It ’s Friday night and you ’re a British female between the ages of 14 and 75 " “ what are you rifle to do ? As likely as not , you ’re going out to get pissed .
According to late enquiry , women in Britain are big drinkers . As in , devastate before they even get to the stripe , dance on ( and fall off ) tables , throwing up on Tube tracks , and urinating in doorways . woman in England and Ireland drink more than their European baby , and more than many in the repose of the macrocosm . Although men still consume more units of alcohol than cleaning lady , the ladies are catching up tight as rates of drinking among women is rising more rapidly than rates of drink among military personnel . The rates of womendying from intoxicant - related diseaseshas more than double since 1991 and liver specialiser say that where middle - elderly man used to make up the bulk of their caseload , womanhood as immature as 26 are increasing in number .
Drinking is something of a national sport in the UK , a kind of time - honored tradition that could only spring from the country that invented the G&T. Alcohol has long been part of the fabric of British life " “ witness any Word by Evelyn Waugh or PG Wodehouse .
But while characters in Word of God and movies can getaway with multiple martini before dinner party with little ill effect ( or , in Bertie Wooster ’s case , with a brilliant Samuel Butler to set him to rights ) , real people ca n’t . And now , Britain is reaping the yield of a long time love affair with the drinkable .
In 2007 , theDaily Mailran a special write up on the growing problem of binge imbibition . Among the more incitive headlines include a report about8 - year - old school childrenshowing up to shoal hungover . More recent survey have found that British teenagers routinely out - wassail most of their European components , with 54 percent of them claiming to binge drink ( that ’s five or more alcohol-dependent beverages in one go ) .
But what ’s got folks here concerned is n’t just that British stripling rank fifth among tear drunkenness teenagers out of 35 European countries , but that binge - drink teenage young woman are inflating their number . Teenage girls , the survey suggests , are binge drinking more than teen boys . Other statistics show that more than5,000 teenage girlsended up in the infirmary after a night of drunkenness last year alone . That ’s a relatively gravid number for a small island .
But it ’s not all teenage girls out for a night of mirth and pull " “ middle - aged professional cleaning lady aremore likely to over - drinkthan any other age and socio - economic chemical group of woman , and to do it at dwelling house , as well .
Of naturally , there ’s also a proficient Cupid’s disease of craze merge in with these statistics , with newspapers " “ the same one that follow Lady GaGa ’s every costume change " “ shrill headline about the nemesis of peeress drinking . Which is why the BBC recently work up a documentary about madam drinking , feature the adorable Cherry Healey working her way through what she bid the seven ages of drinking , fuddle with little girl age 14 to nanna , in an seek to get to the bottom of the peeress booze phenomenon . ( Watch here until Monday . )
It ’s sorry follow " “ but dead bewitching . The programme is littered with horrifying informational tidbits definitely meant to traumatise and appall : 60 per centum of 18 - to-24 - year - old miss salute just to get wasted ; binge drink among teenage daughter is on the emanation , whilst its on the decline among teenage boy ; inebriant costs the National Health Service £2.7 billion a year in emergency elbow room calls and through things like the booze bus , a nomadic dictation center that trade with a lot of London ’s drunks . We recover this last bit out when Healey spends an eventide out with the unit , watch out teenage girls wail about wanting their mummy after retch violently into a plastic basin .
But these factoids take a backseat to the depressing human play the program is intend to becharm . Healy spends one evening drinking with some minor teenagers , in the sleeping accommodation of one girl while her mother is downstairs . " I do n’t like the perceptiveness of it , but I like the effect,“ says Rio , a 14 - year - old binge drinker , taking a pull , through a straw , of path , off a bottle of Bacardi .
" We have no control,“ her mother says after , adding , " we experience that we ’re helpless . “
need what life would be like without strong drink , Rio respond , " So boring it would be unbelievable . “
The show , while not the most objective of journalistic exercises , hits on some of the deepest reasons why women tope . And they ’re pretty wide-eyed , throughout the ages Healey drinks with : alcoholic beverage for woman is limpid courageousness , it ’s a remedy for boredom , a societal lubricant , a way to interrupt down that famed " British reserve,“ a quick shot of relaxation , and a truth serum . But primarily , and perhaps most disturbingly , it ’s self-assurance .
