UK Lockdown & Alcohol?
“For God’s sake, open the pubs again before we all become alcoholics” pleads a much-shared letter in The Irish Times. It made me revisit a question I have been thinking about for a while: what is going on with lockdown and drinking?
Are we actually drinking more?
Above data (link): Google UK searches for popular drinks are up, but we’re not hitting end of the year levels.
Alcohol sales are up 20 to 30%, depending on who you believe, but surveys are saying that many are drinking less and the data suggests that we’re probably not going as wild as it sounds—we’re just not drinking in pubs and restaurants.
Jim Eustace, MD of wine merchants Haynes Hanson & Clark, says they’re tremendously busy. He reports that champagne sales are about half what they might expect for the time of year but people are spending more than average (£15-20) on a nice bottle for the weekend. Overall, he reckons it’s because we’re not spending in pubs and restaurants.
But it can’t be avoided that our social media feeds are awash with gags about gin, failed attempts to resist wine on a Monday, and cartoons of petrol tankers delivering supplies.
Hardwired for connection
Psychologist Sarah Clarke explains that it’s because we are hardwired for connection. We need real—not web—eye contact, hugs, and conversation. Something that loads of you who responded the survey mentioned:
“Missing 'real' adult, face-to-face contact. Missing someone to share the highs and lows with, as and when they happen. Missing a big man-hug. Missing the idea that (if I wanted to get off my ass and find someone) there might be someone out there.”
Sarah explains how alcohol mimics the warm feelings that we get from other people. She also points that we’re probably avoiding talking about the stuff we really should be, which is a whole other subject.
Self-medicating in lockdown?
Therapist, speaker, and former addict Mandy Saligari adds that people are using food and alcohol to self-medicate in lockdown from feelings of boredom, frustration, fear of the unknown, anxiety about money, and so on.
“We are living boundary-less. So we eat or drink to pass the time, avoid feelings, feel an altered state. But, if you’re noticing a lower mood, depression, more anxiety, emotional distance, your appetite being off track or being less productive… alcohol is unlikely to help”.
She advises her clients to “set their own boundaries around when they will drink, what will they drink, and how much. I then invite them to watch themselves negotiate with themselves ‘one more glass, I deserve it’. In that internal negotiation is the real understanding of what is going on.”
Which is surely good advice if you know you’re drinking too much.
But, if you’re generally pretty sensible and not suffering as she describes, perhaps it helps to know you’re replacing social pleasure with a glass of wine? And maybe, for this short period, that’s OK?
Wishing you a good bank holiday weekend with a very sensible measure of whatever feels like a hug to you.
- Christine
