Your Friends Might Be Avoiding You Because of Your Drinking Habits

We've all got that one friend who can't handle their booze. You know the drill: they have one too many pints, get a crazed glint in their eye, and decide that it's a great idea to steal a traffic cone/start a fight/harass the bartender/be generally obnoxious [delete as appropriate]. Even science says that 23 percent of drinkers adopt a Mr. Hyde persona after half a bottle of Pinot Grigio, making them less responsible, intellectual, and more hostile. While you might put up with the Mr Hydes of the world for a bit, chances are, you'll eventually start avoiding their calls, stop opening their WhatsApp messages, and make excuses to ignore their "Big Night Out" Facebook invites.

And you're not alone.

According to a new survey published yesterday and conducted by YouGov on behalf charity Macmillan Cancer Support, a quarter of Brits have avoided going to the pub with certain friends because they're embarrassing drunks and 13 percent have have stopped meeting up with mates because they drink too much. The results also revealed that more than half (54 percent) of the 2,000 respondents said the most irritating thing their mates did after drinking too was becoming aggressive. Forty-seven percent said that their boozy pals become too loud after too many IPAs.

The study also found that teetotal 18 to 24-year-olds (ICYMI those pesky kids are drinking way less booze than older generations) say that they don't drink because they're less tolerant of drunken behaviour and don't want to risk losing friendships. And men are twice as likely as women to completely stop meeting their friends at bars if they deem them to be a bad influence.

It's worth noting that the research was carried out as part of Macmillan's annual "Go Sober for October" campaign and the results aren't exactly groundbreaking. If nights out usually end with you holding your mate's hair back, you're probably more likely to swerve a meeting at the pub.

And let's be honest, the only embarrassing drunken behaviour that anyone should have to deal with is the "edgy shapes" you pull on the dance floor, post-tequila shots.