The perils of drink...where the English and Scottish are top of the league....

[slowmotion]

If you look at the figures for alcohol consumption per capita in the article posted by @The Crofted Crest, you will see that things are not quite as awful as the depressive Grauniad suggests.

 

[tom73]

I have a 40+ YO 2nd cousin (I think) who is an alcoholic, we were not aware of this, we just thought she had made some very bad choices, but looking back it may explain a few things, she has finally come to terms (not quite sure that's the right phrase) with it. She has managed with family help to get herself into a hostel & we are hoping she is sorting herself out, what the long term affects of the abuse will be we don't know.

She already made the biggest step to ruing things around ie admitting she needs help. Mrs has ran a nurse lead detox unit getting them off it was not the hard part it's what come next. The big factor in the success stories was support from family and friends. The big thing about drink as some of the support workers (former alcoholics) is that you can't escape it. Even the soaps are all centred around pubs unlike drugs drink is main steam and aspected it's place is never question. As for the long term damage it's hard to say but the liver can if you let it recover. It will all be down to how much she drank. The mental effects will be a very different story.

To anyone else who thinks they have problem got help it never hurts to ask for it. If it's the 1st thing you wake up and want and the last thing at night you think about. Then that's normally a very sign you have a problem. Oh and what ever you do if you are drinking all day every day. Don't stop without getting help unlike drugs, alcohol dependancy is also a physical need your body grows to need it. Without medical supported detox it's highly risky and can be fatal.

 

[BoldonLad]

I have no idea if the article was factually accurate, but I recall reading something that was discussing the attitudes of different societies to the excesses of alcohol and even if it isn't correct, it was food for thought.

As a quick summary (and gross generalisation), it suggested that in the UK, if you are in Court for an offence (non-motoring, obviously), and can show you were drunk at the time, it is viewed as mitigating circumstances and can reduce the severity of the sentence. The article compared this to Spain, where if you were under the influence at the time of the offence, you got an additional punishment for being drunk.

Like you, I have no idea if these claims are true, but, my life experience would appear to support the theory. I have even noticed a change in attitude in my life time. ie in my youth (1960s), drinking alcohol (including underage drinking) was a common part of my "entertainment", but, drinking, without getting drunk, was the aim. Indeed, you would be mocked, by your "mates" if you "could not hold your drink". Where-as now, I note with my children and grand-children, getting drunk is a positive, not a negative. They often start a "night out" with a session in the house, so, they are halfway to drunk, before they even leave the house!

I am note sure I totally believe the article's claims, as stated elsewhere UK per capita alcohol consumption does not bear out these claims, and, it is falling, not rising. Again, my life experience is that there is more excess alcohol consumption in other Countries, the most notable being the former USSR.

I have no idea how we achieve it, but, I do think that in the same way as driving while under the influence of alcohol has become broadly socially unacceptable, we do need to reach a point where other forms of criminal and/or anti-social behaviour is not excused by alcohol consumption.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

If you look at the figures for alcohol consumption per capita in the article posted by @The Crofted Crest, you will see that things are not quite as awful as the depressive Grauniad suggests.

I'll drink to that!

 

[Deleted member 26715]

As for the long term damage it's hard to say but the liver can if you let it recover.

i also had a 43 YO female friend die 18 months ago of sclerosis of the liver which we presume was drink related.

 

[swee'pea99]

Two clips I came across while pondering such matters recently:

 

[Pale Rider]

When the Sunderland brewery Vaux won a battle to open another pub, the A&E consultant at Sunderland Royal said: "I would like to invite the chairman to come and see me on a Friday night when I'm picking bits of glass out of people's faces who have consumed too much of his product."

That was a few years ago.

Regrettably, a consultant would be in trouble these days for making a point so well.

 

[classic33]

I have a 40+ YO 2nd cousin (I think) who is an alcoholic, we were not aware of this, we just thought she had made some very bad choices, but looking back it may explain a few things, she has finally come to terms (not quite sure that's the right phrase) with it. She has managed with family help to get herself into a hostel & we are hoping she is sorting herself out, what the long term affects of the abuse will be we don't know.

