Drinking won't bring long-term happiness

Daily drinkers, please take note! Alcohol may provide momentary pleasure and make you happier every evening but over time, non-drinkers are just as happy as drinkers, interesting research says.

This means that drinking alcohol may provide a quick fix but it is not a key to long-term happiness, said the team from University of Kent.

The findings showed that drinking more does not make people more satisfied with life, but on the contrary, people who become addict are likely to become less satisfied with life.

The team found that over time, changes in alcohol consumption had no effect on the participants' overall well-being.

For the research, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, the team used an iPhone-based app and a traditional cohort study to determine the effect of drinking on overall well-being.

The first study involved iPhone users who tend to be young and wealthy while the second study looked only at 30-42 year olds.

"The findings can help policymakers take happiness into account when doing cost-benefit analyses of alcohol regulation and, therefore, make better decisions about which policies will benefit the population and which won't," said social policy expert Ben Baumberg Geiger from University of Kent.

--IANS

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