Since well before the Covid Pandemic, drinking has been climbing. While drinking rose even more due to the stress and uncertainty of covid, it never really came back down. I wrote the following last year about the rise in heavy drinking:
Heavy drinking and alcohol-related liver disease have been rising for decades. Drinking had already jumped before the Covid Pandemic and shot up even more during Covid. Many Americans felt isolated, worried for the future, stressed due to income loss, risk of death and uncertainty. They drank as a result, or perhaps they drank more as a result. The proportion of Americans who drank alcohol rose, as did the amount of alcohol they drank.
This is what The New York Times had to say:
In recent years, alcohol use has risen — and with it, alcohol-related illness and death. Between 1999 and 2020, alcohol deaths in the United States more than doubled, according to an analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the 1990s scientists began to think alcohol may have some beneficial health effects, due largely due to the so-called, French Paradox. The French live longer than average despite diets high in fats washed down with lots of wine. Red wine especially became a healthy beverage when drank in moderation. However, recent studies are discounting those earlier beliefs. Recent research suggests that alcohol is unhealthy in lower concentrations than previously thought. The WHO believes no level of alcohol consumption is safe for human health. In fact, the outgoing U.S. surgeon general went as far as to suggest alcohol should have a warning label that it causes cancer, saying:
Alcohol is a leading preventable cause of cancer, and alcoholic beverages should carry a warning label as packs of cigarettes do, the U.S. surgeon general said on Friday.But alcohol directly contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths each year, the surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, said.
In light of recent news that alcohol is not a health elixir and news about the role of alcohol in cancer deaths, many people claim to be trying to cut back on drinking without stopping entirely. This is a term they call soberish, according to The New York Times:
The designation, sometimes also referred to as “sober curious,” has caught on in the United States and elsewhere as the health risks of alcohol become better understood. “Soberish” can mean drinking more mindfully, drinking less or avoiding alcohol altogether but not other drugs. At parties, people often reach for seltzers and nonalcoholic beers, and more people are using apps that help them track and reduce their alcohol intake.The idea has been popularized by confessional podcasts like Soberish Uprising and social media accounts that advocate a soberish lifestyle.
Perhaps soberish adherents are the people who began drinking more during covid and decided they need to cut back. Or maybe they’re long-time, problem drinkers who have wanted to reduce their drinking for years. This movement could include alcoholics in denial with their repeated attempts to cut back on binge drinking. Just like Soberish adherents, I suspect that most alcoholics want to cut back rather than quit entirely.
The Wall Street Journal reports that alcohol consumption is highly concentrated among a small segment of heavy drinkers. While many people drink a little, a few people drink a lot. They are at the highest risk for alcohol-related diseases and are probably the least likely to slow down their drinking. This from WSJ:
A fifth of adults account for an estimated 90% of alcohol sales volumes in the U.S., according to an analysis published in 2023 by equity research firm Bernstein.The alcohol industry, she said, would prefer to “be less reliant on just a small group driving a majority of consumption. They don’t think this is healthy for their own business, sustainability of the category, and for their own consumers.”
Harvard Medical School reports heavy drinkers aren’t necessarily alcoholics, but may be “almost alcoholics.” If the soberish movement has staying power, as in a lot of people making a concerted effort to reduce their drinking, that may reduce the health effects of alcoholism. According to public health experts, small changes can help.
After writing this a couple days ago I’ve run across several more articles about Americans redefining what it means to be sober. It’s not entirely clear how this differs from years past when most people drank a little — or not at all — and a few people drank a lot. All that seems to have changed is a new label put on alcohol mindfulness, apparently without having to change your behavior. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/drinking-while-sober-how-americans-are-redefining-what-it-means-to-abstain/ar-AA1xskyO