Earwicker posted:

meanwhile i know plenty of people who do most or all of their drinking in bars or other social situations who are total alcoholics and still get completely wasted all the time. over the course of my life i've seen hundreds of people in social drinking situations that clearly have a very unhealthy relationship with drink, being encouraged to keep drinking by others around them or the atmosphere in general

the only difference between social drinking and solo drinking is that the former is more socially acceptable. it isn't healthier. likewise solo drinking isn't automatically less healthy. its more about knowing your limits and whether you are better off deciding those limits yourself or you need/want some kind of social reinforcement.