Are You A Casual Christmas Sipper or Festive Over-Pourer?

The Casual Christmas Sipper, The Festive Over-Pourer, The Christmas Escapist or The Quietly Dependent Drinker? Are You Drinking Too Much This Christmas with this Festive Drinking Habits Quiz 

Christmas is the UK’s season of goodwill, overeating, mild family tension, and, quietly, some of the heaviest drinking of the year.

Office parties, catch-ups, “just one more” nights out, and the lonely stretch between Christmas and New Year all contribute to alcohol creeping into daily life in ways that go unnoticed… until, of course, they don’t. Lee Hawker, Clinical Programs Director at The Cabin Rehab Chiang Mai, Drug and Alcohol Rehab in Thailand has created a Drinking Habits Quiz to see if you’re drinking too much this Christmas.

The festive period is one of the most common catalysts for people realizing their drinking is no longer “just social.” Lee comments: “Christmas normalizes excess. People drink more, earlier in the day, with fewer boundaries. The problem is we often mistake seasonal patterns for harmless fun, until those patterns start continuing into January.”

To help adults spot the difference between holiday indulgence and early signs of dependency, The Cabin has created a Christmas Drinking Habits Quiz. It’s light-hearted on the surface, but the insights are clinically grounded.

Take the quiz. Answer honestly. Your mulled wine consumption may depend on it.

Christmas Drinking Habits Quiz

1. How early in the day does your first drink tend to appear over the festive break?

A. Evenings only
B. Mid-afternoon, it’s Christmas after all
C. Before lunch, “it’s tradition!”
D. I’m not sure there is a start time

2. How often do you top up your drink without noticing?

A. Rarely
B. Sometimes at parties
C. Frequently
D. Constantly, like a reflex

3. How many festive events do you attend with the intention of staying sober… but don’t?

A. None
B. One or two
C. Most of them
D. All of them

4. How often do you drink alone over Christmas?

A. Never
B. Only if everyone else has gone to bed
C. A few times
D. More often than I’d like to admit

5. Do you justify drinking more because “it’s Christmas,” even when you didn’t plan to?

A. Rarely
B. Occasionally
C. Frequently
D. It’s basically my December motto

6. How often do you forget parts of the night?

A. Never
B. Occasionally
C. Often “patchy”
D. Whole evenings missing

7. Do you feel irritable, anxious, or low when you’re not drinking during the break?

A. No
B. Not really
C. Sometimes
D. Strongly

8. Do you hide the amount you’re drinking from partners/family?

A. Never
B. I downplay it
C. I sometimes hide receipts or bottles
D. I’ve become very strategic about this

9. Does your drinking continue at the same levels in January?

A. No
B. For a few days
C. For a few weeks
D. Yes, January is “round two”

10. How often do you tell yourself you’ll cut back tomorrow?

A. Never
B. Sometimes
C. Most days
D. Daily

Your Festive Drinking Persona

Count the number of C and D answers you selected.

0–2 C/D answers: “The Casual Christmas Sipper”

You enjoy the season but maintain boundaries. Your drinking remains social, contained, and seasonal. Keep an eye on creeping increases; festive habits can quietly become January habits. “Even low-risk drinkers should stay conscious of their limits this time of year.

Awareness is your best protection. In the UK, adults consume an average of about 10.7 litres of pure alcohol per person per year (equivalent to roughly 21 units per week), and roughly 32% of men and 15% of women report drinking at levels that put them at increasing or higher risk of harm,” says Lee.

3–5 C/D answers: “The Festive Over-Pourer”

You drink more than intended, more often than planned. December gives you a socially acceptable excuse to push limits. Blackouts, mood dips, and “accidental” heavy nights are creeping in. This could signal early loss of control. “When people consistently drink more than they planned, that’s one of the earliest psychological markers of dependence. In fact, in England about 30% of men exceeded the recommended weekly limit of 14 units in 2022, compared with 15% of women,” says Lee.

6–8 C/D answers: “The Christmas Escapist”

Alcohol is becoming a coping tool for stress, loneliness, boredom, or emotional strain. Drinking alone, hiding consumption, or feeling withdrawal-like symptoms between events are strong warning signs. Lee warns: “Drinking to change how you feel, rather than for celebration, is a major red flag. This is the point at which many clients later realize they needed help. Nearly 609,000 adults in England were estimated to be alcohol-dependent in 2019-20, that’s around 14 per 1,000 adults.”

9–10 C/D answers: “The Quietly Dependent Drinker”

The festive season has tipped into something more serious. Loss of control, concealment, using alcohol for regulation, and carrying holiday drinking into January are markers of dependence.

This is the point at which professional support is strongly recommended no one ever expects to be dependent. It happens gradually, through patterns that feel normal at the time. Reaching out early can prevent enormous harm. Consider that in England in 2023-24, there were over 1 million alcohol-related hospital admissions and the rate of alcohol-related mortality reached its highest since records began,” comments Lee.

If You’re Worried About Your Drinking

Whilst many people may see Christmas and New Year as an opportunity to overindulge, for many, the drinking may surpass the end of the holiday season. So be aware of your drinking habits this festive season and seek help if you are worried about yourself or a loved one.