The only way to fight peer pressure that I know of is assertiveness and/or avoidance. I'd also add discussion to the mix but I doubt that people who don't have enough empathy to see that they are pressuring you into doing something you don't want to do can be reasoned with. If you don't have enough discipline to decline the shot that someone bought you, you should consider hanging out with your friends in a different manner than usual (go to the movies instead of the club etc.) hang out less or consider dropping some of your friends if you really care about your health, self-improvement etc. I know it sounds harsh, but the idea makes sense, it is in fact effective and I'm sure you're familiar with it (from what I remember Joe Rogan talks about it sometimes). The sad truth is that some people will drag you down if you let them so... don't let them. If you have enough discipline to do that without dropping them - great but few of us have.

It is a weird one as drinking is good and fun and very tasty. It is a very relaxing thing to do but it can instantly turn on its head and turn nasty, bad for you and even life threatening....thats alcohol for ya!

I don't go out anymore, maybe 2 times a year as i just dont enjoy it. I cringe when i hear people my age (30) say "cant wait to get mortal"....im just thinking to myself that aint why i wana go out. I wana have a laugh with my mates, get out the house, look at some girls and chill. If i drink out of the house it is with a meal or in my local quiet pub. And the main reason is because im tired, stressed, fancy a pint or just want a change of scenery.

Dont get me wrong i still get drunk but most of it is house drinking and its fun and never to even half the point of the states i would find myself on a night on the town.

@MattVIP it's a lad thing. When I do decide to drink I pressure everyone else who is not drinking to drink. If they say no then I'll keep on asking them (can go out for hours) and they do the same till you have a drink lol. Think I gotta to stick to nursing a beer over going in shot for shot.

@Jon-PokerVIP I here you mate, when I was in my early 20s all I wanted to do was get s***-faced. Now I want to go out and have a few drinks and chill. Lol'd at 'Can't wait to get mortal" that's usually people who live for the weekend and hate their jobs.

I don't have any answers for ya, at least not any useful ones, but I feel ya. A couple of years ago it occurred to me that I shouldn't need to get drunk to enjoy my time with friends. Clearly something was wrong with either me or them (or both). Nothing was really wrong, but I did want to make a change.

Avoid doing shots if the goal is only to get buzzed, not smashed. No real way to do shots and beer and not get sloppy. I've tried drinking shots and skipping the beer for water, that works exactly 0% of the time. Trying wine backfired enormously, I drink it way faster than a pint of stout.

Any activities other than sitting in a pub will obv help, but I have no idea what you have available in Thailand.

If you don't want mates pressuring you, but you pressure them when you want to, well, I think you see where this is going....

Unfortunately the answer I found that worked was, "Get older." I know it's not exactly helpful, but Father Time is undefeated.

Like the great late Robin Williams once said: "Time is the best teacher... unfortunately he kills all of his students".

@Harvie I know it's 'a lad thing'. I've been known to partake in some severe drinking sessions and encouraging others was certainly a part of the process. However, this doesn't change the fact that if getting smashed every other day is conflicting with your priorities you should avoid it and/or be assertive enough not to partake. Just because you used to pressure people to drink doesn't mean that you still have to do that, and just because others are pressuring you doesn't mean you should just let that happen.

Just don't drink. Isn't it that simple? And when you do, just drink couple of shots or w/e your having (never mix), but never get out of control. You know, 40g of alcohol a day (100ml of vodka) is actually healthy (best to take during lunch), but if you go over than not so much unfortunately..

This is a bit offtopic, but I love this theory that our body is conditioned to make quick adaptations based on stress and I find more and more example of this as I research stuff. Alcohol/coffee are actually healthy in small doses. Same goes for exercising. The act of exercising isn't actually healthy in and of itself, you're just putting your body through something extremely uncomfortable, and therefore, causing it to adapt. Apple is arguably the healthiest fruit among the popular ones not only because it's rich in vitamins, but also because of the cyanide in seeds. Same goes for cruciferous veggies like broccoli and sulforaphane (basically a substance that kills small organisms, and therefore, prevents them from eating those vegetables). It's obviously an oversimplification, but I'm a big fan of this theory.

@CycleVancouver lol you're 100% right. Reminds me of Good Will Hunting where they are going to start a fight and one of them doesn't want to fight, then Affleck says if he doesn't fight they will not be his friend any more lol.

My friends arrive in town next week.You'll see a 'how do you cure a hangover v2' thread coming up in a few days.

I remember those days and I don't miss them. @MattVIP said it best, just resist and be assertive ("Nah I'm good here"). I used to do that and it works. If it's only 1 round of shots in total, drink up. But if it's endless rounds, feel free to resist. Nowadays for me I prefer to have a few drinks and go at my own pace - maybe a nice bourbon or scotch on the rocks or a nice big

Once your friends know you don't want to follow the flock they'll make a few jibes towards you then leave it go. If they don't and keep pressuring you, they're not your friends, they're bullies, go your own way you wont regret it.

Managed to go out last night for a few drinks without actually drinking. Just told everyone that if they asked me for a drink I would completely ignore them and it worked. Had a pretty decent nice but ended up going home around 1am as I was getting too tired, usually the alcohol pushes me through till 5-6am.

Any ideas on what to do asides from drugs or red bull to get me going to around 4-5am. Really don't want to drink stimulants if I can help it that late.

The best option would be not to party till 4-5am since healthy sleep schedule is basically the nuts, but if you want to have fun and you have no trouble bouncing back to healthy sleeping hours then stimulants are basically the way to go. You can try some exercise to get the blood pumping, splash of cold water on your face or chewing a gum can also help to keep you alert but nothing beats caffeine. The half-life for caffeine is between 4-6 hours so plan ahead and drink your energy drink/coffee around 11pm or so. Also, you're better of going for a sugar-free caffeine source to avoid the unpleasant effects of sugar rush wearing off.