Fox News | July 28, 2026 | Health
Overview
A resurfaced clip from Ed Sheeran’s 2025 appearance on “The Louis Theroux Podcast,” in which the singer said that “Americans call something ‘alcoholism’ that Brits simply call ‘culture,'” reignited a national conversation about how much drinking is too much. Fox News health reporter Melissa Rudy examined where cultural drinking ends and alcohol use disorder begins, drawing on expert commentary from Jessica Steinman, LMFT, Chief Clinical Officer at No Matter What Recovery in Los Angeles.
The reporting notes that Americans and Britons consume similar amounts of alcohol overall, roughly 9.7 liters of pure alcohol per adult per year according to the World Health Organization. What differs is the pattern of consumption and the social attitudes surrounding it.
Where Cultural Drinking Becomes Addiction
Steinman told Fox News Digital that British and American cultures have always treated alcohol differently, and that the legal and social framework shapes the behavior. “Americans can’t legally drink until 21, and it is frowned upon to do so before that age,” she said. “In England, there is less stigma and restrictions around alcohol, which changes how people view it and drink it.”
But she was clear that culture does not decide whether someone has a drinking problem. “Regardless of where anyone lives and regardless of their culture, when alcohol or substances start negatively affecting someone’s life or when someone cannot control the levels of alcohol they drink, then it is a problem,” Steinman said.
She offered a practical test that has nothing to do with how many drinks are considered normal in a given country: “When drinking gets in the way of a job, school or relationships — or when people start numbing out from difficult feelings or escaping their problems through alcohol — it isn’t just cultural drinking, it’s an addiction.”
Her larger concern, as reported in the piece, is that people living with alcohol use disorder may dismiss or justify their drinking as a normal part of their local culture, which makes them less likely to recognize it as a problem and seek help.
Context for No Matter What Recovery
Cultural permission around drinking is not evenly distributed. In LGBTQ+ communities, bars and clubs have historically been among the only safe gathering spaces available, and alcohol is woven into social life in ways that make the “it’s just culture” framing especially easy to lean on. Recognizing that pattern without shaming it is part of how our team approaches alcohol rehab and the alcohol detox that often precedes it.
Because drinking is so often a way of managing anxiety, depression, or trauma rather than a standalone habit, No Matter What Recovery treats alcohol use disorder alongside the dual diagnosis conditions that so frequently accompany it, at its Los Angeles and Chicago locations.
Jessica Steinman’s inclusion in Fox News health reporting reflects the clinical expertise our team brings to the national conversation around alcohol, addiction, and recovery.
Source
Read the full article on Fox News.
If you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol, the team at No Matter What Recovery is here to help. Contact us to speak with our admissions team, or visit our locations in Los Angeles and Chicago to start the conversation.
