Alcohol addiction 'draining Ireland of human potential'

People suffering alcohol addiction have 'come out of the woodwork' since the pandemic, Michael Guerin of the Cuan Mhuire addiction treatment centres said.

Ireland is being drained of human potential by an epidemic of alcohol consumption at home which is also damaging families, addiction experts warn.

People suffering alcohol addiction have “come out of the woodwork” since the pandemic, Michael Guerin of the Cuan Mhuire addiction treatment centres said.

The profile of people seeking treatment for addiction has changed, with increasing numbers seeking help for alcohol-only abuse compared to polysubstance abuse, which was common before the pandemic, he said.

A new report by the Health Research Board found  at-home drinking has increased throughout the pandemic, with Irish people consuming the equivalent of 40 bottles of vodka a year, causing problems for individuals, families and children.

But Mr Guerin said the report's findings were no surprise to those fighting addiction on the front lines.

Cohort of problem drinkers

"All of a sudden you have this cohort of problem drinkers. They’ve simply come out of the woodwork with these alcohol problems," he said. 

They’re reporting to us that when the conditions that came with the first wave of lockdown kicked in, their drinking skyrocketed. And we see this problem escalating."

He said pre-Covid, the stereotypical person with an alcohol problem was somebody who gradually descended for years from responsible drinking, to alcohol abuse, to full-blown alcoholism.

"That trend seems to have been turned on its head over the last year. We now have a significant number of clients telling us that their drinking has become quite bad quite quickly."

Stress and anxiety fuelled by the pandemic are responsible for the sudden surge in alcohol problems, he said.

People turned to alcohol for consolation and they started to self-medicate the problems they were having in life because of this worldwide pandemic."

To address this alarming increase in alcohol dependence, Government must do three things, he said: invest in addiction treatment centres; launch a public awareness campaign about the dangers of alcohol misuse; and introduce minimum unit alcohol pricing.

A new report by the Health Research Board found  at-home drinking has increased throughout the pandemic, with Irish people consuming the equivalent of 40 bottles of vodka a year, causing problems for individuals, families and children.

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, said the HRB report provides a clear and timely view of Ireland’s troubled alcohol use.  

"Despite 12 years of collaboration with government and civil society to introduce meaningful alcohol controls and regulations, alcohol producers and their representatives "have sought to obfuscate the harm", Alcohol Action Ireland said.

Thousands of people have died from alcohol consumption throughout those years.

"Lives written off as an acceptable statistical consequence of sustaining unimpeded market development, while the quality of the lives for hundreds of thousands of children have been traded for unchecked market growth," it said. 

The organisation's Eunan McKinney said  the HRB report comes at a "critical juncture".

Minimum pricing

"Minimum pricing of all alcohol products will end the universal availability of cheap, strong alcohol, so evident in our supermarkets, convenience stores and neighbourhood shops," Mr McKinney said.  

"The stark presentation by the HRB of the scale of alcohol harm can only but encourage firm, decisive action, now. We simply can no longer negate the responsibility of protecting public health and the lives of future generations."