Why “alcoholics” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
That’s one of the main points in Karp’s book. All the smart people are happy to spend all day pushing gooning content on children or triggering alcoholics to relapse, but ask th…
by MisterMunchkin · Sep 29, 2026
Yea I don’t get all the moping in this thread about alcohol being in decline. In my country it was wayyy to socially acceptable (almost required) to get blackout drunk every wee…
by icantevenhold · Sep 29, 2026
That’s not at all how all alcoholics feel. Sounds like you may be in the early stages of recovery. I recommend checking out an AA meeting. Then you’ll see what’s possible with a…
by stevepotter · Sep 29, 2026
While I enjoy a glass of wine every now and then, I'm not going to lament the decline of an industry producing alcoholic products; it's inarguably good that younger generations…
by SwellJoe · Sep 28, 2026
I've known plenty of alcoholics that are happily married and have great jobs. From an outside perspective, their life looks nice but they have an uncontrollable urge to drink co…
by wildzzz · Sep 28, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "alcoholics" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "alcoholics" over time.
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite the user being unable to manage the problems it causes. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic alcohol use has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated there were 283 million people with alcohol use disorders worldwide as of 2016. The term alcoholism was first coined in 1852, but alcoholism and alcoholic are considered stigmatizing and likely to discourage seeking treatment, so diagnostic terms such as alcohol use disorder and alcohol dependence are often used instead in a clinical context. Other terms, some slurs and some informal, have been used to refer to people affected by alcoholism such as tippler, sot, drunk, drunkard, dipsomaniac, and souse. Read more on Wikipedia