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;

Story

Australia, we need to talk about our drinking problem.

by Grace Potter

Stories/772 , Issues/Alcohol & Drugs

Sydney NSW

7th Aug 2020

COVID-19 is changing how and why we drink.

COVID-19 can be described as many things — an alarming pandemic, a global reset, a chance for reflection, and a microscope for certain cracks that exist within our systems and everyday lives. While it remains a different experience for every person, one existing problem that stood out even louder during Australia’s nationwide lockdown is Australia’s toxic drinking culture.

Hello Sunday Morning, an organisation on a mission to change the world’s relationship with alcohol, surveyed 320 Australian adults in early April and again in early May to see if their drinking habits had changed (and why) as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown.

“At both time points, we found that one-fifth of adults were drinking more than they were before the shutdown,” says Roger Falconer-Flint, Head of Marketing at Hello Sunday Morning.

The main reasons at the start of the shutdown were boredom (53 per cent), anxiety or stress (41 per cent), and loneliness (21 per cent). By early May, after seven weeks of shutdown, the main reasons had switched, with anxiety or stress reported as the main reason by over 50 per cent of those surveyed.

It’s one of those things that you don’t really notice until you do — alcohol is ingrained in society here in Australia from the time we’re children. We learn it from our parents and television advertisements. Had I not been privy to the destructive effects of the substance on an alcoholic relative, I might not have questioned my own habits. We often block out the significant harm caused by alcohol because it has embedded itself so stubbornly into mainstream culture.

On average in Australia, one person dies every 90 minutes and someone ends up in hospital every 3½ minutes due to preventable conditions caused by alcohol. However, they don’t write alcoholic, binge-drinker, or excessive drinker on death certificates — we can expect that the number of deaths indirectly caused by alcohol would be extreme.

Drinking is used as an escape, a social lubricant, a time-filler when bored, and an opportunity to practice our free will. We lean on it to avoid dealing with personal issues or depend on it to talk to people and make new friends. Regardless of the context, we often attach bravado to recounting the large number of drinks we consumed on the previous night. Retrospectively, it’s overwhelming and even absurd to think about how much our culture in Australia revolves around drinking.

When the pandemic hit and everyone was forced inside, it seemed as if we couldn’t look at our phones without seeing an alcohol meme or advertisement. In fact, a recent report found that in just one hour on a Friday night, 107 sponsored alcohol advertisements were displayed on a person’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, which equates to approximately one alcohol advertisement every 35 seconds. While in a vulnerable place as a country, struggling with financial loss and an uncertain future, the alcohol industry took advantage of our worries and woes by slamming us with marketing persuading us to drink our problems away.

“There certainly is evidence that elements within the alcohol industry jumped on the COVID shut-down to promote sales,” says Roger. “Whether this is a cynical attempt to exploit people at a time of vulnerability, or just a clumsy attempt to make their advertising more relevant to the times depends on your view of humanity.”

Online, one post, in particular, stood out to me: “We’re going to deal with this pandemic the true Aussie way — by getting munted.” Are these really the words that we want recorded in history as the epitomy of Australian culture?

It’s time to loosen the grip that alcohol has over our lives, but where do we even begin? Going cold turkey is one way of going about it (heavier drinkers should always consult a medical professional before making lifestyle changes) but, as is the way with most change, it begins with having an open conversation.

“It’s embarrassing to admit to having problems with your drinking, and people naturally shy away from talking about it or prefer to live in denial (hence the old definition of a problem drinker: ‘someone who drinks more than I do’). But, like almost all problems we face as a society, it really helps to talk about it and acknowledge that it’s an issue for some people we know, work with, or live with,” Roger says.

We don’t have to cut it out of our lives, but it’s time we honestly reflected within ourselves about how we can create a healthy relationship with alcohol for the sake of our health and future.

If you see alcohol advertisements that do not comply with the Alcohol & Beverage Advertising Code, you can lodge a complaint.

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