Last Updated:
June 13th, 2024
Second-hand drinking refers to the ways other people are harmed by a person’s drinking. While this harm does not seem as direct as second-hand smoking at first glance – the alcohol a person consumes doesn’t end up in another person’s system – some of these harms can be just as immediate.
By categorising drinking as something which has second-hand effects, alcohol misuse can be framed as a public health issue. Researchers and policy experts have adopted the term second-hand drinking to raise awareness of the impacts of alcohol on the economy and wider society as well as other individuals. Phrasing it this way can also encourage alcoholic intervention in the form of harm-reduction measures at the government level. The harms of second-hand smoking motivated policy measures around tobacco worldwide, resulting in heavy taxation on tobacco products, limitations on where you can smoke, and Rishi Sunak’s proposed tobacco and vapes bill that would ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 1st 2009. It isn’t surprising that people affected by the harms of second-hand drinking tend to favour policy measures aimed at controlling the use of alcohol.
We’re going to take a look at the ways second-hand drinking affects the people around you, and what to do if you realise that your drinking is harming others and you need to reach out for alcohol help.
The effects our drinking has on others
By some metrics, the global burden of alcohol use is similar to that of tobacco(3) in terms of high cholesterol, body mass index, low fruit and vegetable consumption and physical inactivity. However, drinking doesn’t just affect the drinker.
When the second-order harms of alcohol are added to the harms to drinkers, it’s estimated that alcohol is about twice as harmful as tobacco.
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Second-hand drinking affects people in a variety of ways. These can range from minor to extremely serious.
Alcohol is often associated with violent crimes. In the US, 38% of violent offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the assault, and 40% of sex offenders indicated they were intoxicated when they committed their crimes. 53 million Americans a year experience harm from the drinking of others – one in four men and one in five women.
Drink-driving is a major harm caused by second-hand drinking. While the UK ranks lower than other countries for road deaths caused by alcohol, such as South Africa (27% of fatalities) and Ireland (38% of fatalities), the UK reports that in 13% of driving fatalities, the driver was over the limit.
However, the effects of second-hand drinking are not always as extreme as these examples. Often, the effects are more subtle – lost productivity due to work absences, abuse and verbal altercations, and property damage.
The impact on loved ones
Within families, second-hand drinking can arise in a very direct way in the form of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. FASD has serious long-term effects on children, including problems with learning and behaviour, joints, bones, muscles and organs, and conduct, speech, emotional and communication difficulties. It is estimated that 41% of mothers in the UK drink alcohol while pregnant, placing the UK in the top 5 globally for alcohol consumption while pregnant.
Many people struggling with alcohol addiction do their best to shield their loved ones from the symptoms of alcohol abuse and go to great lengths to hide it – but their families can still be affected by their drinking. Excessive drinking comes with a whole host of negative health outcomes, and can significantly shorten your lifespan. The pain of alcohol-related bereavement or witnessing a loved one struggle with alcoholic symptoms and poor health as a result of their addiction comes under the umbrella of second-hand drinking.
Alcohol can cause financial struggles, whether this is from increased difficulties finding or maintaining a job or less money for the household from impulsive spending and money spent on alcohol.
The financial impact of second-hand drinking is felt by the family unit and the wider society. In developed nations, about 50 per cent of the economic costs of alcohol are borne by someone other than the drinker. This can be families and loved ones, and it can also be governments and wider society. It’s estimated that alcohol costs the UK £27 billion a year in health costs, crime and lost productivity.
Economic effects
The financial impact of second-hand drinking is not just felt by the family unit, but also by wider society. In developed nations, about 50 per cent of the economic costs of alcohol are borne by someone other than the drinker. This can be families and loved ones, and it can also be governments and wider society. It’s estimated that alcohol costs the UK £27 billion a year in health costs, crime and lost productivity.
Health costs, in the form of GP and A&E visits, hospital care for alcohol-related ill health and alcoholism treatment services, are estimated to cost the UK billions a year. Alcohol’s impact on crime comes with costs associated with police, courts and prisons. Alcohol is also a driver of unemployment, under-employment and lower workplace productivity.
Alcohol is heavily taxed, and £12.6 billion in duties were raised in the 2023/2024 financial year. However, this is less than half of the estimated £27 billion cost to the UK that alcohol consumption causes, meaning that alcoholism and second-hand drinking have a net negative financial impact.
Psychological, neurological and emotional effects
When someone else witnesses a problematic behaviour that is the outcome of someone else’s drinking, fight or flight kicks in. This is just the beginning of a cascade of neurological consequences that are the outcomes of second-hand drinking.
The repeated firing of neural networks when witnessing or being the subject of drinking-related behaviours like domestic violence, drunk driving, or sexual, verbal or physical assault can form the basis of trauma. If this happens to you when you’re a child, this is classified as an adverse childhood event, or ACE.
ACEs have a range of negative health outcomes associated with them – and one of them is developing a problem with addiction yourself. It is believed that addiction is 50 percent genetic and 50 percent environmental, so growing up with alcoholic parents who also behave abusively as an outcome of their drinking creates an environment that significantly increases the risk of addiction. This means, sadly, that one outcome of second-hand drinking may be increasing the likelihood of addiction in others.
What to do if you realise your drinking is harming others
The realisation that your drinking affects people other than yourself is a positive one – it indicates that you are in less denial about your drinking, and this can be a turning point for deciding to get help.
The decision to detox from alcohol is a major one – but it may be one of the most significant decisions you ever make for both you and the people you care about.
Alcohol addiction treatment and alcohol rehab can help you with more than beating your addiction – it can help you uncover why you were drinking in the first place and put you in a situation where you can heal your relationships with your loved ones.