Teetotallers are more likely to be anxious or depressed than moderate drinkers, says a report published in ‘Addiction’ journal. But why, exactly?
Most of us during Freshers’ Week will have chosen alcohol as our social lubricant of choice, we will have met people in pubs and bars and then gone on to fall over in foam, with fancy dress and a heavy ‘pre-lash’ often coming as standard. Alcohol, we think, helps us meet people and ensures we have a great time; this study seems to prove us right.
The research looks at alcohol consumption in over 38,000 people, all of whom live in a region of central Norway and claimed that those who abstain from alcohol are also more likely to lack social skills and have higher levels of anxiety. Non-drinkers have even more mental health issues than those considered heavy drinkers, the survey found.
‘Studies confirm that teetotallers experience social exclusion.’
Obviously, there are those who abstain for religious reasons, but the team found some reasons why teetotalers are more at risk. Firstly, many people don’t abstain from choice, but because they have to. People on medication for serious illness obviously have no choice – but what about those who choose not to drink, simply because they don’t want to?
The most worrying find, for teetotal students particularly, is the point that has been most widely reported from the study. “We see that this group is less socially well-adjusted than other groups,” study co-author Dr. Eystein Stordal, an adjunct professor in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s neuroscience department, said in a university news release. “Generally when people are with friends, it is more acceptable in Western societies to drink than not to drink. While the questionnaire recorded non-drinkers’ subjective perception of the situation, a number of other studies also confirm that teetotalers experience some level of social exclusion.”
Teetotallers are more likely to be socially excluded, reportedly having fewer friends than moderate drinkers. Could this really be true? I think it would be fair to say that the majority of people in Oxford would not label themselves as ‘abstainers’ from alcohol. They probably wouldn’t label themselves as ‘heavy drinkers’ either, but I have a feeling many parents would have something to say about that.
Most of us quite enjoy a drink; it is also fair to say that a lot of university life centres around alcohol and going out- even when you’re not going out alcohol abounds still; one of the Oxford Union’s major selling points for its Freshers’ Fair, running from 10am to 6pm, is free alcohol all day. Alcohol is fairly hard to avoid at university, but it can be done- why however, do non-drinkers put us drinkers on the defensive? So much so, it seems, that we have to exclude them.
Teetotallers put us drinkers on the back foot. When we come across that most mythical of beast – the abstaining student – at a party, most of us will fake an interested smile, ask if they’re on antibiotics and then drown the desire to ask “Aren’t you bored?” with a nice glug of wine. The most troubling non-drinkers for us drinkers are the people who seem to have no obvious reason for not drinking: They’re not a recovering alcoholic, it’s not for religious reasons, they don’t look pregnant (is it rude to ask?), so why would they be drinking orange juice? We assume they look down their noses at us and don’t think beyond the sensible reasons that maybe, just maybe, make them choose not to drink.
‘Bops tend to be a bit naff whether you’re drunk or sober.’
Non-drinkers make drinkers uncomfortable, and partly, I think, it is down to jealousy. It takes a certain confidence not to drink when everyone else seems to, and it takes a lot of self-discipline, especially in our booze soaked student culture. They should be the ones who are bored, and not because they choose not to drink, but because so many conversations revolve around drink, so many societies, so many events – we do not make it easy for dry students. But then, we could survive without drinking, sure we could, but hell- what would make me want to dance, or sing very badly or tell that person I just met that he is now officially my new best friend FOREVER?
Then, imagine avoiding that embarrassing fall down the stairs, or the mystery bruise, or THAT drunken, weepy row – because the study may show that abstainers are less happy, but the happiest people were drinkers who averaged two glasses of wine, a bottle of beer, or a shot of spirits a week-far less than some students’ pre-going out tipple.
Bea Male, a Mansfield third-year, is a non-drinker, but doesn’t think it’s genuinely affected her student experience. She agrees, however, that it probably changes her social life.
‘To a certain extent yes, I wouldn’t want to go to certain events because of the drinking. The kind of people that like that kind of excessive drinking I probably wouldn’t get on with anyway. Bops tend to be a bit naff whether you’re drunk or sober. I don’t really like clubbing, so it doesn’t make much difference to me. I can see how some people might feel excluded. Things are quite geared towards drinking, especially in Freshers’ Week. And non-drinking activities in Freshers’ week are often a bit stigmatised. But I don’t judge drinkers, I think it’s completely up to the individual person.’
Humphrey Bogart may once have said, “People who don’t drink are afraid of revealing themselves” but most of us who do drink quite often reveal far, far too much. The peers of the student teetotallers can sometimes struggle to comprehend how they can be having fun at all- but maybe keep that in mind the morning after the night before when you’ve yet to move out of your room or even draw the curtains by the afternoon.
Tonight, I might just stick to the orange juice, thanks.
Alcohol: The Facts
Medically recommended maximum levels of consumption:
21 units for men and 14 units for women, spread across a week,
What is a unit?
The standard definition is that a unit is half a pint of beer or one small glass of wine or one measure of spirits.
It is also recommended that you should have two or three alcohol-free days every week.
What constitutes binge drinking?
The commonly accepted definition in the UK is the consumption of 50% or more of the recommended maximum weekly number of units of alcohol in ‘one session’. For men: 4 pints of beer or lager in one night. For women: 3 large glasses of white wine in one night.
Join the Big Drink Debate:
19 November, 7-9pm Oxford University, Museum of Natural History
