Pressure to be perfect in work 'leading to binge drinking'

Pressure at work to be "perfect" was fuelling the binge-drinking boom, a Dutch psychologist said today.

Conducting a study in the UK, Professor Anna van Wersch found drinkers struggled with the stress of having to control emotions in the workplace and so had to let off steam at the weekends.

Contrary to stern British government warnings about keeping to recommended weekly alcohol units, she did not believe bingeing was entirely unhealthy, saying: "And if people didn't have the 'big night out with friends' to look forward to, what would they do and feel like at the end of the week?

"We don't want a nation on Prozac, do we?"

The official definition of binge-drinking is consuming five consecutive drinks in one sitting, but for the purpose of the study, it was deemed to be simply going out and getting drunk.

The Teesside University psychologist was speaking about her study with Wendy Walker from Leeds University, published in the Journal of Health Psychology, which questioned people's perceptions of their drinking habits.

The team interviewed 32 men and women living in north east England aged 22 to 58, including interviewees from Northern Ireland.

Prof van Wersch said: "For many, binge-drinking was easier and tended to involve more people than say going out for a meal or to the cinema."

Her study found interviewees believed getting drunk alone was "pointless", and that they justified their sessions by staying abstinent during the working week.