Dry January becoming a “fashionable exercise” and risks excess year-round drinking, warns expert
Date: 1st January 2025
Dry January is becoming a ‘fashionable exercise’ and is increasingly being used as an excuse for dangerous year-round drinking habits, according to a leading UK addiction expert.
Dr Niall Campbell, consultant psychiatrist at Priory and one of the UK’s leading alcohol withdrawal specialists, has issued an urgent warning about Britain’s ever more harmful drinking culture.
“If you use Dry January as an excuse to drink to excess in December and February, and the rest of the year, then you’re missing the point. Increasingly, that’s what we’re seeing,” he said.
“Dry January is a fantastic initiative. It is very popular and the health benefits of completing it are significant. But I worry that it has become a fashionable exercise for a lot of people. As a society, we need a wake-up call.”
Around 15.5 million people in the UK are expected take on Dry January this year, the popular annual challenge where people abstain from alcohol for 31 days.
Yet alcohol is causing record breaking numbers of deaths across the UK, according to figures released in December, with more than 8,200 deaths in 2023 - a 42% rise on 2019.
New figures released by Priory, the UK’s leading independent provider of addiction treatment services, confirm that alcohol remains Britain’s primary addiction by far. In 2024, 59% of people seeking support through Priory’s addiction treatment services were seeking help for alcohol misuse.
Dr Campbell warned that the numbers of alcohol-related deaths may be even higher than the figures indicate.
“The official numbers of deaths are startling, but they are just the tip of the iceberg,” he explained.
“It is clear from my long clinical experience with alcoholics that the number of deaths from alcohol is much higher than the figures indicate. The government statistics only cover a limited number of causes, mainly from liver disease.
“Many more people die as a result of other alcohol-related causes, especially intoxication resulting in fatal accidents, withdrawal seizures, heart attacks and strokes, even at a younger age. Often post mortems are either not done or do not pick up on alcohol as a cause of death in these conditions.”
While one-in-five people now classify themselves as non-drinkers, particularly younger generations, significant numbers of those who do drink alcohol do so harmfully, with around 24% of people regularly drinking over the Chief Medical Officer’s low-risk guidelines.
Dr Campbell said: “The evidence shows that younger generations are reducing their alcohol intake, which is fantastic. But I’m extremely worried about slightly older generations who grew up with harmful drinking habits and are drinking more than ever.
“I’d implore everyone to embrace January as a time to reflect on their drinking habits, learn how to enjoy social events or to relax at home without alcohol, and carry those lessons learnt through the rest of the year. Alcohol is harmful and addictive, and sadly I see its consequences every day.”
ENDS
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About Priory and MEDIAN Group
Priory is the UK’s largest independent provider of mental health and adult social care services. Priory treats more than 70 conditions, including depression, anxiety, addictions and eating disorders, as well as children’s mental health, across its nationwide network of sites. Priory also supports autistic adults and adults with a learning disability, Prader-Willi Syndrome and brain injuries, as well as older people, within specialist residential care and supported living facilities – helping as many people as possible to live their lives.
Priory is part of the MEDIAN Group, the leading European provider of high-quality mental health and rehabilitation services. The MEDIAN Group comprises: Priory in the UK with 280 facilities and 5,000 beds caring for 28,000 people, MEDIAN in Germany with 120 facilities and 18,000 beds caring for 256,000 patients, and Hestia in Spain with 14 facilities and 2,000 beds caring for 10,000 people in Spain, with more than 30,000 employees across the group.