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.

Yes, it costs the NHS a fortune in alcohol related illnesses (liver disease, some forms of dementia, falls, fights, diabetes).
I think its a huge hidden problem with the elderly.

There is a thing called 'le binge drinking' though.
And drinking at lunchtime is totally dying out over there I think. www.france24.com/en/20130729-france-binge-drinking-alcohol-beuverie-express

And look up 'botellon' in Spain.

Were the 90s about drinking era? It was possible I had my formative years through a pretty hedonistic time and looking at celeb interviews about then there was certainly a fair amount of alcholism. I remember some may called 'loaded' where excess drinking was certainly celebrated.

possibly the 2020s are more conservative, maybe because of cost of young people are looking at their elders and learning lessons?

I think the big difference in the UK is that women seem to drink as much as men. I’ve never seen this in other countries. I’ve never seen women lying around in the streets, off their faces, vomiting, in other countries. Maybe that’s why it’s more noticeable.

Oh...we met quite a few Finnish on a small cruise around Holland....they bought boxes and crates of booze and we never saw them over the 3 days, in cabins getting pissed....i am hoping to visit Finland this year, I dont drink, as long as they not agressive and nasty like the UK, I dont mind !

Agree op, I’m British but live abroad. I’m almost twenty years of living here, I’ve never seen fighting or awful behaviour..only ever from tourists from other countries, mainly the Brits.
It’s true, I see workers here and old men having a glass of something or beers with their early morning coffee, but they seem able to control it in a different way. Also, Russian and Ukrainian friends can drink a lot, but again, generally not the same behaviour.
They even sell cans of beer at the McDonald’s drive thru here 😬

In Greece the local youngsters (that makes me sound old) are happy to go out for the night with friends and just have a couple of frappes.

I'm sorry, but some of our youngsters are a total embarrassment when abroad!

What do you want us to do op? Soberly flagellate ourselves as well as putting up with shit weather, crappy jobs with long working hours, small houses, poor and dying dog-shit towns and cities etc?

People drink - or take drugs - to take the edge off the shitty parts of their lives. Please step down off your moral high ground and pray tell us what would easily lighten our lives as efficiently as alcohol.

I've spent half my life in Ireland and you definitely see it there.

I imagine there'll be plenty of other countries that neither of us have been to where it also happens.

Yanbu!

Yeah I think working and middle class youngsters don't drink very much at all nowadays. But I think a lot of the lower class do still drink heavily

This is really reassuring to hear. I hope it stays like that when my DC (4 and 6) are older!

I loathe drunkenness. All my friends are light drinkers or T-total now.

At uni I did have people ask why I didn't drink but never aggressively - they were genuinely curious. I explained and they showed me nothing but respect.

I met a 20-something guy once who said he admired me because he wanted to drink less but found the peer pressure too strong. I didn't think I deserved his admiration as I can only think of one time someone tried to put pressure on me and I shut them down immediately.

© World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe 2019

As the World Health Organization Regional office for Europe reports, in Greece
among alcohol using adolescents between 15 to 19 years, 41.5% of boys and 10% of girls binge on alcohol, and
among alcohol using youth between 20 to 24 years, over half (53.7%) of boys and 17% of girls engage in heavy episodic alcohol consumption.

The harm from alcohol is apparent and pervasive. 19.7% of deaths in adolescents between 15 to 19 years and 23.4% of deaths among youth between 20 to 24 years are caused by alcohol attributable reasons.

I agree. My teen DC and friends don't drink, they are into their sport and fitness. I very rarely drink now. I often end up being the weekend teen taxi for pickups as their parents start drinking at teatime and are hammered by 8pm every single weekend.

I have been to Ireland.

My standout memory is paying nearly 10 Euro for a pint of Guinness in Temple bar. I thought it'd be cheaper as they make the stuff there 🤣

First paragraph....of this link

I think in Ireland though, you aren’t ribbed so much if you are teetotal as you are in the UK.

Massive generalisation.

I don't often drink. I've probably had 10 drinks in the past 5 years. Most people within my family and friends are either fully sober or have the occasional drink with a meal at a restaurant.

We're an odd country in that a lot of people who chug back worrying amounts of booze still get on their high horse about somebody vaping weed, for example. Other countries are a few steps ahead and have legalised it.

If I'm going to be ribbed it's normally by the older generations of my family.

The younger ones (just like in the UK) tend not to drink much at all.

@kitsuneghost as other posters have mentioned, the youngsters drink less but gobble cocaine like it is harmless 😳😟

You can't really judge a nation's drinking culture from the example of a few people on holiday. I think many would drink more on an AI holiday to "get their money's worth".
It's not a true reflection.

@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl What is Australia like then? Really curious. My s in law moved out there 5 years ago and she’s outside Melbourne, the Mornington peninsula. She said it’s quite frowned upon there, people don’t really drink. She’s early 50s and enjoyed her wine, so had to adjust a bit.
Genuinely curious, not being cheeky! When we were out there we didn’t see much of that but maybe the area? Or is it a social spheres thing?
I remember my backpacker days up the east coast and drinking was bonkers.