Alcohol Binge Drinking

Alcohol binge drinking is the most common pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines alcohol binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks, in about 2 hours.

Alcohol Binge Drinking in Teenagers

Alcohol Binge drinking may have lasting effects on the still-developing brains of teenagers. It's easy for a high school student to get caught up in a social scene with lots of peer pressure. Inevitably, one of the biggest areas of peer pressure is drinking.A new study about Alcohol Binge drinking shows that long after the hangover wears off, binge drinking impairs the ability to perceive the space around you, remember and work with a task, such as using a map, playing sports, or driving a car in teenagers. Girls appear especially vulnerable to these effects.

Heavy and regular binge drinking during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of alcoholism. Approximately 40 percent of alcoholics report heavy drinking during adolescence. Repeated episodes of excessive drinking, especially at an early age, are thought to cause a profound increase in the risk of developing an alcohol-related disorder (ICD-10, harmful use/dependence syndrome).

Alcohol Binge Drinking Health Effects

Binge drinking is also associated with an increased risk of unplanned sex, unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancies, and an increased risk of HIV infection. 10 percent of women and 19 percent of men have reported being assaulted as a result of alcohol. Males who drink more than 35 units of alcohol per week report being physically hurt as a result of alcohol, and 15 percent report physically hurting others as a result of their drinking. Almost 16 percent of binge drinkers report being taken advantage of sexually, and 8 percent report taking advantage of another person sexually as a result of alcohol within a 1 year period. Heavy drinkers cause approximately 183,000 rapes and sexual assaults, 197,000 robberies, 661,000 aggravated assaults, and 1.7 million simple assaults each year. Stay away from alcohol binge drinking and have healthy life!