of reflection and engaging family members in honest conversations, I discovered why I was doing what I was doing. And once I made that discovery, I became much moderate in my religious views. All that dogma and certainty, which really comes from feeling uncertain and insecure, started to soften and vanish. So, I guess my advice is: Work on finding out why you feel you need alcohol to the degree you do and deal with that. Could be partially genetic, or could be other things. Innate and learned (environmental).
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