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Wealthy people drink more; drinking is correlated with income [1][2]. The catch is that wealthy people don't suffer like poor people do when they drink, and wea

Wealthy people drink more; drinking is correlated with income [1][2]. The catch is that wealthy people don't suffer like poor people do when they drink, and wealthy people are less likely to be full-blown alcoholics. It's not clear which ways the causality goes, though. [1] https://www.healthline.com/health-news/rich-people-drinking-more https://www.healthline.com/health-news/rich-people-drinking-... [2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170511095038.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170511095038.h...

thrownaway954 7y ago
"wealthy people are less likely to be full-blown alcoholics" - total bullshit. Sorry, but walk into any once a week church AA meetings and you will find many wealthy alcoholics there. The difference is that wealthy people can afford a lawyer and don't suffer the same devastating economic consequences from their drinking as the poor so it takes them longer to hit their bottom and finally admit they have a problem they can't control.
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  I think this is a knee-jerk overreaction. Poor people can be alcoholics, and rich people can be alcoholics. But rich people tend to have a lot of luxuries that poor people don't, and those luxuries make it easier not to lean on alcohol as a dependency to get by. The biggest predictor of recovery from an addiction is whether or not the addict has a safety net. Rich people can buy a safety net (if they don't have close friends, they can pay for life coaches, therapists, and more). Poor people either have it or they don't. I could easily believe that genetic predisposition to addiction is the same regardless of wealth (I'd actually be somewhat surprised if it weren't true), but the reality is that rich people have a lot more support to help them through their struggles than poor people.
- csallen 7y ago
  > Sorry, but walk into any once a week church AA meetings and you will find many wealthy alcoholics there. This type of anecdata is meaningless for assessing anything. Not only is your sample size tiny and biased based on where you live, but there's selection bias due to the fact that some types of alcoholics don't go to church AA meetings. > The difference is that… As usual, there are likely many differences, rather than just one. Studies have shown that wealthy people drink more, likely because they can afford to drink more. They're also more likely to seek and afford healthcare, therapy, gyms, healthy food, etc., not just lawyers.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- barrkel 7y ago
  Per Wikipedia, where you can follow up on the sources: "In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts of alcohol over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use" Many of these don't apply to wealthy people who drink regularly, simply because they have more resources to avoid the consequences. Thus they may not be classified as alcoholics, where the same degree of consumption would classify them as such if they had fewer resources.
umvi 7y ago
> The catch is that wealthy people don't suffer like poor people do when they drink I'm not sure what the implication here is - that wealthy people can afford better healthcare? Or that wealthy people have superior biology that allows them to ignore the chemical effects of ethanol? If the former, what kind of healthcare are wealthy people getting that nullifies the effects of ethanol?
- rongenre 7y ago
  Regular checkups and lab work at a minimum. It doesn't nullify, but it mitigates and it can give an early warning when one's habits are becoming a health problem. This should be available to everyone and it's a tragedy it isn't.
- ken 7y ago
  Everything is easier if you're wealthy -- especially being a high-functioning alcoholic. They may have a 6-figure job, where the boss doesn't care if they come in late or hung over, or even drink on the job. They may live in a nice condo nearby, and walk or bus to work. They can dress nicely and go out to nicer places, and not get asked to leave for being a little rambunctious. I've known many people who fit this description. A person with a minimum wage job who drinks the same amount is spending a much more significant fraction of their income on alcohol. They have an hourly blue-collar job where the boss isn't going to allow them to come in late or hung over. They live outside the city where they can afford it, and have to drive every day (potentially problematic). They can't afford to eat healthy, which adds to their health problems. Health isn't only determined by biology and healthcare.
  - logfromblammo 7y ago
    I can easily imagine a workplace where a perpetually drunk boss and stone-cold sober workers functions just fine, because the sober floor manager controls all the decisions that require judgment and restraint, and the drunk boss handles all the social networking and business development. Wealthy people can hire people to do sober-required tasks for them, while they do the gladhanding and back-slapping and the strategic disinhibition of potential customers, suppliers, or partners.
Spooky23 7y ago
My guess is that these stories are based on different interpretations of what "alcoholic" is, or absolute count vs. per capita.

