Alcohol as a cure for pandemic stress?

A large increase in alcohol consumption has been reported around the world. According to the Global Drug Survey report ¹ , based on research of almost 60,000 people from Germany, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, as many as 43% of people indicated that they were drinking alcohol more often since the beginning of the pandemic . 36% say they drink more of it. German therapists are sounding the alarm, saying that their patients have problems with alcohol more often than before the pandemic. In the UK, alcohol-related deaths increased by 19% compared to the previous year ² . This is the largest increase in 20 years.

What is alcohol consumption like in Poland?

From research conducted by Biostat ³ shows that every 5th Pole drinks alcohol at least several times a week, every 9th person drinks more during the pandemic , and over 20% of people limited their drinking or completely eliminated it. Almost half of the respondents did not notice any changes in alcohol drinking behavior, while 17.6% do not drink at all. The differences between the sexes are significant. Men (4.7%) drink more often every day than women (2.1%), as well as several times a week: 21.9% of men and 12.6% of women. When asked about the amount of alcohol consumed at one time, Poles most often indicated one beer, a glass of wine, 50 mg of vodka or an equivalent dose of less than 20 g of pure ethyl alcohol. Every second woman drinks at most one beer. And 40.5% of men double the amount of alcohol they consume.

Authors of another report ⁴ , prepared under the supervision of prof. University of Lodz, Ph.D. Jan Chodkiewicz from the Department of Psychoprevention and Addiction Psychology at the Institute of Psychology of the University of Łódź, point out that "an important aspect to which attention is paid when analyzing the possible (and highly probable) phenomenon of an increase in alcohol consumption during the pandemic is the scientifically confirmed decline in the body's immunological resistance, which occurs in people abusing alcohol and addicts . In other words, scientists are concerned that instead of strengthening our immunity in such dangerous times, we further lower it by drinking more.

In an interview with the Polish Press Agency, Dr. Andrzej Silczuk from the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology notes that it was not the pandemic itself that contributed to changing alcohol drinking patterns, but the crisis it caused . "Every crisis is a strong trigger for the need to deal with an excess of negative emotions. If we review the history of recent decades, we will notice that the economic crisis in Greece, the previous SARS epidemic, and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center resulted in an increase in the number of people addicted to alcohol (.. .) Because experiencing a crisis involves losses, and losses are traumas that cause a range of emotions, from depression to intensification of anxiety disorders, mood swings, anger, frustration, helplessness," he said. ⁵ .

3 million people around the world die every year due to alcohol.

Alcohol is one of the strongest euphoric substances known to mankind, but it only makes you feel better for a while. And the devastation it causes in the body is permanent. According to WHO data, 3 million people around the world die every year due to alcohol . Scientists from UCS (University of Southern California) published research ⁶ showing that alcohol accelerates the damage caused by aging. It also has a negative impact on the heart, memory and cognitive abilities. Just one dose of alcohol accelerates brain aging by a week .

Both doctors and therapists emphasize that there is no safe dose of alcohol . The problem is so serious around the world that the World Health Organization has developed a global alcohol strategy for 2022-2030 ⁷ . WHO recommendations include primarily:

• Limiting the availability of alcohol;
• Developing and enforcing countermeasures related to drinking and driving;
• Facilitating access to screening, brief interventions and treatments;
• Enforcing prohibitions or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising;
• Raising alcohol prices through excise taxes and other pricing policies.

Bibliography:

1. “GDS COVID-19 Special Edition: Key Findings Report”, Global Drug Survey, accessed December 31, 2021.
2. Hamilton I., Sumnall H., “Pandemic in the fumes of alcohol. The largest increase in alcohol-related deaths since 2001, Gazeta Wyborcza, December 21, 2021.
3. “Every fifth person drinks, every tenth runs – how have Poles' health habits changed during COVID-19”, biostat.com.pl. accessed December 31, 2021
4. Chodkiewicz J., "Report from the first part of the research: LIFE IN THE ERA OF PANDEMIC", Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, May 1, 2020.
5. Wysocka. M., “Coronavirus and alcohol. What is your drinking pattern now?”, Zdrowie PAP website, July 16, 2020.
6. Ning K., Zhao L., Matloff W. et al., “Association of relative brain age with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetic variants.” Sci Rep 2020,
7. “Global alcohol action plan”, World Health Organization, accessed December 31, 2021.