Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

The Effects of Binge Drinking

More than 1 in 5 people in the United States over the age of 12 reported binge drinking within the past month. This is consuming alcohol in excess to the degree of having five or more alcoholic drinks within a single event or day.

The effects of binge drinking are numerous, and if repeated leads to heavier alcohol use and possibly dependence. Alcohol consumption rates generally go up in the late teens and early twenties, level off in the late twenties and early thirties, and then begin to decline after that as people grow older. The rate of bing drinking for 18 to 25 yr olds was roughly 40%, marking the highest number in age ranges.

In many cases, college campuses are breeding grounds for heavy alcohol consumption, and drinking rates are higher for full-time college students than for people not enrolled full-time or at all. Some of the consequences are staggering:

Binge drinking can cause serious problems.

Nearly 2,000 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including automobile accidents.
Almost 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.
More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem.

While these numbers focus mainly on students, the overall effects of binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption apply to others as well. People who drink too much in a night feel the effects minimally the day after, which often include headache, nausea, and fatigue. Some if it is caused by dehydration that takes place while other parts are from the poisonous effect of drinking in excess.

There is also a great risk of people making other poor decisions while under the influence of too much alcohol, such as driving a car, other risky sexual activity, domestic violence and other types of assult, etc. The long-term physical effects include liver damage and other serious problems.

It appears that the behavioral aspects involved in binge drinking are more detrimental to society, because this is when people make bad decisions that create problems for others in addition to themselves. If you know of someone in need of help for alcohol abuse or addiction, feel free to contact us today for more information and help finding an effective treatment facility.

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Relapse Prevention Therapy Steps

Relapse prevention therapy is a type of therapy that aims at helping the recovering addict to cope with stressors that could potentially cause them to relapse. While relapse is a common occurrence for many addicts, relapse prevention therapy )RPT) can greatly reduce the chances of a relapse occurring because the recovering addict is already armed….

Binge drinking injures 500,000 annually

The habit of college students to over-indulge is no youthful prank, say health experts Universities and colleges are “missing the mark” in their fight against binge drinking on campus, which a new study says leads to 500,000 injuries in one year in the U.S. alone. The research suggests that blanket efforts, such as cutting down….

Brain imaging study offers insight into alcohol's effect on brain

A new brain imaging study has provided insight into alcohol’s effect on the brain. The study showed that after consuming alcohol, social drinkers had decreased sensitivity in brain regions involved in detecting threats, and increased activity in brain regions involved in reward. This is the first human brain imaging study of alcohol’s effect on the….

Types of Treatment Offered at Alcohol Treatment Centers

Alcoholism is a degenerative disease that often goes untreated for various reasons despite the many different types of treatment offered at alcohol treatment centers to help those who are addicted to get sober. Each alcohol treatment center is different, and many offer an array of services to their patients while others take things relatively simple….

Alcoholic Gary Reinbach dead at 22 after transplant refused

A man has died of alcoholic liver failure at the age of just 22 despite a public appeal from his doctors for transplant rules to be waived to give him a chance at life. Gary Reinbach and his family were told that unless he could prove that he could live alcohol-free in the community for….