Alcohol and alcohol-related harm has been in the news a lot lately. Minister Shorthall wishes to raise the cost of alcohol to hinder its widespread use, particularly among teenagers whose binge drinking is causing much alarm. Youth drinking, of course, is not a new problem in Irish society. There were plenty of cider parties when I was a teenager, and the drinking of snakebites and double vodkas by underage teens in the pubs was commonplace. Even then, the costs were not exactly prohibitive.
Working as a lounge girl in pubs from the (under)age of 14, I witnessed adults and parents of school mates holding up stools at the bar, drinking as if there were no future to look forward to. Has anything really changed except maybe the parents are now drinking at home with dinner, without dinner, with friends or without friends? And it’s still all OK?
Raising the cost of booze may have some success in reducing alcohol consumption, but it does nothing for the tolerant cultural norms surrounding excessive use of alcohol and the concurrent problems and destructive behaviours it nurtures and kindles. Tolerance too, for the associated relationship difficulties and personality dissonance caused by ‘sore heads’ in many families, on every street in every town. Maybe tolerance isn’t the right word? What about apathy and denial?
‘Locus of control’ is a psychological term which refers to the extent you and I believe we have control over our actions. People with a high internal locus of control believe that events result primarily from their own behaviour and actions. I believe as a nation we lack a sense of our collective ‘locus of control’ in relation to alcohol and its pervasive effects on us, our children and our society. This is a perspective that needs to be addressed across all age groups and every social stratum in Irish society. If you think you are immune, you are fooling yourself.
Alcohol in itself isn’t bad, it isn’t good, it just is. It’s there for our use like chocolate, cream cakes and fatty bacon. The danger lies within, for me as one person, for you as another and for all of us as a society.
With the exception of those who are alcohol dependent, it is not in our use of alcohol per se that the problem lies. The problem lies in our mental, emotional, physical associations and beliefs not just about alcohol, but about ourselves. We associate excessive alcohol intake with having fun, having a laugh, the craic, a release, letting our collective hair down, as a ‘natural’ part of who we are , as an expected part of growing up, as a coming of age for the young. We are Irish, we are drinkers. The statistics prove the truth. The films, books and TV back it up. And it’s expected and it’s what we do. And it’s alright?
Tackling these deeply embedded collective attitudes and beliefs require a lot more than just upping the price of alcohol in the supermarket.
Siobhan Olofsson CPsychol.
Occupational and Coaching Psychologist