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 think the increase in the number of cocaine related deaths is actually ageing drug users. The deaths are in the over 40 category. The most prolific drug users are those born in the 1970s. I don't think data shows that young people are taking more cocaine than they used to. They drink less and take less drugs.
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2020#possible-explanations-for-the-increase-in-drug-related-deaths

pointythings · Today 19:10
I think it's not just British reserve, it's also misery and poverty. Alcohol is cheap. The UK has one of the highest levels of socio-economic inequality in Europe. Not a good mix.

So how do you account for all the comfortably off and rich people who drink heavily?

Good point Eyerollcentral. It is interesting that it seems to be ok for the rich bankers and media types in London to spend their lunchtimes in the pub, but not ok for the lower classes to go for a drink during the day. My sister lives in Italy where people often drink wine during the day, something I would never usually do, but somehow it's ok for them to do it because the Mediterraneans are so cultured? When in Italy I have heard many stories of "cute and lovable Grandmothers" who would start their day with a glass of red wine, drink throughout the day until bedtime and who lived well into their eighties and nineties. I think there is a snobbery about who is allowed to, and who is not allowed to drink. There are plenty of upper class aristocrats who spend their days pissed, but it is seen as funny and quirky, while the old men who go into Wetherspoons looking for company are , to quote SteveLpool "middle aged and old men wasting their lives and health away spending their pensions, dole or disability allowance"🙄

I work with people who worry about their drinking. I coach high achievers on how to stop overdrinking, whether to drink in moderation or to give up entirely. (I don't offer a recovery programme for those who need medical supervision to stop, but work with people who have their lives together, but can't seem to get a handle on their drinking.)

I have clients from many different countries (including the UK).

So while I agree the UK most definitely has a drinking culture, I do not see this as the only place where this happens. Nor as the only reason why there are so many heavy drinkers here. I see the same issues again and again, irrespective of country (feeling encouraged by friends/colleagues/strangers to drink; feeling unable to stop at 1 or 2; see alcohol as incredibly accepted in society; feeling the odd one out if they don't drink .... and on and on).

I would also offer that the almost universal response to someone who thinks they might have a drinking problem ("go to AA!") isn't necessary for many people. It can even detract them from seeking help and keeps them suffering in silence. (I know there are those who will disagree with this perspective, but this is a far more nuanced question than saying "just go sober".)

The sooner we remove shame from the equation and encourage people to speak out openly about needing help (in whatever form), and listen to what they have to say, the better.

Why are you drinking ? Its tuesday!

😂😂😂

Jesus, there's some terrible generalising going on in this thread!

Maybe that's because hospitals and doctors aren't seeing and recording these issues because none of us can get a bloody appointment at the moment!!!

I am appalled at just how heavily many of my friends in their 60's and 70's drink.

Whilst heavy use of alcohol is unwise, the UK has much less of a problem than many places, and more of a problem than others. It isn't really a competition. And anyone "well travelled" who hasn't seen problem drinking abroad either hasn't been looking, or not likely didn't know where to look. Tourists especially tend not to hang out in the drunken dives! I've seen bars full of heavy drinking men in "dry states" of India, where "nobody drinks alcohol" and it's illegal to sell or buy it. Yeah, right.

I think the main difference is that in your own country you know about it and you see it more, and there are fewer places off limits to you. For good or bad, your own country is more familiar and known to you.

I’m 25, so I can’t speak for the youngest generation but there is definitely a ‘drinking culture’ within my age group. At uni the drinking culture was very much still alive.

I think female drinkers are more prevalent in Britain, ranging through all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Meaning that women drink just as much as men. Wine, Prosecco and gin is the tipple for the average middle class woman, cheap lager for the lower class one.
Whereas in other “drinking cultures” men outweigh the women. So for example in Poland, Germany or Russia men drink way more than women do.

I put it down to climate. The more miserable the weather the stronger the alcohol. Short Days, long nights. Weirdly the women seem to drink more than the men overall.

I spent a month in Seoul and a couple of other south korean cities 4 years ago and didn't see anything like that. It was also rare to see anyone smoking.

I agree that many British people have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.

However, I don't recognise what you say about attitudes to non-drinkers and I haven't really drunk alcohol for 40 years.

I agree. France also has more alcohol related deaths than the UK.

I think the UK has moderated somewhat in recent decades, though perhaps there was a bit of a bump for some when all day opening came in? People don't all drink massively after work or even during, like you used to hear about.

Historically alcohol has been a huge problem in the Nordics which is why they have the government stores and such strict rules. France and Belgium get celebrated for their relaxed attitudes but they have huge problems with drink driving.

I learnt after living in the USA that the reason for the 21 drinking age here isn't because of Prohibition or anything like that. In the 1970s a lot of states dropped the age to 18 and the drink driving rates went way up. The federal government told states that if they didn't put it back to 21 they'd lose their federal highway funding. It was successful and drink driving rates went back down. The CDC also claims it has other beneficial effects on health. I suspect the issue is that so many more young adults in the US drive, so drink driving is a much bigger health problem than in many European countries.

What I hate in the USA is the "teehee, wine mom" culture. Massively irritating, happens in the UK too but I didn't feel it was quite the same.

I don't think alcohol should be sold in supermarkets. We should have special off-licenses/bottle shops like they do in Australia and some US states.

JeepersCreepersWheredYaGetThosePeepers

But you have to have statistical facts to back up statements that are as bold as to proclaim the UK has a huge cocaine problem! It can't just be speculation.

@knitnerd90 what is the "teehee, wine mom" culture?

Friends moved to USA, teenage daughter at college invited DS over for a visit. Her friends were laid back about pot but absolutely paranoid about alcohol. They wouldn't let anyone in their car who had alcohol, cans, bottles not even in the boot if an older passenger had bought some

I enjoy a drink or two and used to binge with the best of them in my younger years.

I've heard friends from overseas comment negatively on our drinking culture here and a Canadian friend of mine dating on Bumble commented that she found the British men holding beer to be very unattractive and a little sad.

I also remember a thread here where someone was asking whether drinking one bottle of wine (alone) per night during the pandemic constituted alcoholism. I was really surprised that many were replying to say it was completely normal, lots of people were doing it, we're getting through unprecedented times etc. I'm easy going about drinking but a bottle a night is pretty horrific to my mind and definitely sounds like alcoholism.

The problem is that you seem to think every other country in the world has zero problems with alcohol which is a load of crap.

Agree with your points but the younger generation are quite different I think. I work at a university and can see a difference in how students socialise etc (I.e not drinking or at least not getting drunk). I wonder if because they can always be filmed / photographed and social media. None of that when I was a student!

I wonder, too. I'm American and have never heard this expression.