Across the globe, alcohol has been a staple of society and cultures for the span of human history. Despite all of the adverse effects of alcohol that we know of today, we continue to drink, often without regard for its repercussions.
In the United States, alcohol is one of the leading causes of death. In fact, from 1999 to 2017, the number of alcohol-related deaths has doubled. The consumption – or rather, overconsumption – of alcohol has a long-lasting history in the US, having marked and impacted the course of its history significantly. Notably, the switching between bingeing and abstaining from alcohol has been a trend that continues today. For instance, the Prohibition marked one of the greatest abstentions from alcohol. Now, we are seeing a rise in alcohol bingeing, largely affected by the pandemic and its psychological effects on the population; nearly a quarter of Americans said that by February of 2021, they’d drunk more over the past year to cope with the stress of the pandemic.
While alcohol overconsumption is an important issue across the globe, it’s imperative to note the differences in why it occurs across cultures. As aforementioned, the US’s history of switching between bingeing and abstaining has no doubt affected attitudes towards drinking today, and affect the ways in which different generations participate in drinking culture. Now, as the pandemic somewhat subsides in the US, trends in alcohol consumption are changing again, and it’s important to address how it’s overconsumption may be affected as well. How might we assist college students in lowering or limiting their alcohol consumption? References “Alcohol-Related Deaths Increasing in the United States.” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 10 Jan. 2020, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/alcohol-related-deaths-increasing-united-states. Julian, Kate. “America Has a Drinking Problem.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 8 July 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/america-drinking-alone-problem/619017/.