Alcohol use disorder: the urgent issue we can't continue to ignore

The benefits of reducing alcohol consumption hit the headlines this week, but how can we begin to address the deeply-rooted issue of problem drinking?

"What is most unhealthy is this identification we have " where we identify having a good time with drinking alcohol, having a shit time with drinking alcohol, being happy with drinking alcohol, being sad with drinking alcohol. It is too much of an ever-present, regardless of our mood."

Nicola Sturgeon, speaking to Alastair Campbell in this month's GQ, has a point. Sturgeon was referring to Scotland but her comments could easily be applied to the rest of the UK. Indeed with almost a quarter of men and 18% of women in England exceeding the recommended weekly limits for alcohol consumption, it seems the time has come for an urgent discussion about the implications of our infatuation with booze.