Editorial - Volume XXX Issue 4

Image Credit: Alex Jaresko

Guys, I think we have a problem

The road to hell is paved with good intentions and so is the road to the pub. January is here, term has resumed, and chances are you have probably heard your fair share of people claiming to partake in “Dry January” this year or maybe you’ve attempted the enterprise yourself. 

The term refers to the decision to stop drinking during the month of January and can be a temporary cleanse, a chance to reckon with your drinking habits or your first step in becoming teetotal. 

The hard truth is, there are little to no drawbacks to not drinking. In fact, several studies have shown that quitting alcohol for an extended period of time has both short-term and long-term benefits on your physical and mental well-being. The Drinkaware barometer for the year 2023 showed that 62% of adults partaking in Dry January do so to reduce the risk of alcohol-related illnesses, 45% to save money and 31% in hopes of seeing changes in their overall mental health. 

For many, the arrival to college can be synonymous with the opportunity to get out of their comfort zone and to try new things. I won’t be as naïve as to assume that college is where you’re having your first taste of alcohol but I would stress that you’re likely to have more incentive and opportunity to drink without restraint or accountability. 

With others constantly around you, the pressure of academics and the progressive loss of our third spaces … Why would you stop drinking, really? 

I’m not going to pretend like I have all the answers and insult you with a sanctimonious plea that you quit drinking tomorrow to save your soul. However, I would urge you to examine your changing or perhaps unchanging relationship to alcohol. Have you unknowingly become dependent on it to socialize? How’s your short-term memory faring? Man, how bad was that last hangover? Could they be getting worse

With the pandemic, many of us have had to move our drinking habits from the bar to our very bedrooms and Zoom parties. And while the pandemic may have resorbed, our habits never went back to what they used to be. 

Now faced with the progressive disappearance of primordial third spaces in favor of more offices or accommodation few can afford - the incentive to drink socially has never been higher. But guys, we might have a serious problem … And perhaps we need to start being honest with ourselves? Just because we aren’t thirty doesn’t mean we don’t have a serious reckoning to do. 

So this January, I have a challenge for you. Look around your campus, listen attentively to the chorus of “CHUG!CHUG!CHUG!” echoing from The Clubhouse, maybe reflect on UCD Christmas if you dare and think before you have that next pint.