Photo: Philip Lee Harvey / Cultura / Corbis
Alcohol - underestimated folk drug
More than 15 million Germans drink too much. Do we still enjoy, or do we need it already - the alcohol?
Enjoy life. With good food and a fine drop of wine. That's the way of life of the French. "Have a drink after work" - that's how things look at the Germans right now. They do not drink to enjoy, but to reduce stress and relax.
This is the conclusion of a new study involving 363, 988 men and women in eight EU countries. The numbers speak for themselves. In the consumption of alcohol, we are at the top with 9.7 liters per year (and liver) . 36 percent said they had "five or more glasses of alcoholic beverages" at least once a week. Is that still enjoyment, or does one have to speak of "drinking"?
In addition to children and adolescents, the German Center for Addiction Issues (DHS) now also includes women as a risk group.
According to their estimate, 15 million people nationwide operate a "risky treatment" with alcohol: every sixth woman and every fifth man drink more than the World Health Organization WHO classifies as harmless. That would be: a bottle of beer or a 0.2-liter glass of wine in the evening. Accordingly, women beaker vigorously in this gray area. Why?
The reason: drinking to relax One reason sees the social pedagogue Rosemarie Heger of the addiction center "vista Berlin" in increasing pressure to perform, which weighs on working women. To her often come women who do a responsible job . Or in a stressful everyday life between work and family looking for a short time relaxation with wine or sparkling wine.
But stress-drinking is already the gateway to a risky approach to Germany's folk drug number 1. "Who in the evening after a row with the colleague or a hard day pouring a glass of wine, is still not an alcoholic ", explains the doctor and addiction therapist Rüdiger-Rolf Salloch bird. "It may be that he's already abusing the alcohol, so I recommend everyone to be aware of when and why he drinks alcohol from time to time."
