A new study shows that binge drinking may have far more significant effects than merely a bad hangover the next day. Researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, reported that binge drinking can affect the brain in similar ways that are seen in chronic alcohol abusers. Binge drinking is defined in….
Continue reading ›
A potentially new form of an eating disorder has people cutting calories to enjoy alcohol without the weight gain. Summer has arrived. As students diet and exercise to get into swimsuit shape, an extension of an eating disorder called drunkorexia makes headlines. Drunkorexia, a non-medical term, was coined by the media. It refers to “people….
Continue reading ›
There’s little affection in a “Glasgow kiss”. Typically preceded by some variation on the growled question “Whit ya [expletive deleted] lookin’ at?” the term refers to a vicious headbutt, as delivered all too often in the bars and on the streets of Scotland’s largest city. Alcohol-fueled violence and binge drinking are endemic across Britain, but….
Continue reading ›
When Mary Smith pulled the car off the road to answer her mobile and hear the news of her father’s death, she felt just “a calm relief”. “Really, I had lost my dad many years before. His mind had gone at least four years before,” said Smith (not her real name). “Sometimes I think about….
Continue reading ›
Alcoholism, like many addictions, is a disease of reinforcement. When you take drugs or alcohol, you feel better and when you stop drinking, you miss the feeling. By this same mechanism, the people you associate with can start to reinforce your drinking behavior. Even though, for many, alcoholism ends up being a disease of solitude….
Continue reading ›