Alcohol awareness

Alcohol is what is known as a psychoactive substance. This means it affects your mental processes, such as your perception, consciousness, your mood and emotions.

It shares many of the these features with a number of illegal drugs. Not only that, alcohol causes more harm to individuals and to those around them than any other drug, legal or illegal.

Drinking too much alcohol can cause serious and long-lasting damage to a person’s physical and mental health. It is legal in the UK for people over the age of 18 to buy and drink alcohol. However, people may increase their drinking over time, perhaps as part of their social activities, or maybe to help cope during emotional or challenging times. This pattern can cause physical and mental damage, as well as harming a person's home life and work.

Even relatively low levels of alcohol, if drunk over a long period of time, can be damaging. This is why it’s important for people to understand the safe levels of drinking, the impact on their bodies and how long it can affect them.

People drinking at harmful levels can often be unaware they have a problem, or are in denial. Perhaps someone you know might be experiencing problems with alcohol? If you're worried about your own or someone else's drinking, speaking with them about it could be a positive step toward their recovery journey? Your support could play a crucial role in potentially saving their life.

On these pages you’ll find further information on alcohol and what it does, as well as links to tools that can help you calculate how much you drink, how long the alcohol stays in your system and where your consumption is in relation to safe drinking levels.

Click on the below buttons for more information and how to access help.