typically, i don't like the taste of alcohol, so i figure it will be pretty hard to turn my into a real drinker, though i do drink. I prefer to smoke away my anxiety.... pot has been my savior for years... it's definetly the only way i got through university and got my degree (ironically in Psychology).
But my Cousin (the same one i mention all the time), has also been dealing with SA for the last 10 years and she does use Alcohol to deal with it (along with a shit-load of medications). In fact, she often turns down events due to the amount of people unless they are family-related parties (and even that is up in the air until the last min). She currently lives with a piece of shit drunk who i hate with every fiber of my being (i lived with them for a while and it only made things worse for me because he was verbably abusive and it triggered me too much). While i was living there, to deal with all the bullshit he dealt out, she drank a lot more... supposedly now that i've moved out, she drinks a lot less.... but i KNOW she's lying to me about the situation there.
Anyhow, she considereds her alcohol (though she's a stoner too), to be her social lube, and the only way she'll go to a big event is if she's well "pre-partied." i think it's sad just cuz she's such an awesome person and she really doesn't need to drink herself under the table for people to like her, she just needs it for her to deal with people.
I hope that in the future, we both will be able to handle society and people without our self-medicating crutches.
in fact, i hope that for all of us.