Feeling down? Pour yourself a glass of wine. Want to join the party? Grab a beer. These are the messages we hear every day, from advertisements, from friends, from media. Our culture tells us that alcohol helps us to loosen up, chase away sorrows, and even find happiness. But research has shown that while alcohol can alleviate gloominess in the short-term, it’s nowhere near effective at promoting good vibes in the long-term. Instead, regular heavy drinking only pushes people toward addiction and treatment in an addiction recovery facility. A team of researchers from the University of Kent studied the drinking habits of 17,000 people in the British Cohort of 1970, asking participants how much they had to drink in the past week and how satisfied they were with their life. Then, they used an app to gather survey data from 31,000 people in the U.K. between 2010 and 2013. At random times throughout the day, the app asked people what they were up to, and how happy they were in that exact moment. The results of the study suggest that alcohol can make people happy in the moment, but anyone who develops problem drinking will not be happier in the long-term. Indeed, anyone struggling with addiction needs professional help from a drug rehab program. According to the study, the participants who responded to the app provided over two million data points. When drinking, they reported being, on average, four points…