English and Scottish get drunk most than any other countries in 25-nation survey

[Richdog]

I've been saying for years that the UK is one of the worst drinking problem nations on Earth, seems now it's finally becoming more 'officially recognised'.

Article here: English and Scottish get drunk most often, 25-nation survey finds | Alcohol | The Guardian

The English and Scottish have topped an international league table of how often people get so drunk that they lose their balance and slur their speech.

The Global Drugs Survey (GDS) for 2020 suggests the UK’s drink problem is far more dangerous than use of any other drug. More than 5% of people under 25 in the UK reported having sought hospital treatment after getting drunk, compared with a global average of 2%.

The GDS report noted: “Seeking emergency medical treatment is a serious consequence of drinking, with a cost to the health service as well as the individual.”

The UK rate of hospital admissions because of alcohol was higher than among users of any other drug cited in the report apart from heroin, and consumption of alcohol was much more widespread, with 94% of people in UK saying they had drunk alcohol in the last year, compared with 2.3% who had used heroin.

My experience both in the UK and abroad is that us Brits are, on average, often the most drunk and/or badly behaved in almost any environment that I have been to. We have a big problem with varying degrees alcoholism from a young age. I feel like it's become very cultural and endemic to large swathes of society.

PS: Yes of course other countries get drunk too, but they seem to handle it a lot better than we do.

 

[200sols]

Which 25 countries did they survey?

 

[Hagar]

I remember that headline from the seventies, the eighties, the nineties, etc. etc. A degree of binge drinking has always been a facet of some peoples for ever.

 

[Nasher]

Which 25 countries did they survey?

Muslim ones

 

[robfosters]

I don’t like getting drunk any more. A few drinks just to get on the merry side, but all that plastered until you’re falling over and slurring can do one.

 

[Begbie]

I remember that headline from the seventies, the eighties, the nineties, etc. etc. A degree of binge drinking has always been a facet of some peoples for ever.

It's so engrained into peoples lives, most don't ever stop. Shame really. I do believe culture in the UK is changing though, with more young people reluctant to spend money getting wasted every weekend.

 

[Stumble Bum]

ignore, found it.

 

[Martynt74]

I find it's changing a lot more these days. When i was younger (34 now), my group of mates centred around the pub, yet my step kids don't really drink. My daughter (19) will nurse about 2 drinks all night long and my stepson will drink, but nowhere near as often as i used to.

I think that drinking culture is definitely reducing amongst teenagers etc now, although other drug consumption seem to be a lot more popular. The number of 16-20 yr olds taking cocaine/ecstacy seems to be increased.

 

[Roar87]

According to that survey people in England and Scotland are drunk more often than people in Russia, even though Russia has one of the highest rates of alcohol related deaths in the world and also consumes more alcohol per capita. Basically the survey isn't correct and relying on people to self report how many times they were drunk in a given year is stupid

 

[gailjon]

According to that survey people in England and Scotland are drunk more often than people in Russia, even though Russia has one of the highest rates of alcohol related deaths in the world and also consumes more alcohol per capita. Basically the survey isn't correct and relying on people to self report how many times they were drunk in a given year is stupid

Totally agree. Look at the alcoholism rates and alcohol related death rates of any of northern countries and they are all high.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/alcoholism-by-country

 

[CircleFaust]

we've been a drinking nation for ever, nothing new really
i would like to see a shift away from it and think that probably is happening. teenagers are more clued up now with t'internet and all that
i was certainly a victim of it growing up. i had some great times with my mates drinking and it brought us all together in a big ball of fun unity
unfortunately it was equalled with the **** times that alcohol brings

 

[Richdog]

I find it's changing a lot more these days. When i was younger (34 now), my group of mates centred around the pub, yet my step kids don't really drink. My daughter (19) will nurse about 2 drinks all night long and my stepson will drink, but nowhere near as often as i used to.

I think that drinking culture is definitely reducing amongst teenagers etc now, although other drug consumption seem to be a lot more popular. The number of 16-20 yr olds taking cocaine/ecstacy seems to be increased.

That's interesting. Admittedly all the people I come bingeing like crazy across are usually mid-20's to 50's, so I am not sure if younger ages are now getting more health conscious or not. I would be happy if they were.

