PUBLIC HEALTH – A bottle of champagne that makes « pop ! » when the twelve strokes of midnight ring out, flutes clash while we hug each other wishing each other a Happy New Year… If we talk to you about a New Year's party, this is undoubtedly the first image that comes to mind.
It must be said that in the collective imagination, a successful New Year's Eve necessarily rhymes with quite a few, even many, uncorked bottles of alcohol. In its barometer dating from last year, the Prévention Routière association revealed that 83% of French people planned to consume alcohol on New Year's Eve.
So what do the remaining 17% do, those who have decided to toast the New Year without drinking a drop? How can you assert your desire for sobriety in a society that values the pleasures of drinking?
Not drinking is boring
It's not simple, recognizes Sophie*, who reduced her consumption in 2019, before “stop drinking completely” in 2020, after becoming aware of its “unhealthy relationship with alcohol”. Although today her friends no longer ask her questions, this was not always the case. The young woman remembers their surprised look when she began to prefer ordering a Coke or a mocktail rather than a glass of red. “I was systematically entitled to the question”you don’t take alcohol?” As if it necessarily hid something, that I was sick or pregnant. »
“Anyone who doesn’t drink is seen as a bit of an alien. We don’t expect this refusal, we question it”confirms the professor of addictology and president of the French Society of Alcoholology Mickael Naassila. He deplores the fact that today it is still so difficult to imagine partying without drinking. “This can be seen as a refusal to socialize. » Sophie also noticed this systematic association between alcohol consumption and social life. “It’s as if it were a mandatory step to officially enter the evening. It also implies that by not drinking, I will be less funny. »
An omnipresent pressure to drink
Oriane, who runs seven hours a week, stopped her consumption when she realized that it had a positive effect on her muscle recovery. She remembers being “anger” when those close to him began to reproach him for the slightest glass of alcohol he declined. “We are not going to encourage anyone to smoke, and yet alcohol is just as dangerous to health”she blurted.
A pressure that Marianne* also felt, passed in a few months of “girl with a good descent” almost abstinent after a drunken evening during which she broke two teeth. “People can’t wait to see me drunk because it’s worth the detour. So when I'm not in the mood, I feel like I'm disappointing.”notes the thirty-something. This is why she decided to skip the traditional New Year festivities this year. “I have declined several offers from people who are planning the evening of the year, as if there was an obligation to have fun, and therefore to drink”she regrets.
“The end-of-year celebrations can be quite anxiety-inducing for people who have stopped drinking alcohol, particularly because they were alcohol-dependent”observes Professor Naassila. According to him, if today we have so much difficulty accepting seeing someone refuse a drink, it is also because it questions our own relationship with alcohol. “Most people don't even imagine that their consumption could be a problem »explains the addiction expert, who suggests rethinking our relationship with drinking in his book I stop drinking without becoming boring (ed. Solar, to be published January 2, 2025).
A very French injunction
This good reputation that alcohol enjoys, despite its widely documented harmful effects on health, is also cultural, insists the researcher. “In France, we have a real problem with the omnipresence of alcohol, which concerns all stages of life. It starts in childhood with family aperitifs, then in adulthood, it's afterworks… Everything is an excuse to drink alcohol. » And the transition to the new year is no exception.
The message is all the more muddled when this tolerance towards alcohol is observed at the highest levels of the State. “Just look at the reluctance of the Ministry of Health to support Dry January”recalls the addiction expert, who also cites the hiccup of Public Health France's 2023 prevention campaign, accused of trivializing alcohol consumption among young people. “We sometimes have the impression that French politicians speak in the name of the alcohol lobby”he believes.
Prepare to withstand pressure
In these conditions, and for those who have still decided to celebrate the New Year in a group, how can they resist the pressure to drink? Mickael Naassila advises being prepared for indiscreet questions so as not to be caught off guard. “It can go from “I decided to stop” or “it’s my week without alcohol because I’m doing sports” has “I take medication,” he explains.. You must adapt your response according to your history and your personality. Some people are able to refuse very easily, while others prefer to adopt a workaround strategy, such as always having a glass of soft drink in their hand. »
For her part, Sophie fortunately no longer needs to justify her non-consumption. She will therefore celebrate the transition to 2025 in the company of her friends. “There is really no more awkwardness between us. » Marianne will opt this year for a “quiet little meal” offered to him by friends who are young parents rather than going to a party where the champagne is likely to flow freely. As for Oriane, she simply won't go out, so as not to have to endure inappropriate remarks and not to be tempted. “With trail running competitions, I plan to stay sober at least until March 2025.” Enough to start the year without a hangover and succeed in your Dry January without too much difficulty.
* First names have been changed.
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