The art of justification drinking

Ask any successful career girl what she does when she gets home from work, and the majority answer will be "I pour a glass of wine".  Why? Because she deserves it.  We all deserve it.

Right now, I am sitting here with a bottle of Wirra Wirra Church Block cracked, my first glass poured and a nice array of cheese and crackers beside me. Why? Because I had a successful week at work. When I pour my second, it will be because I had a productive weekend - gym time, catching up with friends, mentoring a University student and preparing for the week ahead. If I decide to pour a fourth, it will be because it's Sunday evening and I'm giving a nod to the week ahead (and I don't want to waste a nice bottle of red). 

In early November last year, I read an article about this type of behaviour, it's called obvilion drinking. High powered women using alcohol as a time out from doing it all. As Psychoanalyst Jan Bauer is quoted as saying, these women use alcohol to take them out of their "perfectionism". 

I am only 29, so I don't necessarily fall within the target demographic of the comments in the article, but I soon will be.  It is alarming to me, that what I see as an innocent knock off drink, could in years to come be classed as oblivion drinking. But what is the difference between an Aussie knock off drink with my fellow career girls and excessive drinking? To me, excessive would be drunk on a school night, or in the case of a weekend, not remembering what happened the night before, or well, drinking to oblivion. 

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says that "risky drinking" is anything more than 2 standard glasses per day.  As an Aussie, 2 drinks a day sounds like a relatively low amount to me. But when I look further into the effects of risky drinking for someone my age - pre children - I am putting the cap back on my bottle of Wirra and not having that second drink. I don't want premature menopause, increased risk of infertility and miscarriage or my brain development to be affected. Not going to lie, I do want that second glass of wine, but I value my health more than a half hour escape from reality (because quite honestly my reality is pretty good and I have no reason to want to escape into oblivion).  

How am I going to manage this in the future? Well, I won't be saying no to catch ups after work, networking events or lunches with clients. I will be saying no to the wine. I will be managing my intake and making sure other young women know the potential effects of alcohol and this concept of oblivion drinking. For now, less buttoms up, more buttoms down.