Usually though, if you're the kind of person who is drinking to escape something, more than likely you aren't going to have enough reason in the first place to "responsibly hold off reality until you're better prepared." But if you are, I think that's fine. That's my opinion though, I know some will disagree.
Drinking doesn't get rid of the pain. It only suppresses it for a short amount of time. You should embrace it. It'd be a lot less difficult.