Middle classes warned on alcohol addiction

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by Change | 17 Jun 2009

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The middle classes are vulnerable to binge drinking and ending up needing to head for addiction treatment, people in Wales have been warned.

Binge drinking is not a problem solely for the working class but can also result in plenty of middle class people needing to find a rehab clinic, it has been claimed.

The head of the newly-formed Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs has hit out at suggestions alcohol addiction is something only poorer people struggle with, claiming that many middle class people use alcohol as a tool to mask inner demons.

Wynford Ellis Owen, who himself has beaten alcohol addiction and has been in recovery since 1992, has told the Western Mail that more needs to be done to focus on the needs of middle class people with alcohol addictions in Wales and help get more people into rehab centres to face their demons.

"People tend to try to escape life, through turning to binge-drinking, drugs, television, food, pornography, gambling and any means open to them, in order to try to flee their inner feelings," he explained to the newspaper.

Earlier this week, Your Canterbury reported on the rise in alcohol addiction in Kent and the need for more rehab clinics to tackle the problem.

Angela Slaven, director of youth services at Kent county council, told the newspaper that the number of under-18s heading to rehab centres for alcohol problems had increased by ten per cent in the past year.

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