People who consume high amounts of alcohol are vulnerable to higher levels of mental ill health, the College of Psychiatry has warned.



Research by the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that sufficient evidence now exists to assume alcohol’s contributory role in depression, it stated.

Marking World Mental Health Day on October 10, the College was hosting two free public educational events in Dublin and Galway to focus on ‘The Relationship of Alcohol to our Mental Health’.

The average Irish adult aged 15 years plus drank 11.3 litres of pure alcohol in 2009 and 11.9 litres in 2010 — equivalent to 44 bottles of vodka or 470 pints of beer.

Research has shown that alcohol is the second most widely-consumed psychoactive drug in the world, the College said, adding that alcohol was associated with 2,000 beds being occupied every night in Irish acute hospitals, 25 per cent of injuries presenting to emergency departments and over 50 per cent of attendances to specialised addiction services.