Binge Drinking
How many glasses of alcohol is a binge? According to government advice on binging, it may be a lot less than you think. Moreover, it depends on what type of drink one is consuming. For example if you have three beers and two glasses of wine, you are binge drinking. Such heavy episodic, especially frequent, drinking can affect all areas of life: work, family, environment, physical and mental health. Below are just a few typical scenarios.
The statistics on binge drinking are alarming.
- Over 50% of alcohol consumed by adults is drank during binges. For youth under the age of 21, this number rises to 90%.
- Every sixth adult in the United States binge drinks about four times a month.
- Driving under the influence of alcohol is fourteen times more common among binge drinkers.
- Each day, six people die of alcohol poisoning.
- Heavy episodic drinking costs about $200 billion each year due to losses in productivity, health care, crime, and other expense in the U.S. alone.
- It leads to short and long-term damage to the health and even death.
From disability to job loss
Even a slight hangover affects performance: a person loses an ability to concentrate on tasks, becomes more prone to conflicts, impulsively reacts to emerging problems. Excessive alcohol consumption takes up a lot of energy, daily duties are forgotten or simply not performed. Memory lapses are not uncommon. Needless to say, regular binges of an employee will not please any employer.
Take back control of your life and start on the road to recovery now.
From conflicts with family members to family breakdown
Alcohol causes irritability and aggressiveness. Frequent binges are accompanied by domestic violence and assaults. Constant binges, alternating with promises to stop drinking, undermine the main pillar of the relationship – trust. The financial condition of the family can also be affected, which only adds to the reason for disagreement. In any case, a person who does not stop binge drinking risks ruining family relationships.
From losing self-esteem to losing yourself
Many turn to binge drinking, trying to hide from problems with others, turn off consciousness, feel euphoria and lightness. They tend to ignore the concerns of others and try to justify their drinking in every possible way. Rationalizing one’s alcohol consumption is one of the signs that there are problems. Drunk people often behave inappropriately in society and can engage in risky behaviors.
From health problems to death
The liver is the first to suffer from alcohol. After repeated prolonged binges, liver cirrhosis may develop. Under the harmful effects of alcohol, the kidneys also cannot cope with their functions, the work of the entire urinary system is disrupted. The risk of kidney stones increases. The gastrointestinal tract is also affected. Gastritis, ulcers, and perforation, which can be fatal, are just some of the consequences.
Binge drinking is inevitably accompanied by problems with the cardiovascular system, including increased blood pressure and increased heart rate. Increased blood pressure before the age of 45 is directly related to significantly higher risks of cardiovascular death later in life.
Increase blood sugar levels are other consequences of binge drinking. Also, alcohol may cause men to have problems with erection and women to have menstrual cycle problems and even lead to breast cancer.
When getting out of a binge, when the body is no longer able to absorb alcohol, a person may suffer from prolonged repeated vomiting. This can occur even during sleep, which is very dangerous: there are known cases of death when the patient died in sleep due to the entrance of vomit into the respiratory tract.
This can be a difficult journey, but you don’t have to go it alone. Let us be your guide and provide you the environment needed to regain control of your life and begin the path to recovery.
How to Quit Binge drinking?
The negative consequences of binge drinking are very sad and frightening. Thus, it is not surprising that people who experience heavy episodic patterns of drinking and their relatives and friends are often searching how to stop binge drinking.
One’s intentions may be to go out and enjoy oneself, but after a few drinks, the individual cannot stop. The person may be awakening in the morning, wondering what they have done or said. Falling, being angry, getting into fights often accompany binge drinking.
A person is often experiencing a feeling of shame and guilt and the feeling of being weak and unable to stop after a few drinks. Frequent binge drinking may be impacting health, friends and loved ones, work, and other aspects of daily life. So, how to stop binge drinking? Whether the goal is controlled drinking, temporary or permanent abstinence, seeking real help from fully qualified and experienced therapists is the best way out of this vicious circle. Why?
These individuals can help a person suffering from binge drinking to safely detox from the alcohol and, most importantly, get behind the cause of heavy drinking episodes. By gaining insight into the reasons, these specialists can advise on further treatment.
They can explain how to quit binge drinking safely, whether it is with the help of psychotherapy sessions, yoga, meditation, or medications. The advice and tips of experienced specialists will be tailored to a specific individual, which can help to form the best plan of action and keep the person motivated to reach the goal
About Author
