This paper is based on the idea that the consumption of addictive goods is very likely to rely on an imperfect decision process and gains being analysed through subjective satisfaction data. It uses data from the RLMS-HSE (Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey –
Higher School of Economics) to examine the links between alcohol consumption and subjective well-being. In most subsamples, we find that the correlation between satisfaction and alcohol consumption is hump-shaped, but that satisfaction is linearly decreasing with the quantity consumed when the causal effect of alcohol on satisfaction is isolated. The study of changes in consumption habits indicates that moderate-high drinking is associated with durable low levels of satisfaction, but that heavy drinking could work as an efficient selfmedication device.