The UK's Drinking Problem Got Worse Under Lockdown. Here Are The Facts
When Adam Winstock, founder of the Global Drug Survey, was reading through the most common reasons UK respondents gave for drinking more in lockdown, one stood out to him: “I’m rewarding myself for getting through Covid.”
The annual survey, conducted this year during April and May to take a snapshot of lockdown, revealed what we probably already know: that more than half of people have been drinking more – but also that excessive drinking left many of us feeling worse, exacerbating underlying mental and physical health issues.
Of the 2,136 Brits surveyed, 53% of those who drank reported an increase in the frequency of their drinking during the pandemic – and 46% reported they wanted to drink less within the next 30 days.
Among participants who declared mental health conditions, 49% reported they were drinking more due to stresses associated with Covid-19. Of those recording mental health conditions as well as increased drinking, 38% reported significantly poorer mental health and 56% significantly poorer physical health since increasing their alcohol intake.
“There’s never been a worse time to drink more,” Professor Winstock, consultant psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist, tells HuffPost UK.
“We surveyed 50,000 drinkers [worldwide] and it was the same story. People who drank more reported poorer physical health and mental health – it’s not a good coping strategy.”
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Prof Winstock suggests the culture of binge drinking in the UK is partly to blame for the situation – a culture he sees to be born out of avoidance of the facts about the detrimental effects excessive drinking has on our health.
“Lots of people don’t properly recognise just how much they’re drinking,” he says. “The thing that shocked me most of all was how quickly...