According to that survey people in England and Scotland are drunk more often than people in Russia, even though Russia has one of the highest rates of alcohol related deaths in the world and also consumes more alcohol per capita. Basically the survey isn't correct and relying on people to self report how many times they were drunk in a given year is stupid

You can easily have people being more drunk more often in the UK than in Russia, while still having more alcohol-related deaths in Russia than in the UK. It would mean that proportionally there are more hard alcoholics in Russia, mixed with with being poor and having low life expectancy.

we've been a drinking nation for ever, nothing new really

It's not new, but at least it's becoming a bit more openly acknowledged how endemic to our society that it is.

i would like to see a shift away from it and think that probably is happening. teenagers are more clued up now with t'internet and all that
i was certainly a victim of it growing up. i had some great times with my mates drinking and it brought us all together in a big ball of fun unity
unfortunately it was equalled with the **** times that alcohol brings

Yup, ditto.

 

[200sols]

You can easily have people being more drunk more often in the UK than in Russia, while still having more alcohol-related deaths in Russia than in the UK. It would mean that proportionally there are more hard alcoholics in Russia, mixed with with being poor and having low life expectancy.

Don't let the facts get in the way of your perception.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/alcohol-consumption-by-country

UK is pretty average in terms of alcohol consumption but if it makes you feel better cherry picking 25 countries and pointing to the UK as the worst then so be it.

 

[Roar87]

You can easily have people being more drunk more often in the UK than in Russia, while still having more alcohol-related deaths in Russia than in the UK. It would mean that proportionally there are more hard alcoholics in Russia, mixed with with being poor and having low life expectancy.

So you think people in the UK are drunk almost 50% more frequently than people in Russia, who are according to the survey drunk less times than the global average despite having the 4th highest alcohol consumption in the world, based on this self reported data?

This is just The Guardian finding a survey that it knows it's readers will love, because it's confirming their bias that people in the UK are bad in some way.

 

[Nasher]

Yep, its a Guardian article so just a story written to fit their narrative. Dont take it as hard fact.

 

[Eurofighter]

Dont agree with this. They will make beer even weaker because of tax. Lots of nice beers have already suffered this fate.

 

[Richdog]

Don't let the facts get in the way of your perception.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/alcohol-consumption-by-country

UK is pretty average in terms of alcohol consumption but if it makes you feel better cherry picking 25 countries and pointing to the UK as the worst then so be it.

I said the UK was the worst I have seen and experienced and imo ONE OF the worst worldwide in its attidude to binge drinking. I did not say that the UK was THE worst in the world.

In terms of outright binge drinking combined with bad behaviour though, on average I have never seen worse with my own eyes than what Brits can accomplish.

 

[Nasher]

I said the UK was the worst I have seen and experienced and imo ONE OF the worst worldwide. I did not say that the UK was THE worst in the world.

In terms of outright binge drinking combined with bad behaviour though I have never seen worse with my own eyes.

Go to parts of Europe or the US and see drunk people stumbling around during the day. That isnt something you see much of in the UK.

 

[Richdog]

Go to parts of Europe or the US and see drunk people stumbling around during the day. That isnt something you see much of in the UK.

You don't need to be 'stumbling around during the day' to be suffering from bad alcoholism. In the UK, alcoholism is very functional and people can manage their jobs and studies fine while still getting completely blotto on weekends and holidays.

 

[Maundie]

I said the UK was the worst I have seen and experienced and imo ONE OF the worst worldwide. I did not say that the UK was THE worst in the world.

In terms of outright binge drinking combined with bad behaviour though, on average I have never seen worse with my own eyes than what Brits can accomplish.

Never been to Ireland then, I've never seen so many drunk people as I have on my many travels to Dublin (wife's family is from there so my experience is a lot more than 1 walk down Temple Bar), wandering around at 9am and there's guys in hi-vis jackets falling out of pubs into works vans off to do a days graft and 1 time I cannot forget 2 pensioners came into the hotel we were in with their shopping bags, we went to the restaurant had our evening meal and when we came back to the bar there were these 2 little old ladies stumbling out holding each other up singing at the top of their voices with the barman chasing them because they'd forgotten their shopping