‘Enjoy responsibly’
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Alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen. Just like tobacco. In the UK alone, there are over 8000 alcohol-related deaths per year. It’s a factor in more than 50 medical conditions, including liver damage, cancer, and high blood pressure, and it also contributes to mental health conditions like depression.
So why do people drink?
Drinking is, for the most part, socially acceptable. It’s been part of our culture for decades, mainly used as a form of relaxation. Alcohol works by slowing down nerve receptors in the body, lowering your inhibitions. Things that may usually make your stomach churn and your knees quake can appear easily done, even tempting. Like performing an abstract dance or talking to that boy you fancy. It can turn even the shyest of us in to the life of the party; a social butterfly, if only for a few minutes. Drinking can be a lot of fun.
The issue comes when things get out of hand. You’re dancing with your friends then all of a sudden your head’s down the toilet. Embarrassing? Yes, but hopefully not life threatening.
The risks of alcohol often lie in long term dependency. Though socially accepted, it’s still a mind-altering drug with a chance of addiction. The feelings of being confident, free or happy can be exhilarating, if only for an hour or so. The problem is when we depend on it to enjoy ourselves, to alleviate sadness or make us relax. We start to want more and more. When a couple of drinks aren’t enough, we have extra to sustain the feeling, and more still to elevate it.
Increasing your mood unnaturally through drugs and alcohol will bring a lot of lows. Ever woken up feeling not just grotty but unnaturally sad? What comes up, sadly, must come down. Alcohol is a depressant. So yes, it depresses your mood and makes you sad. This is a particular concern for those already struggling with mood disorders like anxiety or depression. It can make you feel desperate and draw you into repeating the process, for any form of relief. This is a pattern of behaviour that characterises alcoholics.
As well as long term dependency issues, drinking irresponsibly brings a whole host of short-term risks. You may do things you would never even consider when sober, like taking other recreational drugs or having unsafe sex. It can change your perceptions, leading to violent, disorderly and dangerous behaviour. Not only is this detrimental for your safety and the safety of those around you, you can receive a criminal record. Not what you want on your CV.
In a society where it is accepted, it’s easy to forget that alcohol is still a drug, and a harmful one at that. While many shriek at the thought of cocaine, and have never considered taking pills, thousands will happily drink irresponsibly. The fact that some drugs are unregulated and illegal is enough to put many off. What makes alcohol so dangerous is that it’s readily available, affordable and socially acceptable. This may be the reason 34% of men and 28% of women have been found to drink more than recommended in an alcohol concern study. The reason why the NHS pays £3.5 billion of tax payers’ money to treat those suffering from alcohol-related health issues. The reason why, in the same study, 8416 people a year were found to have died from alcohol-related causes, compared to just 2995 from drugs.
Alcohol is a billion pound industry for the UK. We couldn’t afford to make it illegal. What we can do is make our own judgements and not be deluded by the false sense of security surrounding it. We need to drink as safely and responsibly as possible. Apart from anything, there’s no fun in waking up with your head down the toilet.