‘Risky Drinking’ Explores the Hidden Dangers of Casual Alcohol Use

Source: WSJ

By Alexandra Wolfe

Dec 19, 2016

 “Are you a risky drinker?” asks a new HBO documentary by award-winning filmmakers Perri Peltz and Ellen Goosenberg Kent. Airing Dec. 19, “Risky Drinking” tells the story of four drinkers from different demographics with problems of varying levels of severity, from the twenty-something weekend binger who dresses as “Tinderella” for Halloween, to the sufferer of end stage alcohol abuse.

With their lively narratives, compelling characters and insightful experts, Peltz, known for directing such movies as “Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr.” (2014) and “The Education of Dee Dee Ricks” (2011) and Kent, who directed “Alive Day Memories” (2007) and won an Oscar for HBO’s “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1? (2013) in 2015, highlight some of the more shocking aspects of the disease, namely its prevalence.

One of the goals of the film is to show how the vast majority of people who struggle with alcohol don’t necessarily look like they have a problem. The media reports only dire cases of alcoholism, not the various stages of “risky drinking.”

“If you are somebody who is struggling with an alcohol problem you might look at the media and say, ‘I’m fine,’ but the truth is they’re not reporting what the middle of the spectrum is, which is where most people are,” says Peltz. Along with more variations of the disorder have come new treatment options, such as programs that promote moderation. Speakeasy sat down with Peltz and Kent to discuss the film.

Alcoholism, or alcohol-use disorder as it is more commonly called now, has been around for a long time. How did you decide to focus on this problem now?

Perri Peltz: Sheila Nevins, the president of HBO Documentary Films, felt that alcohol use was a subject that needed to be discussed and too often is portrayed as binary-either you are a full blown alcoholic or you are fine. And that’s old thinking. It was Sheila’s idea to really take a closer look and make an honest, open film that shows people with different kinds of drinking problems, at different places along the spectrum. There are alternative solutions in addition to the more traditional 12-step program. Drinking problems and alcoholism have many different faces. Sheila really knew that and she sent us out to find and tell those stories.

Which of your findings were most surprising?

Ellen Goosenberg Kent: Women are catching up to men in terms of their drinking. Statistically men drink more and have more drinking problems, but women are fast on their heels. It’s equality in an unfortunate way. The real breakthrough for us, what people don’t understand though, was the vast spectrum of risky drinking. Most people fall between having no problem and alcoholism, and that vast middle spectrum is what we wanted to investigate.

Why aren’t more people talking about it?

EK: It’s still stigmatized. A lot of people are struggling with a lot of shame and worry because the prognosis is dire. A.A. [Alcoholics Anonymous] is not appropriate for some people so they just don’t do anything about it.

The film describes some other options aside from 12-Step programs for people with earlier stages of alcohol-use disorder. What is the message you hope viewers take away from watching the characters’ stories?

P.P.: One of the big messages is that people in the therapy and treatment communities are willing to meet a person where they are and not insist that they hit “rock bottom” before beginning treatment. Even if moderation isn’t the right answer (it tends not to work from the middle of spectrum forward, it works better in the earlier stages of the spectrum) . But if you’re a heavy drinker you could still say, ‘I’m not willing to stop drinking but I’m willing to try and moderate my drinking.’

How did you find your four subjects?

E.K.: We were looking for people at a turning point. We wanted to find people who wanted to make some kind of change. At the beginning they didn’t think they had a big problem. For Mike [a single father who lives by himself in St. Thomas], he wanted some accountability. For Kenzie [a young woman who parties on weekends and stays sober during the week], I don’t think she identified a problem with her drinking; I think she identified her unhappiness, and I think she had gone through a tough year or two with the breakup and maybe the drinking wasn’t helping but it certainly wasn’t the problem. Everybody’s taking a risk and that’s what we wanted to say.

Did directing the film make you optimistic or pessimistic about long-term prospects for people with alcohol-use disorder?

P.P.: Dr. Stephen Ross [an expert in the film] says alcohol-use disorders are highly treatable but we are not using 80% of the available tools like new medications and new therapies. 12-step programs are great, but they are no longer the only game in town.

E.K.: Dr. Deidra Roach [another expert in the film] says that most of her patients get better, but people don’t realize that.

Watching such a wide range of people “risky drinking” in the film, do you think viewers are likely to see themselves in some way in the movie?

P.P.: Well, we know that most people who struggle with an alcohol problem don’t look like the person at the end of the film [who has end stage alcohol-use disorder] which is why it’s so easy to say, “I’m fine. I haven’t lost my family. I haven’t lost my job, so I must be okay.” But the film is meant to ask, “Are you someplace else on that spectrum?” and if so, “Do you need to be vigilant?” “And ultimately, do you want to change?”