Dangers of Christmas/Holiday Parties

What does Christmas and the holiday season represent for you? A season to look forward to with your family, friends and colleagues? Or a time about which to be concerned because it usually brings out of control drunken behaviour with negative consequences? They are certainly a great risk for alcoholics.

Christmas Party Season

Years ago, I used to love the Christmas party season. The work Christmas lunch was one of the main social events of the year. It would start at around 12.30 and go on till the pubs shut at the end of the evening. Much fun was had by all (or so it seemed). The antics we got up to made us all laugh (or so it seemed). I can recall being transported back from the work Christmas lunch restaurant to the office in a supermarket trolley – more than once! Colleagues would say things they wished they hadn’t, tell everyone who they did and did not find attractive, fall over (sometimes requiring a visit to the hospital for stitches or even in one case for a broken nose – a consequence apparent even to this day!)

Drunken Antics

They might struggle to make it home, falling asleep on the London underground which caused them to miss their stop and sometimes continue to the end of the line at which point someone would wake them up. They then might fall asleep when going back the other way – only to repeat the same process at the other end of the line. How we laughed when we heard about this when they came back to work – but this might not be the next day as some colleagues would fail to make it into the office the following day as they were suffering from horrendous handovers.

Aftermath of Christmas Parties

However, for some days we would all relive the event, being reminded if we had forgotten of what we had said and done (frequently making us feel ashamed and embarrassed) but causing a great many laughs for those who had not let themselves down in the same way. When I think back to the aftermath of many of those Christmas lunch parties, I can recall many times feeling embarrassed and ashamed and finding it hard to live my behaviour down. Other people may have laughed – usually at me, not with me – but I certainly wasn’t feeling like laughing even if I had a smile painted on my face.

Binge Drinking

These events for me took place mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Since then, the binge drinking culture seems to have worsened. In those days there were not drunk tanks on the city streets – last year it cost the NHS over £300,000 to provide these to release the pressure on the NHS.

Christmas Party Aftermath

So, while it was a good opportunity to enjoy ourselves and let our hair down, the Christmas lunch and party season was not always such fun and there were often negative consequences. I would never listen to the person who said to keep the alcohol consumption low and drink plenty of water – though I often wished I had with the benefit of hindsight.  So, please consider the following risks that you will be taking if you let your hair down too much and if you overindulge on the alcohol or other ‘mood altering substances’.

Consequences

• You are likely to say things that you would not be likely to say if you were sober. So, you are likely to tell ‘a few home truths’ that might not benefit your career too much. You might betray someone’s confidences, gossiping or revealing their secrets – something you would never do when sober. This can be career and friend suicide!
• Your behaviour may result in you losing people’s respect
• You put yourself physically at risk – you might fall, or have another accident resulting in bruising, broken bones or body parts
• You put yourself at risk from other people. You are vulnerable to attack from others or from theft.
• You may lose or mislay things as you are not on your guard or compos mentis.
• You will probably fail to meet commitments made or promises made to your family

Mindful of Risks

So, by all means enjoy the party season. But be mindful of the risks and try not to go overboard and let yourself down….

Here are a few simple tips if you are planning on attending a few Christmas parties during the Holiday Season;

*If you are already in recovery (especially early recovery) please be cautious as during the run up to Christmas is when you are at most risk from relapse!

*These tips were thought up in mind of your average person not those who are alcohol/drug dependent – please contact us if this relates to you!

Tips to Keep Safe during Christmas Party Season – for non alcoholics

• Avoid putting yourself in vulnerable situations
• Keep Hydrated (w/ water!)
• Don’t mix your drinks
• Know when to stop drinking
• Say ‘No’ when you want to
• Know when to call it a night
• Buddy up with someone you trust

For alcoholics, avoid such gatherings unless you are sure that it will be comfortable not to drink and you can resist the urge.