AIBU to worry about the hold alcohol has on the UK?

[whyhere]

Prompted by a thread about an alcohol-free wedding, and some of the comments therein ('boring.... wouldn't go.... take a hip-flask....'), it seems to me that the need for/expectation of alcohol has really taken a grip in this country. Can people really not enjoy anything without alcohol? Is it really impossible to create a soap scene without alcohol being involved (yes, EE, I'm looking at you!)?

Anyone doing dry January? (Full disclosure - come from a family of alcoholics and have been sober for around fifteen years.)

I have DDs 23 and 19 and my experience of them and their friends is that they drink . DD1 went to uni and there was a massive drinking culture( Durham)

I had a dry wedding and it certainly was not miserable! we had come out of lockdown, luckily hadn't paid a deposit for the hotel venue so we had lost it and no others available for ages due to backlog so we just had the religious ceremony in the Gurdwara where there is no alcohol allowed. 100 people - small for an Indian wedding. we all caught up after the ceremony after such an awful period in history, it was the best day ever. No one was bothered what so ever that there was no alcohol and no one tried to bring a hip flask. maybe you are just miserable?

I have been to Muslim weddings and parties where people are dancing till way past midnight ( lots of cola ! ) yes you can have great time without it. I live in Scotland and have seen too much drink at weddings - lots of aggressive behaviour - maybe the couple who are holding the dry wedding have family members who can’t behave themselves with drink.

It’s keeping a balance and moderation - sadly some people don’t .

I’ve lived in 6 countries over 40 years. Only in UK have I seen such an obsessive hold on alcohol. It is fetishised here and often is treated as an all or nothing affair. My 16-20 yr old kids drank copious amounts with friends. Many stories of vomiting in taxis etc. sometimes ending up in A&E. turned them off over-drinking. Brits seem incapable of relaxing without booze. One of the best weddings I attended was Bahai, thus alcohol- free. Have been to many Muslim weddings with amazing music and dancing and wide variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Other countries attitudes are more ‘drink to slightly lubricate social interaction, and always with food’ rather than drink to get drunk. Why can’t Brits be like this?

21 years sober ODAAT (if you know you know 😉 ) Yes I agree with you

As long as people are not looking after their mental health, alcohol and other addictive substances will be an issue, people reach for these substances and use them to excess to alleviate other issues, alcohol in itself if used responsibly is not harmful and can have beneficial health effects, the issue is the mounting cases of mental health problems, everyone seems to have anxiety these days

I have friends and family members who don't drink alcohol and go to Weddings etc and just don't drink. Not everyone drinks. Then there are lots of people like myself who do drink, but only at things like Weddings, birthdays, Christmas, or a date night maybe. Most of the UK are not drinking to excess most of the time. I think you only see the people that are. Most people who are doing other things or at home you aren't going to notice.

My colleagues are obsessed with drinking, their whole personalities are based on alcohol. It’s like a badge of honour the next day claiming to have the worst hangover. Proper gives me the ick! And makes me happy not to spend £12 on a single bloody cocktail 😂

The "Covid" generation as I like to think of the older teens who didn't get the chance to underage drink in pubs or in tents with friends don't actually seem to drink. They seem to go out during the day and have civilised coffees or hot chocolates. The shops are now full of zero alcohol products.

I don't think people can afford to go out and drink eight points anymore either.

I think there are still people who feel they can't get through a social event without a drink in their hand but I think it might become a dying breed.

I thought this when I read it! Glad I’m not alone!
I also drink and I just think the expectation is unnecessary. To create a post on the internet about it…..

One of the reasons that there are a number of younger people who don't drink is because of drugs. Each generation has their poison and for my generation it was alcohol (I'm in my late 50s) as drugs weren't as readily available as they are now and there wasn't the variety. My neighbour's daughter told me that she and her friends prefer drugs because alcohol makes them put on weight.

I think the one doesn't imply the other. On sites such as this, most folk only reply if they have a strong view so I don't think that you can infer a national problem from one biased post. Given the OP's background (alcoholic family and implications of an issue themselves) I don't think that their view can be unbiased any more than mine can. I am a low to moderate drinker, My late DH had professional employment with a frequent regular on call requirement requiring zero alcohol intake for the on call period duration.

I think that most of us are. Its the ones who are not who get noticed.

I’ve been sober for nearly two years. Alcohol should be treated as other drugs but they won’t as they need it to keep the masses dumbed down

The British are mainly Celts and the drinking culture goes with this to some extent. But alcohol is a social lubricant for most people and most are not alcoholics. There is something of a drinking culture across Europe, not just in the UK, that particularly touches the young. It has ever been so, I am afraid.

'They' 'masses' 'dumbed down' - conspiracy BINGO!

I enjoy alcohol as a social lubricant. It’s not just in the UK that it’s part of the culture - we have beer and wine festivals in Germany (though you don’t see quite as much bad behaviour).

Having said that, I don’t need it - I’ll do karaoke stone cold sober. I wish there were better low or non-alcohol options that weren’t either full or sugar or absolutely horrible. Mocktails are fun but too sweet. Low alcohol wine is disgusting and I have only found one palatable low alcohol beer, the rest are like sweetened dishwater. Sipssmith alcohol free gin is nice.

Many of my relatives don’t drink for religious reasons (Salvation Army) but they were never po-faced about it at family occasions, they’d just get a glass of orange juice or pop.

Yes you are spot on. We do have a drink problem in this country. And you are seen as boring if you don't drink. People do seem to have to get plastered to have a good time. It is the culture here. And the alcohol relayed death figures are not good.