Will Young discusses losing his bother to alcoholism and suicide

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Scotland has the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths over the past two years according to the ONS data, continuing the year-on-year trend despite England seeing its highest percentage increase. Mathis Heydtmann, a consultant hepatologist at Steering Group, told Express.co.uk that the situation is worrying and appears to stem from the Scottish drinking culture.

Over the past 13 years, Dr Hydtmann has worked in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and is the medical advisor for an ongoing study called the Management Alcohol Programme.

Unlike the typical rehabilitation centre, this pilot programme based in Glasgow gives those with severe alcohol dependency regular top-ups of booze, mimicking a model which has seen success in Canada.

It is because the situation is so dire in Scotland, particularly in the West, that the programme was launched there, he explained.

In December, it was revealed that there were 22.4 alcohol-related deaths per 100,000 in Scotland. Whereas in England, there were 13.9.

Worryingly, the figures across the UK have increased by 27 percent in the past two years.

Research suggested that those who were heavy drinkers before the pandemic were most likely to have increased the amount they consumed over the course of the pandemic.

Dr Heydtmann also stressed that another symptom of alcohol abuse, liver disease, is worryingly high in Scotland. The rate of liver disease in Scotland is not only bad compared to England — but compared to Europe.

According to Public Health Scotland, the nation has some of the highest rates of hospital admissions and death rates from chronic and acute liver disease in comparison to other European countries.

Charity Drinkaware slammed the ONS results as “unacceptable” with Alcohol Focus Scotland telling the Scottish Daily Express in December that the Scottish Government had not done enough to tackle a problem it described as “an emergency”.

But the problem appears difficult to tackle Dr Heydtmann noted that binge drinking is engrained in British culture as “people drink here to get drunk”.

He said: “There is a completely different culture here to other European countries, particularly in Scotland.”

It is part and parcel of an evening spent drinking for there to be discussions about “preloading” and for many to drink to the point where they “cannot remember what happened”, he said.

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Many brag about being drunk or things that they did while inebriated with days being wiped out by a hangover the norm. In fact, Dr Hydtmann said he knows of those who have moved to Scotland as the culture is more attuned to how they wish to drink.

He said: “In Scotland, drinking is more acceptable and accepted. I know of people who retire to Scotland because their drinking habits were more compatible with Scottish life and drinking was more normal; it’s more normal here.”

Although Dr Heydtmann said the amount Brits, particularly Scots, drink is a “definitely a problem” and is also a “health problem”, he is not prescriptive.

He explained: “If somebody says ‘this is my life, this is what I want to do’, as long as they know their risks, nobody can police them. It’s the people’s decision and people are entitled to make unhealthy decisions.”

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