Brits have a huge problem with alcohol

[SteveLpool]

AIBU to think that this country has a particularly acute problem with boozing, alcohol, drinking (whatever you call it) compared to our peers in Europe and the rest of the world?

I've worked and travelled abroad quite a lot and i never had the issues i am having now being back at home in the UK with regards to being the odd one out at a bar or a pub just because I'm not having alcohol.

Sometimes a few of us will get together after work and I'll have a diet coke or even a soda water and lime.. when my choice of drink is known ("is there vodka in that????") there becomes an aura of uncomfortableness (if that is even a word) like I've committed a crime.. soon afterwards the comments come..

"what's in that?"
"why arnt you drinking"
"are you a lightweight"
"just have a couple"

I have a theory of why this is for Brits in particular.. We as a people are quite emotionally & socially reserved therefore inhibitions MUST be lowered to have any form of good time..

The med countries for example like Italy and Spain have more of a coffee wine bar culture because they are quite outgoing and introverted.

For the record I'm not against alcohol, I'm big on my fitness and gym and I'm not prepared to ruin my gains for a few hours in a dingy British pub.. I save my boozing for when i go away on holiday.

OP it seems like you are statistically wrong if PP stats are anything to go by. Anecdotally, I'm in south east and DH works in London in a job that requires going for client socials and dinners, there is definitely a decline in drinking, amongst our friends/peers (early 40's) there is also a decline, one night we went on recently to a London pub to meet old colleagues who range from mid 30s to early 40s everyone had non-alcoholic beer! That is getting quite popular amongst friends now.

Europeans have other vices so smoking in France more than double here and double the number in Germany than here.

I have to stick up for them in some way because it would be shame in mine too.
Again, it's not the amount, it's how it's drunk. I met many people who didn't eat before so they "would get drunk faster" and drunk fast to get "buzzing".
While drinking here per capita is lower than elsewhere, the attitude is problematic. I was always taught to eat with drinks (or before if going to club), drink water occasionally and so on. So while someone next to me was on 3rd pint, I also was on third, but had pork scratchings and glass of water after second pint. One of us waa able to get taxi without a drama at the end of the night...

And asking for glass of tap water in clubs is usually met with raised eyebrow even though that I just ordered a drink too🤷🏻

To add to my previous post... the "few pints after work" everyday is a massive part of Japanese/South Korean work culture. So again, not a uniquely British problem.

Never go to Australia if you think Brits are bad!

South Koreans and Japanese (men mostly) are often found slouched in a drunken coma on the street. Probably different factors such as their unhealthy work culture etc but none the less ... the view that its only a British problem is ridiculous

I know someone who regularly travels to South Korea and she's often mentioned the drinking culture there. She says it's not unusual to be stepping over people lying drunk in the street.

ourworldindata.org/grapher/alcohol-related-crimes-of-all-crimes

I think Britain has an unhealthy drinking culture. But my DP is teetotal and I do not recognise the kind of pressure to drink you talk about.

I think younger people don’t drink so much. I have DDs in their 20s and neither really drink at all.

I remember being told to leave a pub when my friend and I were drinking soft drinks (several, not just nursing one) because they “needed the table” for people who were drinking alcohol.
Hopefully things have changed for the better now.
I still think the main difference between The UK and other places is that here we find drunk people funny

@Applesandcarrots That is because they want you to spend money. Order sparkling water you pay for and no one cares.

😳

I think it’s the weather. Russians have a massive problem with alcohol too, and their weather is also terrible.

I believe that if you are buying your 2nd overpriced double vodka and coke, no one should be raising eybrow when you request water as well.

Obviously OP hasn't been to Ireland.
She probably thinks Fr Jack was a caricature!

I firmly believe that people who need a drink to "unwind" or "steady their nerves" are alcoholics in the making. Is it not physically possible to do that with a soft drink or a cup of tea/coffee?

My opinion is not going to be popular😬

I don't drink and most of the people I know or work with aren't heavy drinkers. I think it was more of a problem 20 or 30 years ago. The internet has changed things as far as socialising goes.

I did used to drink when I was younger but I pretty much stopped at about 25 and stopped entirely at some point in my 30s. I didn't even make a conscious decision to stop, I just drank more and more rarely until I didn't drink at all.

I find the UK drinking culture concerning, but not able to compare as I've not lived elsewhere for a very long time.

I know a lot of people who drink more than they should, agreewith comments above about wine o'clock etc.

I rarely drink and a lot of people remark on it.

Personally, I don't know anyone who would not eat to get drunk quicker or move in circles where getting drunk is the purpose of the evening and is 'funny'.

From what my 17 year old says it's because they're all out of it on weed or cocaine

A plus point for Social media is that it has probably helped reduce the getting shitfaced factor..

I agree with this.

I don't drink anymore, and DH barely drinks, and it's never come up. I don't think people have paid any attention to what I'm drinking, let alone cared enough to make a thing of it.

In the UK it is socially completely unacceptable to drink drive That’s something that’s changed in my lifetime. When I was growing up “one for the road” was a real thing. And being caught drunk driving was treated with the amusement that someone having to go on a speed awareness course is today.

4am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning at a city centre bus station in Finland would tell you it's not just Brits that get drunk. It was so busy with people, lots of people staggering around drunk, fights, people being sick. In Finland people only tend to drink once or twice a week (alcohol is expensive), but they pre-load at home then head to the bar already pretty drunk.

I did Erasmus at uni and it wasn't just the British students getting drunk, pretty much all nationalities got wasted at times.

But it’s also a massive craze in the US, a country where you can’t drink until you are 21 and less than a hundred years ago banned the sale of alcohol. Sadly some people are alcoholics. Liking alcohol is not itself a problem. What’s wrong with people having a couple of social drinks with colleagues after work?