Social Drinking Could Mask Alcoholism, or Provoke Problem Drinking

Social drinking can sit on the slippery slope to alcoholism. People — and culture — can sometimes intertwine solitary drinkers with addiction. However, alcoholism often starts out when drinking among others, according to a review article in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

“Evidence for the centrality of social motives in problem drinking surround us,” according to the article. “While solitary drinking might serve as a useful early indicator of alcohol use disorder risk […] research suggests that individuals reliably consume more alcohol in social contexts than when alone.”

The common conception of the isolated alcoholic can be problematic in multiple ways. That notion may provide cover to problem drinkers and make it more difficult for them to realize they may need treatment. It can also skew the direction of research — which a survey of the peer-reviewed literature suggests has already happened.

“Within the realm of alcohol use disorder research, basic scientific studies of the solitary drinker outnumber studies of the social drinker by a factor of nearly ten-fold, and theories of problem drinking seek to explain alcohol use disorder via broadly asocial mechanisms,” according to the paper.

Read More: Quitting Alcohol: What Happens To Your Brain When You Stop Drinking?

Problem drinkers sometimes use social settings to provide cover for their behavior. Catharine Fairbairn, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign said in a press release. That mechanism relies on the rationalization that “the mere presence of other individuals exerts a beneficial effect.”

In other words, if other people are around the potential problem drinker, their issue can’t be that serious. For friends and relatives of such drinkers, holding this belief helps absolve themselves of responsibility for their acquaintance’s behavior. That attitude could also interfere with getting help for the problem drinker.

Read More: What Are Short and Long Term Effects of Alcohol On the Brain?

In fact, social settings may, in some cases provoke problem drinking. Young people often over-indulge with their peers, essentially normalizing binge drinking, which affects about 1 in 5 Americans. But studies have linked social drinking to several negative effects.

“Some of the most serious negative consequences from alcohol use are linked specifically with social consumption,” according to the paper. “In particular, alcohol-related violence, risky sex, and extreme binge drinking are all primarily or exclusively social-drinking phenomena.”

Because alcohol use has strong societal acceptance, many people minimize its negatives. Making people aware that heavy social drinking is just as problematic as isolated alcohol consumption is one step toward addressing its consequences.

“As an addictive drug that enjoys an extraordinary level of integration into human social life, alcohol foreshadows legal and medical dilemmas ahead,” according to the paper.

This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.

Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:

• Current Directions in Psychological Science. Social Drinking and Addiction: A Social-Cognitive Model for Understanding Alcohol Use Disorder Risk

Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.