2023-12-29 14:02:36
December 29, 2023
It’s a concept that came from the United Kingdom but has been gaining momentum in France in recent years. Dry January returns on January 1 for a fifth edition. Supported by around sixty associations, learned societies and communities, but without the support of the State, the “January Challenge” invites the French not to drink alcohol during the month of January. This challenge, while alcohol consumption is largely anchored in the habits of the French, consists of a “real public health campaign” for its organizers. Including Professor Amine Benyamina, head of the psychiatry and addictology department at Paul-Brousse hospital in Villejuif, president of the French Federation of Addictology and the Addict’Aide Fund, among the organizers of the challenge. He answered our questions. Interview.
Why suggest that the French not drink alcohol in January during Dry January?
Prof. Amine Benyamina : From now on in France, we no longer speak of “Dry January”, but of the “January Challenge”. Dry January does not mean much, the term challenge more respects the spirit in which the inter-association campaign encourages the French to ask themselves questions regarding their alcohol consumption, once a year, in January . We challenge ourselves, it’s fun and without pressure. January is a good time of year to take it easy on alcohol following the excesses of the end-of-year holidays. In fact, many people do it instinctively.
And what is this for?
Firstly, to put an end to daily alcohol consumption, which is no small thing. By doing so, we become aware of several associated positive aspects such as weight loss, better sleep, rebalancing of metabolism, greater sensitivity to insulin, better concentration, increased energy and even savings. … All this may seem trivial but following a month, you really notice the improvement in general well-being.
Does this also allow you to better control your consumption in January and following the end of the challenge?
Yes, the French consume alcohol almost daily, even if it is small quantities. Various studies have shown that when you stop drinking for a month or even when you change your relationship with alcohol, you have greater control over your consumption and you manage temptations better. All those times when we are offered alcohol, we succeed more easily and more often in saying no. We end up reducing our consumption.
“Regardless of the quantity, any intake of alcohol
is associated with intoxication of the body.”
However, “the January Challenge” is not intended to be a tool for stopping alcohol?
No, it’s not the same state of mind as No Tobacco Month. Because we trigger smoking cessation on this occasion. The January Challenge is regarding taking a break, becoming aware of all the health benefits and all those times we are asked to drink alcohol! It is therefore not necessarily a question of stopping but only of taking stock of your relationship with alcohol. Are we able to say no? And how often are we able to do it?
But if we fail to meet the challenge, does that mean that we are drinking at risk?
This means in any case that it is really not easy in France to escape from a solicitation and an almost daily consumption habit. It is important to understand that with alcohol, repeated small amounts can cause harm. The slightest intake of alcohol is never harmless. Regardless of the quantity, any intake of alcohol is associated with intoxication of the body. Some people who complete the January challenge realize that it was much harder than they imagined. You have to be very motivated and mobilized in the first days.
In France, do many of us have a “problem” with alcohol?
In any case, we are very ambivalent regarding this product. We like the image of conviviality that it conveys but we don’t like alcoholics, we don’t like what this product can do to us. The alcoholic is always the other. This is also the argument of the alcohol lobby which, to maintain consumption, advocates moderation and sobriety. But I repeat, the slightest intake of alcohol is never harmless.
“The denormalization of alcohol is a major project!”
What do you think of this survey by La Ligue contre le cancer, showing that a majority of adults consider it acceptable to give alcohol to minors?
It’s catastrophic. We have a totally faulty relationship with alcohol. The most basic information – protecting young people – has not reached the French. When you consume alcohol at a young age, you risk damaging your brain because its formation is not complete. In addition to brain maturation, drinking at a young age sets the stage for alcohol-related damage in adulthood. And symbolically, the message sent by parents is harmful. In fact, in France, the norm is to consume whereas it is the fact of not consuming that should be normal. The denormalization of alcohol is a major project!
You specify in the press release for the event that it was organized without state support. Do you regret it?
We are not here to annoy the French, we are only doing what the public authorities should have done a long time ago: calling for this challenge to be met*. Today, the event was taken over by the French, the media, everyone except the State, which is really regrettable. We (48 addictologists) asked in December for at least symbolic support from the State in a letter addressed to the Minister of Health. It is clear that it is not yet ripe… And when I hear Marc Fesneau making us look like inquisitors (the Minister of Agriculture had pleaded for “moderation” rather than “prohibition”, editor’s note ), we realize that he is indeed the minister of lobbies!
To note : Several tools are available to people who would like to take up the challenge; the dryjanuary.fr website, the Try Dry app (available all year round) and the LeDéfiDeJanvier Facebook support group
*In 2019, Emmanuel Macron canceled the Alcohol-Free Month operation, then prepared for January 2020 by Public Health France.
Source: Interview with Professor Amine Benyamina – Press release for the January Challenge – Letter from the national university college of addictology teachers to the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau
Written by: Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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