On average, you are drunk 4,004 times in your life
Cotton candy champagne cocktails, Frozen Watermelon Mules or Piña Colada Mimosas: boozy drinks make me happy. So happy, in fact, that I secretly find myself sitting tipsily at my favorite cocktail bar fairly regularly. This got me thinking… How often are we actually drunk on average throughout our entire lives? And how often do we have to deal with that terrible hangover?
The calculation: how often you are drunk
Research shows that, on average, you go out quite a lot before the age of 20. Say: twice a week from the age of 17, for three years. That adds up to 312 nights out. From 20 to 22, you might go out even more often, because you’re a student, have all the time in the world, live on your own, have no obligations and want to score a date at that oh-so-hip club. On top of that, you have loads of friends who host dinner parties, organize house parties and drag you along to celebrate carnival in the south of the country, even if you may not be from there. So: having an alcoholic drink three times a week is an average. That means you get drunk 468 times, plus the 312 from the years before: 780 times drunk.
And then some quieter years arrive. Or, well, sometimes you take it a little easier, and sometimes you don’t. One-fifth of people in this age group go out every week. But most people certainly go to a club or pub every month. And then there are the dinners and birthdays. Say that up until the age of 30, you have a glass of wine 1.5 times a week. From 22 to 30, that’s another 624 times. By the age of 30, your total is 1,404 times drunk.
Jenever, sherry…
After that, for convenience, let’s calculate it like this: you drink wine, beer or a cocktail once a week. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Some people are thirstier than others. So it’s an average estimate—don’t hold me to it. Everyone has a Dry January or a festive week now and then: drinks come and go. Life expectancy in the Netherlands is 83 years for women and 80 years for men. And yes, even in those final years you’ll enjoy a little jenever or a glass of sherry while playing bridge, right? From the age of 30 until 80, you drink once a week for 50 years, which comes to 2,600 times on the booze.
And, drumroll… Here is the answer to today’s pressing question: how often are you drunk in your entire life? Well, our estimate is that it could easily be 4,004 times. Exceptions aside, of course. It would almost make you thirsty.
Also read:
- Fact check: does drinking alcohol help against a hangover?
- It has been scientifically proven: the older you get, the less severe your hangover
- This vitamin pill will get rid of your hangover in no time
