" Some studies actually showed that that Russian drinkers lived longer than non-drinkers.

[Michelle Parsons] suggested an explanation for the apparent vodka paradox: for what it is worth, alcohol may help people adapt to realities that otherwise make them want to curl up and die. Parsons, who called her book "Dying Unneeded", argued that Russians were dying early because they had nothing and no one to live for. "

― Masha Gessen , The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia