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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Richdog]

Different countries have different ways of dealing with Alchohol. France, Italy etc from a younger age kids are introduced to it, but it's very much part of the social family gathering with food.

There's only one country in Europe I've been to with fights in the street on Friday night / evening with women sitting in doorways throwing up, wearing next to nothing or "lets go out and get plastered". It just doesn't happen to the same degree anywhere else.

In Germany it's legal to drink in the streets, people will gather in the park a bring a whole crate of beer with an open bbq in the summer. Never any problems. I've been on a train at 8.30am with a guy drinking wine direct from a wine bottle, no one bats an eyelid. People here drink a lot, but I don't see the same degree of people getting violent because of it. People get happy drunk. Very different culture and makes life much nicer that's for sure. There are more drunks around just wondering shouting, but they don't cause problems..generally.

As people have said, hopefully the younger generation change habits. It's a stain on the UK's reputation and trust me (if you care) from someone who travels and lives in Europe, it is noticed a LOT.

Hear hear! The UK town and city centres on weekends and bank holidays are an absolute battleground. Europeans have for many years made jokes about the UK and its very apparent drinking and associated behaviour problems. It's not defined class or wealth, it's endemic pretty much throughout society.

 

[Richdog]

Can’t argue with that, I think that it may stem, (for older people), from the restrictive licensing hours that were imposed in the past.
Now pubs can be open, (Covid allowing), from 11.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. or later, but in the past it was 6.30 p.m. to 10.00 or 10.30 p.m.
Consequently, as closing time approached, you’d throw as much laughing water down your neck as you could manage, whereas in France, Spain, or Portugal, where drinking hours were sensible, you could take it easy, there was always the time to buy another drink if you wanted one.

True, I remember everyone used to neck pints when the last orders bell rang (some people would buy 2-3 pints the moment they herd the bell) then stagger out of the pub in a right state!

It's because this country is so God damn boring. Our country side is flat and plain in most cases. Our weather is rubbish and miserable, we don't have facilities for anything interesting. I mean British life is restuarant, cinema, pub, bowling alley.. Its awful, would make anyone want to drink themselves into an early grave.

I assume you have never been to Holland.

 

[Richdog]

I have and I bet if there was a study on most stoned they'd win. Horses for courses.

It's also the most boring and featureless country in the world. The UK is a veritable Garden Of Eden in comparison.

 

[Richdog]

It’s been anything but boring for the past three nights in Rotterdam!

Yeah that is rough... guess they aren't smoking enough.