I hope she gets herself sorted out, and manages to start living for her, not the drink.

The hardest part she's done.

 

[srw]

Am certain that this will end-up in P&L lite eventually, but wanted a wider CC view on this:

https://www.theguardian.com/society...h-get-drunk-most-often-25-nation-survey-finds

I always feel that as part of the 'war on drugs' that comes and goes, Alcohol is always the elephant in the room.
So what do we think the reasons are behind this and how might we affect change?

In other news, the Pope says he lives in the Vatican and Bears report that you can find them in various habitats across the globe.

Looking at the executive summary (https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GDS2020-Executive-Summary.pdf) I want some methodological questions answered before knowing how seriously to take the results. There's a very simple sentence missing from the report - something along the lines of "The results of the survey were adjusted to take account of the make-ups of the populations of the countries concerned." Without that declaration it's a glorified twitter poll.

And I don't believe the results have been sensibly adjusted. They claim alcohol use at 94% - it's much lower than that in reality, cannabis use at 65% (the highest use anywhere in the world, says wikipedia, is 30%-odd) and smoking rates at over 60% (more like 25%).

It might be an important survey of people who do take various drugs, but it can't tell us anything sensible to compare different countries - only what they people they asked told them.

 

[srw]

If you look at the figures for alcohol consumption per capita in the article posted by @The Crofted Crest, you will see that things are not quite as awful as the depressive Grauniad suggests.

I think you mean "the depressive PR agency who put out the press release". I suspect you'll find the same report in lots of newspapers of many different political persuasions. But most of them aren't free to read.

 

[itboffin]

That’s 33 times a week right?

 

[slowmotion]

I think you mean "the depressive PR agency who put out the press release". I suspect you'll find the same report in lots of newspapers of many different political persuasions. But most of them aren't free to read.

I'm not sure. The Grauniad (and Observer) do seem to have a particular knack for turning any bit of news into articles that make one reach for the safety razors and turn on the bath taps. Their scribblers don't seem a particularly happy bunch.

 

[DRM]

I don’t think the old opening hours helped, with the attitude of get as much down your neck before they call time, the law changed but the way of drinking didn’t

 

[mudsticks]

In other news, the Pope says he lives in the Vatican and Bears report that you can find them in various habitats across the globe.

Looking at the executive summary (https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GDS2020-Executive-Summary.pdf) I want some methodological questions answered before knowing how seriously to take the results. There's a very simple sentence missing from the report - something along the lines of "The results of the survey were adjusted to take account of the make-ups of the populations of the countries concerned." Without that declaration it's a glorified twitter poll.

And I don't believe the results have been sensibly adjusted. They claim alcohol use at 94% - it's much lower than that in reality, cannabis use at 65% (the highest use anywhere in the world, says wikipedia, is 30%-odd) and smoking rates at over 60% (more like 25%).

It might be an important survey of people who do take various drugs, but it can't tell us anything sensible to compare different countries - only what they people they asked told them.

Don't spoil it now, I thought we were finally winning at something??

British people have never really embraced moderation when it comes to drinking. While many other cultures regard alcohol as an accompaniment to a social event and frown upon public drunkenness, we’ve often embraced it as a cultural identity. The challenge is making people realise drinking a bit less does not make you boring. In fact, you’ll probably have a better night. It’s like as a country we need to leave our adolescence behind.”

This part really resonated, very drunk people are in fact incredibly dull.

Except to themselves..

And other drunk people of course..

I think it was the drear old 'fun sponge Graun' who ran an article that contained the warning..

"Prossecco, is not a substitute for a personality"

 

[Eziemnaik]

Yet the UK (i.e. including Wales and NI) consumes less alcohol per capita than Iran and Afghanistan and less than the global average. Do the English and Scots just get drunk more quickly?
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/alcohol-consumption-by-country

Binge drinking
People drink more in France on average, but it is a different kind of drinking