Hélène Donnadieu, addictologist in Montpellier: “We are talking about excessive alcohol consumption beyond 10 servings per week”

Hélène Donnadieu, sur le sentiment de bien-être lié à l'alcool : “Les effets restent artificiels” Midi Libre – ANNESI TIZIANA

Hélène Donnadieu est chef de service en addictologie au CHU de Montpellier.

Occitanie is one of the regions where people drink the most. Is this linked to the fact that we are in a wine region ?

Our region is in direct competition with Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Brittany, which are not wine-growing regions. Then when we see that the figures are high among young people in terms of alcohol consumption, clearly, they do not drink wine. No, the only thing it can affect is at the level of policies, which perhaps place less emphasis on alcohol prevention, because it represents a large part of their economy.

What could be the reasons then ?

Our territory is affected by great social disparity and this intersects with a search for self-relief that some will obtain with alcohol.

When can we talk about excessive alcohol consumption ?

According to Public Health France, the limit is 10 servings of alcohol per week and a maximum of two servings per day. Beyond that, we start to take risks for our health.

Some people associate a drink at the end of the day with a moment of relaxation. 

It is true that alcohol activates this reward system like any psychoactive system with dopamine and serotonin. And we see it among young people, what they are looking for is this euphoric effect more than the taste of alcohol. You must therefore look for other techniques such as sport, sophrology, yoga, culture or moments with friends. The idea is to replace this ritual with another which will have more lasting effects. Because the benefits of alcohol remain artificial.

Would you recommend non-alcoholic beer for example as an alternative ?

The risk is that we keep the same ritual, with the same taste. So we don't change our habits and if we find ourselves in a place where there is no non-alcoholic beer, we will more easily have a beer. But everyone can go with their own personal strategy, I'm not here to judge. Now, if we drink a non-alcoholic beer to be “like the others”, then at that moment, we must ask ourselves the question of the place of alcohol in society.

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