Alcohol

I have a love-hate relationship with alcohol. Actually, that’s not true. I have a hate-hate relationship with alcohol, I just happen to quite enjoy some pubs. And I very much like a number of people who drink sometimes. And there’s a mushroom chestnut pie that really needs a bottle of red wine to be included during cooking.

I’m also quite a libertarian. In general, people should be able to do pretty much whatever they want as long as they’re not hurting others. And this is the brick wall that alcohol frequently runs into. Because rarely is alcohol consumption something that affects only the person drinking.

If I had a magic wand then I would make alcohol not exist and never have existed. Do I think that means we should ban it? Nope. I certainly do not. In fact, if anything, I’m probably in favouring of decriminalising or legalising more drugs rather than making things illegal.

I just wish more people chose not to drink. I wish more people were able to stop drinking. I wish more people were able to get the support they needed. I wish the problem that is alcohol was really seen and addressed constructively. I wish it wasn’t such an accepted part of life and such an inviolable thing.

All of the things I’m about to mention aren’t caused exclusively by alcohol, but it is definitely a contributing / exacerbating factor and the incidences / consequences would be reduced if alcohol weren’t a factor (not to zero, but to much less than now): I wish fewer people died in alcohol-related traffic accidents; I wish fewer men ended up in alcohol-fuelled street brawls; I wish fewer women died at the hands of their partner or suffered sustained domestic violence or date rape; I wish fewer men committed suicide.

I guess, most of all, I wish the underlying issues that contribute to problematic drinking were addressed. Because not everyone who drinks has a drinking problem. Not everyone who drinks affects those around them. Not everyone who drinks is slowly (or quickly) killing themselves.

I wish poverty and inequality were systematically addressed effectively by governments. I wish unemployment and lack of opportunity were rare. I wish mental health services were funded and destigmatised and available for everyone. I wish physical health was championed and supported and funded and accessible for everyone. I wish relationship education, advice and support was widespread. I wish people didn’t feel the need to self-medicate with alcohol. I wish addiction was always seen and treated as a health issue rather than written off as merely a matter of willpower. I wish fewer people were actively incentivised to take advantage of addiction (drug cartels, alcohol manufacturers). I want to live in a world where more people find answers outside of a bottle than inside it. And I suspect that until then, people will drink and some of them will drink problematically. And all of us, the problematic drinkers, the non-problematic drinkers, the non-drinkers will have to deal with the consequences.

If you’re reading this and you or someone you know would like to reduce how much you drink then there is help and support available. I don’t think anyone can stop someone else from drinking. But I do think we can provide support and gentle nudges – without being overly paternalistic. For anyone who is worried about their own drinking – please do reach out for help. There may be people, places and things in your life that will drag you into alcohol, but there are people, place and things out there that can support you. Change may be extremely difficult, but it is possible. And there are different ways of travelling along your journey. I don’ t profess to be an expert. I’ve never drunk at all – it is all completely alien to me. But I have lost family members to alcohol and I do have family members who have faced their addiction with success. And I have spoken to people at different times in my life and in different contexts who were at different stages of their own individual journeys.

For those in the UK the NHS is a good starting point (and much of this advice is helpful if you are not in the UK, but your national health service might have an equivalent that is more relevant to you). https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/ This page also provides links to other organisations. Or maybe you’d just prefer to talk to someone. Find a trusted friend, give them a call, invite them over for a cup of tea, open up to whatever extent you feel comfortable, about your drinking, about your mental health, about the weather, about whether Marmite is better than Vegemite (clearly not), anything. Even if you’re not sure if this is a journey you need or want to take right now, maybe just reaching out to see what the first step will be when you are ready is a good idea. You don’t need to wait till some dramatic film-worthy complete rock bottom moment, you can change the direction at any time.