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I had a friend whose friends knew him under two names: his name when he was sober and his name alter-ego when he was drunk.
While the name of the alter-ego and the wild behavior that accompanied it were a joke between friends, I quickly realized that it was not a joke as a partner.
Lawrence Smith / Stuff
Being harassed or insulted is one of the many forms of alcohol abuse.
"Wild" as he has become, my adorable boyfriend with generally mild handling, has also become jealous and verbally abusive.
Harassment, embarrassment, name calling or any other form of insult are some of the harms associated with second-hand alcohol, which researchers are just beginning to grasp.
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A new study, published in the Journal of Alcohol Studies and Alcohol and Drugs, revealed that one in five Americans experiences damage related to second-hand alcohol use each year. The numbers in Australia will probably be much higher.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / STUFF
Research conducted in 2018 showed that women living with a drinking partner had higher symptoms of anxiety and depression and less life satisfaction.
Professor Robin Room, from the University of La Trobe's Center for Research on Alcohol Policies (CAPR), explains that we tend to think of consumer-related damage only in its extreme forms. : drunk driving, fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol related violence.
By speaking only of the extremes, it was easier to separate, "the rest of us, the social drinkers," "of them," he says.
"These extreme situations exist in a social setting … that's why you hear all the talk, claiming that the alcohol industry is very interested in responsible drinking, that it there is a kind of easy separation between responsible consumption and non-responsible consumption. " when it's actually a continuum, "Room says.
"It's really only in the last decade that people have started to think about it on a larger scale and to describe it more broadly as harm done by the use of alcohol by others. "
Framed in this way, the secondary impact of alcohol becomes much more prevalent.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / STUFF
Too many nights in the pub could be damaging to others.
In addition to harassment or insults, other forms of harm that were common among the 8750 participants in the survey included the feeling of being threatened or scared; have clothes or ruined goods; have vandalized a house, car or other property; to be pushed, beaten or assaulted; be physically injured be in a traffic accident; being a passenger in a vehicle with a drunk driver; have family problems or marital difficulties; and have financial problems.
Although the design of previous Australian research has been slightly different, making direct comparison difficult, Room says that "the rates reported by people in Australia are higher than in the United States."
"They are certainly not lower," he adds.
JIM RIZ / STUFF
Professor Robin Room said, "It is only in the last 10 years or so that people have started to think about this more broadly and to define it more generally as harm caused by the consumption of drugs. alcohol by others.
"The United States drinks less, on average, than Australia, about a third of adults do not drink at all in the US In Australia, it's less than 20%."
However, there are commonalities between countries.
According to a study released earlier this year, women are more likely than men to report the harm caused by alcohol consumption by a spouse / partner or a family member, while men are more likely to report the damage caused by the consumption of alcohol by a stranger.
The damage also tends to be higher among young adults, because of the growing number of young people who drink "to get drunk," says Room, as well as those who drink more.
"Although there are a lot of people, especially in couples who find themselves with great difficulty without them drinking or drinking very little," Room adds.
"And women support a lot, especially in relationships."
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"Although there are a lot of people, especially in couples who end up with a lot of trouble without them drinking or drinking very little," Robin Room says.
An Australian study dating back to 2018 found that women living with a high alcoholic spouse have higher levels of anxiety symptoms and depression and lower life satisfaction.
Professor Simone Pettigrew, of Curtin University's Faculty of Psychology and member of the board of directors of the Alcohol Advertising Supervisory Board, adds that the cost of alcohol-related harm in Australia is estimated at about $ 36 billion a year.
"It's one of those inconvenient truths," says Pettigrew of the impact of second-hand alcohol.
"Eighty percent of Australian adults drink alcohol, which means that the population is not interested [in hearing about it]… and a quarter of Australians consume at least once a month.
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Your consumption of alcohol can hurt others.
According to Pettigrew, policymakers typically aim to target "very specific groups", such as pregnant women and youth, but the rest of Australia must also take this into account.
"There is no safe dose, it is a carcinogen, it changes your behavior and it affects the people around us … there are social impacts."
The room is in agreement.
"Basically, we tend to think that drinking alcohol harms the drinker," he says.
"More than, apparently for other drugs, certainly more than for tobacco and more than for illicit drugs, a lot of the damage is done to others, not just to the drinker."
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