Alcoholic beverages lose popularity among young people – 04/29/2023 – Equilíbrio

For Gabriela Paschoal, 25, the decision to give up alcoholic beverages was one of the main factors responsible for improvements in her quality of life. Sobriety has contributed to greater mental clarity and willingness to achieve your professional and personal goals, she says.

His choice and that of other young people shows a trend that is starting to show up in studies, especially among generation Z. International research indicates that younger people are drinking less.

In Brazil, these indicators are still oscillating, but the consumption of alcoholic beverages has dropped after the increase recorded in the first year of the pandemic. According to Vigitel (Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey), from the Ministry of Health, in 2021 there was a drop in consumption considered excessive by young Brazilians.

Among those aged 18 to 24, 19.3% entered this statistic, the lowest percentage since 2014. In 2020, this indicator was 25%. In the age group of 25 to 34 years, the decrease also occurred: about 25% of the interviewees answered that they had drunk too much on the same occasion. In the previous year, they were 30.9%.

Excessive drinking was classified as four or more drinks for women and five or more for men. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, that is, it is not possible to indicate an amount that does not affect health.

Gabriela considers that, until the middle of last year, the frequency of consumption had an impact on her mental health and well-being. “I was going through a difficult phase and drank a lot. If something good happened, I drank to celebrate. If I was sad, I drank to drown my sorrows”, she says.

In an attempt to improve his routine, he decided to challenge himself and go two months without drinking. Since then, she counts on her fingers the times she consumed some type of alcoholic beverage. She also realized that she doesn’t like the side effects.

“It wasn’t such a conscious choice when I decided to stop drinking, it was much more an attempt to do something different to improve my day-to-day life. But afterwards, I noticed many benefits”, reports the young woman, who now works as a model.

Among the changes, there were financial savings, more disposition and improvement in mental health. “My panic attacks pretty much disappeared. It gave me that mental clarity to go after my plans.”

Thereza Andrada, 28, also considers choosing not to drink an investment in her mental health. “I have a diagnosis of anxiety, and I don’t think drinking helps my mental or physical well-being. I don’t see myself voluntarily consuming something that would make me lose control,” she ponders.

Since adolescence, the actress says she has tried a number of alcoholic beverages, but the taste does not please her. “I think a lot of people drink to feel included or because of social pressure, but for me it doesn’t make sense to consume something I don’t like the taste of,” she says.

Despite not considering it a difficult choice, Thereza says she feels uncomfortable with the reaction of some people. Among family members and close friends, acceptance is good and there are not many questions. However, when meeting new people, the young woman claims that she often feels pressured or judged.

“It’s an incessant search for you to drink, and it seems that people only accept my choice when I talk about the history of alcoholism in my family”, he says.

In dating apps, for example, you indicate in your profile that you don’t consume alcoholic beverages, but even so, you end up being questioned in some interactions. “Sometimes people say they don’t know where to call me, just because I don’t drink. But it doesn’t matter, we can go to a bar and I’ll have a soda.”