“I only drink on weekends.” Can that still be a problem?
“I don’t drink during the week, so I can’t have a problem.”
If I had a rand for every time I’ve heard that sentence, I could probably fund a few people’s recovery. And I get it. It sounds completely reasonable. You go to work. You pay your bills. You don’t touch a drop from Monday to Thursday. Surely that’s the opposite of an alcoholic?
But I want to gently ask you something. If you were completely sure your drinking was fine, would you be reading this?
The calendar isn’t the point
Here’s what I’ve come to understand, both in my own life and in the lives of the many people I’ve sat with. Whether you have a drinking problem has very little to do with which days you drink. It has everything to do with what happens once you start, and what it costs you afterwards.
Do you have one or two and go home? Or does “one or two” quietly become eight, and the evening goes somewhere you didn’t plan? Do you wake up on Saturday feeling fine, or do you spend Sunday lying on the couch with that grey, anxious feeling, piecing together messages you sent and conversations you only half remember?
Monday-to-Thursday sobriety can actually make things harder to see. Because you’ve got proof, right there in your diary, that you’re “in control.” Meanwhile, the weekends get bigger, the recovery days get longer, and the people around you start to notice.
South Africans don’t drink often, but when we do, we drink hard
This might surprise you. Most South Africans don’t drink at all. According to World Health Organization data, checked by Africa Check, about 69% of South Africans over 15 hadn’t had any alcohol in the past year.
But the ones who do drink are some of the heaviest drinkers in the world:
- 59% of South African drinkers binge drink. The WHO calls this heavy episodic drinking.
- That means 60 grams or more of pure alcohol in one sitting. That’s roughly four 340ml beers, or 600ml of white wine. A bottle of wine shared between two people gets you close.
- South African drinkers average 29.9 litres of pure alcohol a year. The global average is 15.1 litres. We drink about double.
Read that again: four beers. Not a crate. Not a bottle of brandy. Four beers in a session puts you in the binge category. For many South Africans, that’s a quiet Saturday afternoon.
And that’s exactly the problem. When the culture around you drinks like this, it’s very hard to see your own drinking clearly. A big Saturday at the braai isn’t unusual here. Everyone’s doing it, so it must be normal. Right?
Normal and healthy aren’t the same thing.
The signs worth paying attention to
Forget how many days a week. Have an honest look at these instead:
- You often end up drinking more, or for longer, than you meant to.
- You need a drink to relax, switch off, or get to sleep.
- You play down how much you’ve had, or hide it. Maybe you top up your glass when nobody’s looking, or put the empties in a different bin.
- You wake up shaky or anxious, and a drink takes the edge off.
- People who love you have said something. More than once.
- Sunday and Monday are a write-off, and it’s starting to show at work or at home.
- You’ve made rules for yourself (“only beer,” “not before five,” “only on weekends”) and you keep bending them.
That last one is worth sitting with. If you need rules to manage your drinking, the drinking might already be managing you.
If a few of these hit a little too close to home, try our free Alcohol Dependence Audit on the website. It takes a few minutes, it’s completely private, and nobody sees your answers but you. Think of it as a mirror, not a verdict.
Please don’t just stop cold
If you’ve realised you need to stop, I’m genuinely glad. But I need to say this clearly, because it matters.
If you drink heavily every day, stopping suddenly can cause dangerous withdrawal, including seizures. This isn’t a willpower thing. It’s your body. See a doctor before you stop, so they can help you come off safely.
If you’re a true weekend-only drinker, you probably won’t face serious physical withdrawal. But if “weekends” have been creeping into Thursday, Friday lunch, Sunday hair-of-the-dog and the odd Wednesday, rather check with a doctor first. It costs you one appointment, and it could save you a hospital visit.
Can’t I just cut down?
It’s the question everyone asks, and it deserves an honest answer.
For some people with mild problems, moderation can work. For most people whose drinking has already caused real damage, to their health, their marriage, their work or their self-respect, stopping completely turns out to be simpler and safer. Not easier at first, but simpler. You don’t have to negotiate with yourself every single weekend.
Our assessment helps you answer this question honestly, rather than hopefully. Because if we’re honest, most of us hope we can moderate. The real question is what the evidence of your own life is telling you.
Try a month off
If you’re on the fence, here’s a simple test. Take a month off. OcSOBER, Dry January, or just a month you choose.
If it’s easy, great. You’ve learned something good about yourself.
But if you find yourself counting the days, getting irritable, bargaining for exceptions (“it’s a wedding, it doesn’t count”), or caving early, pay attention. That isn’t failure. It’s information. And it’s a very good reason to come and talk to us.
You don’t have to wait for rock bottom. Rock bottom is just the point where you decide to stop digging. You can decide that today.
Take the Alcohol Dependence Audit or WhatsApp Steven on +27 76 402 7083.
Source: Africa Check – Fact-checking South Africa’s health minister on the country’s relationship with alcohol (WHO 2016 data).
