I agree with drinking is only escaping reality for a short period of time, and the only way you can truly get over it is to deal with it yourself and embrace it.
But I also think that drinking until you're ready to face it is OK, as long as you WILL do that or don't prolong it for an absurd and unhealthy amount of time. Sometimes facing something unexpected right off the bat is a struggle that might be eased by "escaping" it for just a small amount of time until you can prep yourself up enough and be ready to embrace it yourself. 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.