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.

I agree. I think the problem is how acceptable (though hopefully the tide is starting to change) it is to be a functioning alcoholic.

I have several friends who definitely fall under this category and it is quite worrying how oblivious (or maybe not, deep down) they are.

Also, how it is so openly spoken about and promoted (eg moaning about the hangovers, commiserating with someone on their tough day by saying they definitely need to crack open the gin, how they need lifts to a meal so they can drink, etc).

I think it will be a huge health problem in the future, especially for women of my generation (mid-30s-40s). We grew up in the underage drinking/lad culture days, followed by a university drinking culture, which has just carried on seamlessly into 'gin/wine o clock' for stressed mummies. So there'll be people who are my age and have already been drinking heavily for decades.

I have one friend in particular who at the age of 15 was drinking was drinking her sports club male friends under the table. She seems to still be a very heavy (but wine, so that's acceptable! 🙄) drinker.

I find the Irish have more of a drinking culture, but are more sensible and respect it more, if that makes sense.

Here, we now have these ridiculous..and quite honestly dangerous - bottomless brunches. Grown women getting paralytic in the middle of the day.

Apparently the biggest alcohol consumers in this country by demographic or the 55 -75 age group, followed by 40-55.

At a wild guess, I would say whilst other countries may have more of a drinking culture, we are top of the pops for anti social behaviour resulting from alcohol consumption

I've always thought this...

I have thought and noticed this for years. Think it's changing with the under 20s now but definitely ingrained to the older gen.

Ecstasy makes you very thirsty. Raves used to sell bottles of water at high prices. Raised eyebrow because they are thinking you've taken drugs.

‘…average IQ plebs…’ god you really dislike people disagreeing with you @SteveLpool. You have also a rejected any nuances any one else has brought in to the discussion. Oddly combative.

And drinking heavily for decades, but in a socially-acceptable way! It's crazy.

life isn't black and white, there's tons of nuance and context to consider.

Yes, which makes your OP even more stupid.

Boozing is the problem, Eastern Europe for example is drunk pretty much 7 days a week 24 hours a day, ( you won’t even know if a person had alcohol or not as they’re constantly steadily drinking throughout the day, every day ) brits get legless on a fri-sat night

Just to throw in some contrast. I'm in the big demographic for drinking (binge drinking teens, now mid 30's so ripe for wine o' clock/gin mummies etc) and most of our friends are winding down drinking quite naturally. DH and I will have a glass of wine with a meal, but feel crap if we have more so we switch to soft after that. No one I know goes out in the evening and all agree we can't be bothered with the hassle of night life.
Worrying that cocaine is so prevalent in the young now. Aside from the health considerations, ethically I couldn't buy into a trade so intrinsically tied up in child abuse.

Go on over to the teen board and see how many 'parents' are buying their young teens alcohol because 'they all do it' and they don't want their kid left out. It's 'normal' to buy13/14/15 year olds alcohol to many. It's pretty fucked up so yeah, there is an issue.

On holiday in Sardinia the ones drinking beers at 10am in the morning were Eastern Europeans, Russians, and Australians. A couple of years ago the hotel had to physically evict a large family of Russians as their behaviour was so bad. A five star luxury private hotel, and they were face down, passed out in front of their villas, surrounded by bottles, by early afternoon. The Brits by comparison were terribly well behaved!

I've not quoted any figures or statistics even ones to prove my points because of what I said about nuance.

I only have my life experience, I've been to many places in the world, and i used to be a big pub-goer around my hometown and some places in the UK..

I'm 36 years old, I feel my well-rounded life experiences are closer to the truth than some arbitrary statistics

I can't believe how much people drink on a work night out.

Maybe I am just jealous, as more than two glasses of wine (especially if red) will see me in bed all the next day. But I just find it amazing how people drink and drink and drink and seem to be able to function the next day.

Yes, other countries drink too. However, they intersperse it with food and coffee. And antisocial behaviour as a result of drinking is not tolerated, let alone found funny. It really isn’t funny.

I don't agree with you, I used to live in Malta and Cyprus for 8 years and their alcohol culture is huge.

Just seen that
None of the youngsters i know seem to
Maybe it depends where you are

You can't use people on their holibobs (lol) as an accurate representation of their demographics and trends back home

There's a hell of a lot of rich Russians who are absolute classless trash. They got their money though connections and corruption and still have the Soviet mentality. Same can be said about Chinese rich.

Rich Brits are more likely to just be normal people who worked hard and did well for themselves.

@Dinneronmybfpillow You are only in your thirties and will not go out in the evening!

I'm 36 years old, I feel my well-rounded life experiences are closer to the truth than some arbitrary statistics

A comedian too 😂😂😂

My parents swirled in France for a number of years and every lunch they had whilst at work (like going to restaurants with colleagues) had wine.

No one drinks at work here though

I personally think we drink more because it's cold and shitty weather. We don't have promenades to roller blade or sit outside and watch the world go by. There's no cafe culture.
We have pub culture

Hahaha! What every other country in the world? What a load of crap. You need to get out more.

I wonder if part of difference for behaviour in pubs can be that we got billed for whatever we broke. Once there was a short fight and the bar billed all involved for broken chairs and glass + post deinks for bar staff for the stress😂
That was the last fight in that bar as far as I know. They all paid up

I hardly ever drink, and it’s never been questioned.

ortonym, I think ONS are more reliable and shows a decrease in use of class A drugs in both young age group and adults up to 59, this is since 2020 so probably the most up to date as recorded in June 2022. Equally, it is not a huge percentage of the population.