worried about this friend ...

goggle

ran into a friend in Tesco earlier & commented on the bottle of spirits in her trolley ... just a chatty conversation along the lines of:
Me: "Oh is xxx on special offer"
Her: "er, no ... why?"
Me: "Sorry, I thought maybe it was a good price 'cos you hardly ever buy alcohol!"
Her: "I was running out"

She hardly ever drinks & had always said she wouldn't drink on her own (she lives alone) but seems that she's been having a glass most nights recently ...
Is starting to drink (not heavily but more often than before) a sign of depression? I've wondered for a while if she is suffering from low level depression - if she is, how can I help?

onlyroz

Seems like you're jumping to a lot of conclusions here, based on one bottle in a trolley...

ellay864

Are you assuming she's been drinking most nights because her bottle has run out? She may have had an almost empty bottle for a while that's finally finished, it might be something she uses as a cooking ingredient, she might keep drinks in for when friends pop round. If you have concerns about her, it might be nice to spend some time with her in an evening so she isn't alone, rather than make judgements on one bottle in a shopping trolley

*max*

Bit of a busybody, aren't you? One bottle in a shopping trolley, and you start asking strangers on the internet if your friend is depressed/has an alcohol problem. How do you even know she has a drink every night? She might have had guests, it might be the first bottle she bought in two years...or it might be that it is none of your business, and you were out of order grilling her on her drinking habits in the middle of the supermarket?

Unless you know for sure she has a problem, and she is a good enough friend that you would feel able to help, keep your nose out of your friend's shopping trolley.

podperson

I don't drink much but I like having a bottle in the house so if I do feel like an odd glass on the weekend then I have some in. So, I don't think you can really say she's depressed just because she's buying one bottle of spirits because her last one ran out.
If you are worried about her for other reasons then as mentioned above try spending some time with her - ask her out or pop round for a night in. She might open up to you if she is feeling down then - she's hardly going to chat about something personal in the supermarket!

Yorkie1

goggle wrote: »

ran into a friend in Tesco earlier & commented on the bottle of spirits in her trolley ... just a chatty conversation along the lines of:
Me: "Oh is xxx on special offer"
Her: "er, no ... why?"
Me: "Sorry, I thought maybe it was a good price 'cos you hardly ever buy alcohol!"
Her: "I was running out"

She hardly ever drinks & had always said she wouldn't drink on her own (she lives alone) but seems that she's been having a glass most nights recently ...
Is starting to drink (not heavily but more often than before) a sign of depression? I've wondered for a while if she is suffering from low level depression - if she is, how can I help?

It may have taken me 4 years to get through my last bottle of Gin, but get through it I eventually did, and then it had to be replaced. :cool:

I agree with the others that, without more, you do seem to be making a lot more out of it than it warrants.

People do sometimes just run out of things ...

Ames

So, one full price bottle of wine and you're worried, but 3 for a tenner because it's a good offer woud be fine?

peachyprice

I like to keep a bottle of gin in the fridge, it can sit there for month sometimes, other times I rather like one in the evening 4-5 nights a week. Other than that I hardly drink.

When it needs replacing I do hope my friends aren't going to discuss me on the internet.

KiKi

Usually it takes about 5 replies before somebody decides that the person mentioned in the OP is probably depressed. This time it happened in the first post!!

OP, I think if your conclusions are solely based on a bottle in the trolley, then you're completely overreacting.

If you have other evidence, that's different, but I do agree with the other poster who said it sounds like the fact that it 'wasn't on offer' matters!!

If you're concerned, go round and talk to her. No-one on the internet can help you with whether or not she's depressed; we have no way of knowing.

KiKi

Tropez

It's nice that you seem receptive about changes in your friend's behaviour but as others have said, you really do need more to be going on before you assume she has depression.

I don't drink much at all. At Christmas my partner and I shared a bottle of champagne. That was the last alcohol I consumed until that week of hot weather we had in June. During that week, I fancied a beer so I popped to the supermarket and bought two six packs of bottles. I drank all of them over the course of two weeks. I haven't had another drink since. The couple of weeks where I was drinking a bottle or two a day wasn't because I was depressed but just because I fancied it as a change.

And I'm sure I'm not the only person who will go through phases where they might have a drink or two a day for a short while and then go back to drinking very little and rarely.

As someone else has said, I do also like to keep a bottle of whiskey in the house for when I fancy a drink. It's a rarity and I have a bottle that I couldn't even put an age to that is still a quarter full but when it does go it will have to be replaced.

There's nothing wrong with being aware that your friend may have changed in behaviour but you need to be careful not to jump to conclusions because your friend could be offended if she is enjoying some alcohol for perfectly normal reasons and you then question her about it.

candygirl

OMG if you were my friend and bumped into me in the supermarket, you would be worried:rotfl::rotfl::eek::eek:;)