I was chatting to another sober person about how to navigate socialising without alcohol and what you learn about yourself in doing so.
We both agreed it was the norm to start drinking long before adulthood. Like many young people, for me alcohol masked over low self-esteem and social anxiety. My alcohol-fuelled alter-ego was confident and outgoing. There is an element of fake it 'til you make it. You don't need to have a drink to have a good time, although many people won't realise it. This was her point. Most alcohol-free nights are because of necessity or circumstance, and not because people have made the conscious choice not to drink. The perception is they're 'missing out' and alcohol is still put on a pedestal.
Despite a decrease in drinking amongst Gen Z, the World Health Organisation has revealed the the UK have the worst rate of underage drinking in the world (England child alcohol use tops global chart, finds WHO report - BBC News). I wasn't surprised by this, and as it dovetails with high levels of poor mental health in both adults and children, and is coupled with a huge drinking culture. This creates a dangerous causation. If alcohol was only just discovered, it would be banned, hands down. The problem is that boozing is a big part of life for many Britons. In fact, as as a nation, we are synonymous with excessive drinking. I am also not immune. I used to be proud of how much I could put away and would laugh at jokes about how fucked up my compatriots and I can get.
A film that explores this is A Royal Hangover. It seems that our drinking habits haven't changed much in 300 years. From Hogarth chronicling the ravages when gin hit 18th Century London, to neon-soaked Saturday night high streets strewn with abandoned high heels, beer cans and vomit. Alcohol has been causing chaos and casualty for centuries.
More emphasis needs to be given to the fact that alcohol is drug, one that kills people. In 2022, a there was a record high of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK. Tobacco advertising has been banned and cigarette packets now carry graphic warning of death and disease. And smoking has long been in the decline. This type of nudge does work. However, the same is not true for alcohol. How many people will be influenced by a little crossed-out silhouette of a pregnant person holding a wine glass? Spirits are advertised as some magical elixir that will open up a night of excitement. Nowhere does it say that if you drink the whole bottle, you might end up in A&E because you have cut open your hand on a glass (I talk from experience). Wine is seen as sophisticated way for women to bond and unwind. Nowhere does it depict you embarrassingly dropping your knickers because your bladder can no longer hold the lady petrol you supercharged with (again, I talk from experience). And these are just the short-term negative effects: what about depression, dementia, cancer and cirrhosis?
I don't believe in prohibition, at all. I genuinely lament the closure of pubs. My grandad had a motto (engraved on his baccy tin): everything in moderation. He had a regular nightcap, smoked one pipe a day and lived to the grand age of 89. It is possible can enjoy a little without it becoming too much. My point is that the dangers of alcohol should be talked about more - just as much as binge drinking has been normalised - to affect real positive change.