Relationships with Alcohol

Everyone enjoy the holidays?

We hope so, but know that if you are feeling the effects of ‘making merry’, you’re not alone.

We all deserve a roaring good time over the festive season, but the aftermath can sometimes leave drained, and one cause of this is our higher alcohol intake.

Did you know that alcohol can still be detected in your system up to 72 hours after consumption?

Plus, sleep disruption, weight change and lightening of our wallets can have even more lasting effects heading into the new year.

That’s how the idea for Dry January came about. It was invented in 2012 by Alcohol Change UK, a British charity, to encourage people to “ditch the hangover, reduce the waistline and save some serious money by giving up alcohol for 31 days”, and participation in the initiative is spreading worldwide.

Many of us will be taking part in dry January, but as we temporarily give up drinking for our health and finances, it’s a good time to reflect on our relationships with alcohol in a wider sense, and start becoming more mindful of it all year round.

Cultures of Drink

In a collective way, it’s important to assess what the culture of drinking is within our social circles, the companies we work for, and even in the region we live in. Some cities or whole countries habitually consume more alcohol than others, but wherever we call home we tend to normalize the drinking culture that surrounds us. This applies whether that’s frequent social drinking, traditional times for drinking and for abstinence, or if you’re in a culture or region in which there are strict laws against alcohol such as many parts of the middle east.

National Scale

In 2021 study showed that in the UK people consume around 11.45 litres of alcohol per person, per year, while the US averages out at 9.93, and in Europe countries range from Ireland and Germany with around 12.7 units, to Sweden with 9.0.

This is by no means to call out any nationality as having a poor or excessive relationship with alcohol; quite the opposite. The takeaway should be that we are all individuals, so whatever the ‘average’ is in your location, or whatever is considered normal, isn’t necessarily right for you, so you shouldn’t feel pressured to conform to it.

Workplace Scale

If we zoom in to Company cultures of drinking, we can see pros and cons. Social settings where a team gets to bond often involve drinking, and alcohol can be a signifier that you are ‘off duty’ encouraging us to switch from work to social mode. But for colleagues who can’t or choose not to drink, even for a temporary period, this can mean they feel excluded from social events and have a negative effect on inclusivity, relations and happiness at work.

Individual Scale

Zooming in again to a personal perspective, reflecting on our relationship with alcohol can illuminate its effects not only on our physical wellness but mental health too. 

Did you know:

“Alcohol is a depressant, meaning it can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in your brain and affect your feelings, thoughts and behaviour.” It also slows down the way your brain processes information, making us unclear about what we feel and about our actions.

Alcohol lowers our inhibitions, meaning we often turn to it to make us more ‘fun’ and less anxious socially. The withdrawal the next day can lead to the opposite effects of heightened anxiety and negative feelings.

Over time alcohol can actually reduce the number of neurotransmitters in our brains, which we need to ward off anxiety and depression. In turn, drinking to cope with symptoms of these problems can create a cycle of dependency. Hangovers can worsen existing anxiety and regular heavy drinking is linked to depression.

Fancy cutting back? Here’s what you can do

With all these reasons to think about taking control over your personal relationship with alcohol, here are some easy steps we can take:

Choose situations where you’re less likely to drink.

This goes for individuals and employers too. At a bar, we always feel an expectation to drink. Explore other options, go to an activity, get out and about in the city or in nature, see some Art. There are any number of places where it wouldn’t occur to you to drink, and these might be more inclusive settings for your team too.

Try the alcohol free option.

Non alcoholic beers and other drinks are a lot better than they used to be! There are numerous choices including delicious mocktails to be had at most venues. Spencer Matthews of Made in Chelsea fame, is also the founder CleanCo, a non alcoholic spirits brand; he says that “87% of people still don’t realize that No and Low-alcohol spirits exist here in the UK” and feels that drinking alcohol will soon be seen in the same way as smoking, where we acknowledge the harm it causes and regulate it in social spaces.

Make some rules.

You may keep alcohol out of the house and drink only at social occasions, you may choose designated abstinence days, set a limit on the number of drinks you plan to have on one day, or only drink when eating a meal. Building in this structure can help us first to notice what and when and how much we drink, and then regulate it.

Choose alternative ‘treats’.

Often we drink because it's ‘nice’; ‘I’ll get home and treat myself to a nice glass of wine’.

For the connoisseur, a certain gin or whisky may be one of your favourite things - but not your only favourite thing. So to replace the habit of drinking in your life, fill that spot with a different treat, like making a healthy delicious meal, go see a great movie or a show, go dancing, or get out in nature.

Know that it’s not ‘just you’.

IN 2021, a massive 45% of people worldwide describe themselves as ‘life-time abstainers’ or non drinkers. An even more massive 58% have not drunk alcohol in the past year. When about half of the worlds adults are alcohol free, there’s definitely no reason to feel ‘odd’, ‘awkward’ or like you stick out for being the one in the room without an alcoholic drink in hand.

In sum, we live in a changing world… and that’s encouraging! Whatever your relationship with alcohol, whether you want to change it or not, the positive take away to keep in mind  is that in this progressing culture, there is room for everyone and whatever’s right for them!