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

Why Equine Therapy Helps in Prescription Drug Treatment

What is Equine Therapy? Equine Therapy is a form of psychotherapy which uses horses as tools to help a person with emotional problems that they are having a hard time overcoming; equine therapy will help a person rebuild trust in their life, which includes trust with their self and trust in others. The bond between….

Recovering addict opens outpatient treatment center

It was 2006, and drugs and alcohol ruled Clark Converse’s world. Down to eating out of trash bins, Converse, 36, asked God for deliverance. “While I was in treatment, I prayed that I find love again and to one day open my own treatment center to help other addicts like me,” he said. Two years….

Britain near top of Europe’s teenage binge-drinking league

The government faced fresh calls today to increase the price of alcohol, after research revealed that young people in the UK reported some of the highest levels of teenage binge-drinking, drunkenness and alcohol-related problems in Europe. British schoolgirls aged 15 and 16 are binge-drinking even more than their male classmates, with fresh evidence that their….

Pregnant alcoholics may face mandatory rehabilitation

As the Number of Finnish children living in families with alcohol abuse issues has grown in recent years, so too has the number of pregnant Finnish women harming their unborn children through excessive use of alcohol. According to recent estimates, around six per cent of pregnant Finns drink heavily during pregnancy, meaning that over 3,000….

Higher drinking age reduces binge drinking

A study has revealed that there has been a substantial reduction in binge drinking among people of all ages, except college students, ever since the national drinking age in America was set at 21 about two decades ago. The research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis also found that the rates of….