Men and Alcohol

Men drink more on average than women and can suffer more of its ill effects as a result.

• Heavy drinking can affect a man's mental and physical health, his social behaviour and make him more likely to get involved in crime and other risk taking activities.
• The average annual volume consumed by male drinkers in 2000 was 16.1 litres of absolute alcohol, equivalent to 20 cans of beer a week.
• The typical quantities consumed by males aged 16-17 increased from about five cans of beer on a drinking occasion in 1995 to eight cans in 2000.
• There was also an increase in typical quantities consumed by males aged 14-15, from three drinks to five drinks.

Alcohol, infertility and premature ejaculation

You're down the pub, you've had a few and suddenly right there's the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen! Supposing they don't mind you being half-cut, the chances of it being a night in heaven are minimal if you've been drinking. That's the immediate effects. In the long-term, too much booze could cause impotence, shrink your genitals and give you man breasts.

Men behaving badly

Alcohol intensifies emotions and affects our judgement. It can also make people aggressive. Little wonder, then, men who committed assaults had been drinking. Meanwhile a third of all prisoners (95% of whom are men) reckoned they wouldn't have ended up in prison at all if they hadn't been drinking. Alcohol is also a factor in 32% of cases of domestic violence.

Macho drinking cultures

Men are their own worst enemy when it comes to drink and tends to bring out the worst in each other. Why, for example, should men consider it manly to be able to drink far in excess of what's sensible? Encouraging friends to drink to excess is a pretty daft idea. More men than ever are dying because of their drinking habits.

Alcohol and suicide 

Drinking makes depression and anxiety worse and 70% of men who contemplate suicide are found to have drunk alcohol before doing so. The most recent figures (for 2001) show the suicide rate in Northern Ireland to be 26 deaths per 100,000 of the population, compared with a UK-wide figure of 15 per 100,000. 

Alcohol has a negative net effect on young men's health

Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced mortality from cardiovascular diseases in middle aged and elderly people, but its effect in younger people is unknown.

 

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"ASCERT empowers people to make a positive difference where alcohol and drug related issues damage lives".