Be Safe over Summer – Think about your Drink

The Outer Hebrides Alcohol & Drug Partnership wants to make sure everyone stays safe and enjoys the summer season by providing information on drinking sensibly and making the right choices. 

Across Scotland, one in four people drink at a potentially harmful level with 1,276 alcohol-specific deaths in 2022 (where alcohol was the underlying cause of death). This is an increase of 2% (31 deaths) in 2021. Of those deaths in 2022, 440 were women and 836 were men.   

Summer can be a busy time where there are invites to outdoor events, camping, beach parties, festivals etc.  and being able to make an informed choice whether to drink or not can be difficult when your peers may be encouraging you to join in. Having a few drinks can make you feel relaxed and improve your mood due to the dopamine levels increasing in the brain. However, alcohol is a depressant, so this is only a short-term effect on the brain. Continuing to drink can replace that happy mood with more negative thoughts where you can become angry, stressed, and anxious. Not to mention the hangover from being dehydrated which can leave you feeling awful the next day. 

All this can have a big impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing. The risks to health increase if you consume over 14 units per week. There are higher risks to developing certain head and neck cancers. Heavy drinking can lead to hypertension and increased risk of stroke, cirrhosis and liver failure. Alcohol can also cloud a person’s judgement and is linked to casual and unsafe sex that can lead to pregnancy and STIs.

Relationships with family can be affected, where they may have to deal with tension in the home and possible neglect of family members and children. 

Alcohol does not have to be key factor in all this. There are options and choices that you can make.  You should have at least 3 alcohol free days per week.  Consider swapping to low or non-alcohol options which are more widely available. Choose a smaller measure of wine or spirits and be sure to keep hydrated and most importantly, pace yourself. 

You can download the Alcohol Change UK ‘Try Dry’ app Interactive tools | Alcohol Change UK  which keeps track of your mood, sleep, energy levels and has a journal for keeping notes as well as tracking your drinking patterns, number of units and dry days. 

If you feel your drinking is becoming a problem for you, please talk to your GP. You can also find information of alcohol and drug services available in Outer Hebrides on our website – www.outerhebadp.com

Let’s change our relationship with alcohol and make ourselves and our community a better, healthier place.