Spirits most likely type of alcohol to make people aggressive, study finds

Drinking spirits more likely to draw out negative feelings than all the other types of alcohol, with nearly a third of spirit drinkers associating tipple with feelings of aggression, major survey reveals

Spirits are the most likely alcohol type to illicit feelings of aggression, while red wine most likely to make people relaxed, a new study shows.

According to the world’s largest online survey of legal and illicit drug and alcohol use among adults (Global Drug Survey or GDS), spirits are also the least likely types of alcohol to be associated with feeling relaxed (20 per cent).

Based on anonymised responses from 30,000 18 to 34 year olds from 21 countries, the findings showed that red wine was the most likely to elicit this feeling (53 per cent), while half of respondents said beer made them feel relaxed.

The study, published in the BMJ Open journal, included specific questions on alcohol consumption and the feelings associated with drinking beer, spirits, and red or white wine when at home or when out.

Drinking spirits was more likely to draw out negative feelings than all the other types of alcohol, with nearly a third (30 per cent) of spirit drinkers associating this tipple with feelings of aggression, compared with around 2.5 per cent of red wine drinkers.

But spirits were also more likely to elicit some positive feelings than either beer or wine. More than half of respondents associated these drinks with feelings of energy and confidence, while more than four out of 10 associated them with feeling sexy.

Responses differed by educational attainment, country of origin, and age, with the youngest age group (18-24) the most likely to associate any type of alcohol with feelings of confidence, energy and sexiness when drinking away from home.

The responses also differed by gender and category of alcohol dependency, with women significantly more likely than men to associate each feeling — except for aggression — with all types of alcohol.

But men were significantly more likely to associate feelings of aggression with all types of alcohol, as were those categorised as heavy or dependent drinkers, who were six times more likely to do so than low risk drinkers.

And heavy drinkers were more likely to select any drink that was associated for them with feelings of aggression and tearfulness when at home or when out.

Researchers said the findings suggest dependent drinkers may rely on alcohol to generate the positive emotions they associate with drinking, as they were five times more likely to feel energised than low risk drinkers.

While the researchers urged that no firm conclusions could be drawn about cause and effect as it was an observational study, they said understanding emotions associated with the consumption of alcohol was “imperative” to addressing issues of alcohol misuse.

“Understanding emotions associated with alcohol consumption is imperative to addressing alcohol misuse, providing insight into what emotions influence drink choice between different groups in the population,” they concluded.

Campaigners have warned that alcoholism is more prevalent to those with underlying issues such as depression and anxiety, and urged that the UK improves education on the dangers of excessive drinking, amid large cuts to services for addicts.

It comes after The Independent revealed that the number of drug and alcohol addicts getting government-funded support to tackle their addictions has plummeted by 10 per cent in just three years.

Data shows that the total number of interventions across community services, inpatient detoxification, residential rehab and primary care received by clients for addiction fell from 308,118 in 2013-14 to 278,489 in 2016-17.

Eytan Alexander, founder of UK Addiction Treatment Centres (UKAT), said: “Addiction is a complex disorder and whilst it isn’t always possible to identify the root cause, alcoholism is more prevalent to those who struggle to cope with underlying issues such as depression and anxiety, where the positive short term effects of alcohol are essentially used to self-medicate against that emotional or mental pain and discomfort,” he said.

“We must provide better education on the dangers of excessive drinking as well as help those who are dependent to recover but ultimately, cutting budgets by £100million annually is a huge threat to that.”