thrownaway954 7y ago

"wealthy people are less likely to be full-blown alcoholics" - total bullshit. Sorry, but walk into any once a week church AA meetings and you will find many wealthy alcoholics there. The difference is that wealthy people can afford a lawyer and don't suffer the same devastating economic consequences from their drinking as the poor so it takes them longer to hit their bottom and finally admit they have a problem they can't control.

OnlineGladiator 7y ago
I think this is a knee-jerk overreaction. Poor people can be alcoholics, and rich people can be alcoholics. But rich people tend to have a lot of luxuries that poor people don't, and those luxuries make it easier not to lean on alcohol as a dependency to get by. The biggest predictor of recovery from an addiction is whether or not the addict has a safety net. Rich people can buy a safety net (if they don't have close friends, they can pay for life coaches, therapists, and more). Poor people either have it or they don't. I could easily believe that genetic predisposition to addiction is the same regardless of wealth (I'd actually be somewhat surprised if it weren't true), but the reality is that rich people have a lot more support to help them through their struggles than poor people.
csallen 7y ago
> Sorry, but walk into any once a week church AA meetings and you will find many wealthy alcoholics there. This type of anecdata is meaningless for assessing anything. Not only is your sample size tiny and biased based on where you live, but there's selection bias due to the fact that some types of alcoholics don't go to church AA meetings. > The difference is that… As usual, there are likely many differences, rather than just one. Studies have shown that wealthy people drink more, likely because they can afford to drink more. They're also more likely to seek and afford healthcare, therapy, gyms, healthy food, etc., not just lawyers.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
barrkel 7y ago
Per Wikipedia, where you can follow up on the sources: "In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts of alcohol over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use" Many of these don't apply to wealthy people who drink regularly, simply because they have more resources to avoid the consequences. Thus they may not be classified as alcoholics, where the same degree of consumption would classify them as such if they had fewer resources.

umvi 7y ago

> The catch is that wealthy people don't suffer like poor people do when they drink I'm not sure what the implication here is - that wealthy people can afford better healthcare? Or that wealthy people have superior biology that allows them to ignore the chemical effects of ethanol? If the former, what kind of healthcare are wealthy people getting that nullifies the effects of ethanol?

rongenre 7y ago
Regular checkups and lab work at a minimum. It doesn't nullify, but it mitigates and it can give an early warning when one's habits are becoming a health problem. This should be available to everyone and it's a tragedy it isn't.
ken 7y ago
Everything is easier if you're wealthy -- especially being a high-functioning alcoholic. They may have a 6-figure job, where the boss doesn't care if they come in late or hung over, or even drink on the job. They may live in a nice condo nearby, and walk or bus to work. They can dress nicely and go out to nicer places, and not get asked to leave for being a little rambunctious. I've known many people who fit this description. A person with a minimum wage job who drinks the same amount is spending a much more significant fraction of their income on alcohol. They have an hourly blue-collar job where the boss isn't going to allow them to come in late or hung over. They live outside the city where they can afford it, and have to drive every day (potentially problematic). They can't afford to eat healthy, which adds to their health problems. Health isn't only determined by biology and healthcare.
- logfromblammo 7y ago
  I can easily imagine a workplace where a perpetually drunk boss and stone-cold sober workers functions just fine, because the sober floor manager controls all the decisions that require judgment and restraint, and the drunk boss handles all the social networking and business development. Wealthy people can hire people to do sober-required tasks for them, while they do the gladhanding and back-slapping and the strategic disinhibition of potential customers, suppliers, or partners.

Spooky23 7y ago

My guess is that these stories are based on different interpretations of what "alcoholic" is, or absolute count vs. per capita.