Europeans have a hard time holding their drink, this continent is topping the drinking charts globally. Is it nature, culture, or a policy issue? We discuss alcoholism on Standard Time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top 10 countries facing alcoholism globally are almost exclusively European<\/a>. In 2019<\/a>, 8.4 percent of the EU\u2019s population aged 15 and older consumed alcohol every day. According to the World Health Organization<\/a>, Europe has the highest proportion of drinkers and the highest intake of alcohol in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Factors that lead certain people, or even certain populations to have alcohol issues<\/a> vary from biological and environmental, to social and psychological. Europeans particularly may be more genetically predisposed to eating fatty foods and consuming alcohol due to a switch in what is called the galanin gene<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Social drinking habits across Europe carry significant weight as well. They inform the identities, economies, and cultures of many European societies. One study<\/a> interestingly argues that it is not per capita consumption that influences alcoholism, but rather the cultural beliefs surrounding it. Societies that hold positive beliefs about liquor, mainly defined as \u2018wet\u2019 and Mediterranean, are less likely to face the same substance abuse problems as their \u2018dry\u2019 and \u2018Nordic\u2019 counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Owing to globalization<\/a>, and the homogenization of drinking cultures across Europe<\/a>, the way Europeans drink is changing over time and is becoming noticeable with the new generation. Underage drinking has dropped significantly, by 22% among youth in Europe<\/a>, and while these numbers are far from perfect, their implications are promising. Public policies<\/a>, redefined social norms<\/a>, and newfound awareness of mental health are causing youth to stray further away from the drinking trend, as 36% of Gen Z<\/a> choose to go \u201csober\u201d for psychological, as well as financial reasons.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Older Europeans, however, are less keen on switching over to tea and therapy. Even though EU prevention strategies are put forth to mitigate alcohol dependency and its social impacts, alcohol sales still sway our economic systems, affecting every aspect of our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi<\/strong> is a human rights activist and drug policy expert. He is the founder and editor of the Drugreporter<\/a> project, created in 2004 to advocate for a drug policy reform in Central and Eastern Europe region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Istv\u00e1n Csert\u0151 <\/strong>is an English-Hungarian General Translator & PhD Student in Social Psychology researching in the field of cognitive neuroscience. He is also an assistant lecturer at the K\u00e1roli G\u00e1sp\u00e1r University of the Reformed Church in Hungary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. M\u00e1t\u00e9 Kapit\u00e1ny-F\u00f6v\u00e9ny<\/strong><\/a> is a clinical psychologist with over 10 years of experience in the fields of therapeutic care and addiction research. He has written and published multiple books on addiction in the Hungarian language, including The Psychology of Alcoholism and A Thousand Faces of Addiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We meet with them at the leather workshop of K\u00f6zben St\u00fadi\u00f3 in Budapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n R\u00e9ka Kinga Papp, editor-in-chief Hermann Riessner managing director N\u00f3ra Ruszkai, sound engineering N\u00f3ra Ruszkai, lead video editor Victor Maria Lima, animation Julia Sobota closed captions, Polish and French subtitles; language versions management Hosted by <\/strong>K\u00f6zben St\u00fadi\u00f3, Budapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alcoholism by Country 2024<\/a>, World Population Review.<\/p>\n\n\n\nToday\u2019s guests<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Creative team<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Merve Akyel, art director
Szilvia Pint\u00e9r, producer
Zs\u00f3fia Gabriella Papp, executive producer
Margarita Lechner, writer-editor
Salma Shaka, writer-editor
Priyanka Hutschenreiter, project assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\nManagement<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Judit Csik\u00f3s project manager
Csilla Nagyn\u00e9 Kardos, office administration<\/p>\n\n\n\nVideo Crew Budapest<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Gergely \u00c1ron P\u00e1pai, photography
L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Hal\u00e1sz, photography<\/p>\n\n\n\nPostproduction<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Istv\u00e1n Nagy, video editor
Mil\u00e1n Golovics, conversation editor<\/p>\n\n\n\nArt<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cornelia Frischauf, theme music<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nCaptions and subtitles<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Farah Ayyash Arabic subtitles
Mia Bel\u00e9n Soriano Spanish subtitles
Marta Ferdebar Croatian subtitles
L\u00eddia N\u00e1dori German subtitles
Katalin Szlukov\u00e9nyi Hungarian subtitles
Daniela Univazo German subtitles
Olena Yermakova Ukrainian subtitles
Aida Yermekbayeva Russian subtitles
Mars Zaslavsky Italian subtitles<\/p>\n\n\n\nSources <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n