9 in 10 heavy drinkers are not alcoholics and have no alcohol dependence according to a US government report on drug use and health and relayed by a New York Times blog. An optimistic result which shows that most heavy drinkers could easily change their behavior when facing a glass of whiskey.
According to Dr Robert Brewer who runs a alcoholism prevention, “Most people tend to confuse binge drinking with alcohol dependence. We need to think of a new strategy to explain to these people that drinking too much does not necessarily mean being an alcoholic ”. Moreover, he explains on the New York Times blog that he does not want to “minimize the fact that lowering a person’s alcohol consumption is not an easy thing even if that person is not. dependent on alcohol. Because people think that being drunk is part of the party … ”.
What is the difference between excessive consumption and alcoholism?
Excessive alcohol consumption is essentially party drinking. It concerns men who drink more than 5 glasses of alcohol in one evening (4 glasses for a woman) or more than 15 glasses in a week (8 for a woman). Underage drinkers and pregnant women who consume alcohol are also considered heavy drinkers.
For the World Health Organization (WHO), alcoholism is a disease defined as “mental disorders and behavioral disorders” linked to the use of alcohol. This loss of control is usually accompanied by a physical dependence characterized by a withdrawal syndrome at the end of consumption (drug dependence), a psychological dependence, as well as a great tolerance to alcohol (need to increase the doses to obtain the same effect).
Raise the price of alcohol
The American report shows that at least two levers seem effective in the fight against excessive alcohol consumption. First, increasing the price of drinks by 10% could reduce alcohol consumption by 7%. In addition, limiting the number of establishments that sell alcohol could also encourage revelers to no longer mix up a successful evening with advanced intoxication.
Read also :
– Men drink to be more social
– Showing calories on bottles encourages drinking less
– Drinking alcohol when young can lead to alcoholism
