Görlitz. Alcohol is the number one popular drug – and a high cost factor for the health system. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the economic costs caused by alcohol consumption amount to around 57 billion euros per year. Now the results of a study that examines the drinking behavior of 18 to 25 year olds are making a name for themselves. There is light and shadow. On the one hand: Statistics say that the number of young people who drink alcohol regularly is declining. On the other hand, the same study also states that those who reach for the bottle do so excessively again. The so-called dangerous “binge drinking” is also trendy again among young people.
“We are seeing an increase in alcohol poisoning this year and last year, even above pre-Corona levels, although the fluctuations during the Corona years do not follow a clear trend.”
Dr. Dirk Schmoll
Head physician at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
This development can also be observed in the Görlitz Municipal Hospital, explains Dr. Dirk Schmoll, chief physician at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, responded to SZ's inquiry. He says: “The number of patients with alcohol addiction fell by around five percent during the corona pandemic – from 2020 to 2022.” In 2023 and 2024 it rose again to pre-corona levels. “We are seeing an increase in alcohol poisoning this year and last year, even above pre-Corona levels, although the fluctuations during the Corona years do not follow a clear trend.”
