How prevalent alcohol culture is in the West. I’m Southeast Asian and it’s more common for us to drink sugary drinks and have food at the local corner restaurant at night instead of having alcohol when we spend time with friends.
When I studied in the West, it really struck me how the only place you really could hang out at night was the bar, and alcohol was often the preferred drink. And they normally closed at 12am, so you can’t even stay out that late.
Personally I’m not very fond of inebriation just due to the issues it creates (not that my friends were alcoholics and got blackout drunk every time we hung out), so I found it kind of bad that it’s so socially accepted to see a need to get drunk in order to tolerate socialising with friends.
I can relate to anxiety as a coping mechanism for undiagnosed ADHD. I can have sudden flares of panic if my mind wanders onto random topics and suddenly I’m wondering if I’ve left x at home or forgotten to lock my car door (I forgot a couple times…). I also do pat downs of my pockets and rummage through my bag to ensure something is where they’re meant to be.