Waking up head spinning with memory blanks to fill and regret creeping in is a Sunday morning ritual all too familiar for many people in Finland. However recent years have seen increasing numbers of people in the country making the choice to put an end to remorseful mornings by drinking less or cutting alcohol out completely.
But what is it like giving up booze when surrounded by heavy-drinking Finns? Can you still go out and have a good time?
"I think that alcohol is and always has been an unusually important substance for Finns. There's even a phrase that I've heard so many times abroad that somebody drinks like a Finn, so I think that says something about the issue," said Katri Ylinen,co-founder of the sobercurious community Darravapaa (or hangover-free in English).
Heavy drinking nation
When it comes to alcohol consumption per capita per annum, Finland barely makes it to the top 10. But there is a lot of binge drinking, meaning that the times that people in the country choose to drink, they often go all in.
Around half a million people in Finland drink well above the risk limit, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Nearly 80 percent of alcohol consumption is classed as hazardous use, which occurs when the drinking limit is exceeded or when alcohol is consumed by risk users.
"From what I have been observing, in Finnish mainstream culture, we don't really have a concept of celebrating and partying without alcohol. Or at least if we do, it's very marginalised. And we love to sing karaoke, but only after we have had some drinks. And we love to take over the dance floor, but we need to get tipsy […] we need a few rohkaisuryypyt first," Ylinen explained.
Rohkaisuryypyt (translated as encouragement sips) refers to the act of sipping alcohol in order to gain the courage to engage in activities such as singing karaoke or going on the dancefloor.
However, after a few years of partying and "getting hammered on a weekly basis," Ylinen decided in her late twenties that her booze habits got to the point where it was not "fun anymore." The hangovers and ensuing emotional downers were starting to take their toll.
"It almost felt like a cultural shock to learn how to navigate my social life and emotions without alcohol. Despite being born and bred in Finland, suddenly, when I quit drinking alcohol, it felt like I was part of some very different culture. There was like a full on culture shock going on," Ylinen said.
However, the process of overcoming personal demons and getting used to sobriety was only further hampered by external factors such as bar menus. Ylinen suddenly found herself in the position of having to specifically ask staff about non-alcoholic options. The 30-year-old said that still today, staff get awkward when asked about alcohol-free drinks. Ylinen also said that she rarely receives recommendations, and servers always ask whether she has a specific beverage in mind.
"You are not always as respected as a customer if you don't drink alcohol at a Finnish bar," Ylinen said, adding "maybe the staff thinks that I am not going to bring as much profit because well, the people who drink non-alcoholics usually don't drink as fast or as much as alcohol-ingesting customers."
Generation Dry
Despite the challenges, Ylinen is not alone in her new sober lifestyle. Researchers have found that alcohol consumption among people in Finland has steadily declined since 2007. Almost one in three young adults in Finland said they don't drink alcohol at all, up from 16 percent in 2018 and 12 percent in 2016, according to a 2020 survey conducted for the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks industry.
Ylinen described the phenomenon as a result of a combination of factors—alcohol having lost its cool status, parents having stricter attitudes towards drinking and younger people having "better and more cultured ways to rebel" nowadays with the opportunities introduced by social media.
This is also something that Ylinen's support group addresses, predominantly through Instagram and Whatsapp. On its social media posts, Darravapaa will often remind its audience that people choose to stay alcohol-free for various reasons expanding beyond a troubled past with the substance or a pregnancy, Ylinen said.
Green MP Iiris Suomela said that government policy has also played a significant role in the steady decline of alcohol's popularity. Finnish alcohol laws are among the strictest in Europe, with a 9pm purchase curfew and supermarket ban on selling products with alcohol content exceeding 5.5 percent. Products above the 5.5 volume mark are only available at state-owned Alko stores.
"We've been fairly successful in terms of our policies. And of course, one important thing is being strict about not selling alcohol to people who look like minors, or who might pass the product on to minors," Suomela explained.
Suomela further highlighted the big role the heavy taxation of alcohol plays.
As for currenr alcohol-related laws, Suomela said she is "happy with the current state of affairs." Any suggestions of liberalising alcohol laws should be "carefully considered," especially in regard to the pandemic's strain on people's mental health, according to the MP.
"I think the one big failure of current policymaking is that healthcare and social services don't always reach those who need it. I don't believe that we should make it harder to get alcohol in Finland," Suomela added.
Going mainstream
But what should people drink instead? Suomela and Ylinen agree that it is high time Finnish bars and restaurants catered to sober and sober curious customers in a similar way that the needs of vegetarian and vegan options have been increasingly incorporated onto menus in recent years.
"Also, I think it's very important that the options are visibly available, because that lowers the threshold, and that puts you in an equal situation with other customers. I don't know if it needs to be labelled 'non-alcoholics,' but of course it's much easier to spot the non-alcoholic drinks on the menu if they are clearly marked," Ylinen underlined.
The sobercuriosity advocate said that customer demand for more sophisticated alcohol-free products is growing and that businesses should get on board by having a good selection of non-alcoholics available.
"I think that we should just normalise the idea that a non-alcohol drinking customer is just as valuable a customer as someone who drinks," Ylinen said.
Workplaces and other organisations should be more inclusive by offering non-alcoholic options at office parties, Suomela added.
"It's a matter of equality between people in different situations in their life. So it's important to consider that there might be a worker or another member of the group who needs that non-alcoholic option just like with vegetarian or vegan people."
Progress, according to Ylinen, is "slow, but it's happening."
Perhaps, Finnish society as a whole is indeed beginning to turn the page on its relationship with heavy drinking and scepticism towards sobriety or moderation.
"I think that slowly we are, we're maybe getting a little bit rid of the idea that an alcohol-free person is like this boring, dry person. We're not dry. We still like to drink, just not alcohol," the sober curious influencer concluded.