James Laughlin warns that parents send subconscious messages about alcohol through casual drinking and marketing like 'mum needs wine'. Daughters of mothers with alcohol use disorder are seven times more likely to develop drinking problems. He shares how he models socializing without alcohol for his children.
As we're talking and recording, it will soon be Mother's Day in Australia. And it saddens me. The number of adverts, the number of cards, the number of gifts that I'm seeing that are all focused around Mum needs wine. Because the statistics show that mothers who are grey area drinkers or have alcohol use disorder will have daughters who are seven times more likely to develop it themselves because they've never seen Mum managing stress in a healthy way. They've seen Mum reaching for alcohol the moment she faces any adversity. And when I realized that, that played a part for me, and I am so, so proud of the fact that my kids now see me go out dancing, they see me socializing with my mates, they see me go to barbecues and parties, and they know I can do it without alcohol. So that's telling them I don't have to have alcohol to socialize and go out with my mates.
