Before I quit drinking, I would have said I didn’t have a drinking problem. But when I first looked up moderate drinking limits as recommended by the US government (14/week and 4/day for men, 7/week and 3/day for women), I was shocked by how low they were. And once I quit, I was surprised by the strength and frequency of my urges to drink (one of the signs of an alcohol use disorder).
The reality was that I spent time with other heavy drinkers, and thus didn’t recognize that my own level of drinking was too high. It’s an easy mistake to make - the top 10% of drinkers drink more than half of the alcohol consumed in the United States, meaning if you are in the right heavy-drinking social bubble alongside others with similar habits, you may not realize the extent of your problem.
It turns out I’m not alone in that. Many people around the world are unaware that by most healthcare experts’ consensus, they drink too much, putting themselves at risk of alcohol-related problems. The latest results of Ireland’s Drug Prevalence Survey found that two thirds of regular binge drinkers were not aware they drank at a level harmful to their health.
So just how prevalent is a heavy level of drinking that puts people at risk of developing addiction or other health problems?
According to that same survey in Ireland, about half of drinkers fall into a ‘harmful pattern of consumption.’ If we take into account the non-drinkers in the population (according to the recently released Global Drug Survey) about 1 in 5 adults drink so much they feel out of control at least once a month. The heavy drinking problem is so widespread that alcohol-detection systems could eliminate 25% of car accident fatalities in the United States.
All of this I’m sharing merely as a reminder that if you think your drinking is out of control, or is causing problems for you, it’s worth the time to investigate. Look up your recommended limits. Try to stick to them. Discover if it’s hard for you to do. And if needed, figure out how to quit or cut back.
If you’re looking to cut back or quit drinking, we’d love to help. Drinker’s Helper is an app that provides motivational exercises, drink tracking and insights into why you drink, and a personalized support group of your peers to help you make needed changes. You can try it out for free for a week before joining.
