Alcohol Use and Your Health Alcohol Use

Drinking can lead to short and long-term harm to your health. One of the most immediate dangers of binge drinking is that it can severely impair your judgment and put you at increased risk of immediate harm. Most American adults drink alcohol at least occasionally, but about 1 in 4 knock back several drinks in a short period of time at least once a year. About 1 in 6 American adults say they regularly binge drink, sometimes several times a month. If you or a loved one is struggling with binge drinking or think you might be at risk for an alcohol use disorder, help is available today. Reach out 24/7 to American Addiction Centers at for a free, private consultation.

What Is Binge Drinking? Risks, Side Effects, and How to Get Help

Many people grab a drink with coworkers, have a glass of wine or two with dinner, or have a beer at the end of the day regularly. Nine out of 10 binge drinkers aren’t dependent on alcohol, but doctors and scientists think they’re more likely to develop alcohol use disorder. Often, any social consequences of binge drinking behavior are related to impaired judgment. Issues not uncommon to binge drinking include arrest, damaging relationships, damaging posts on social media and more.

Why Is Binge Drinking Common?

Don’t bring up the subject when they’re already drinking or hungover. If they’re intoxicated, they might be more likely to misunderstand you, lash out, or forget the details of the conversations. Wait until you’re both able to have a clear, unrushed, and uninterrupted conversation. It might seem convenient when you have company over, but it also makes it easier to reach for multiple drinks while you’re alone. If you do end up storing alcohol at home, keep in the back of the fridge or in a high cabinet—somewhere out of immediate sight. Whether you decide to set a hard limit or not, make a habit of following up every alcoholic beverage with a non-alcoholic one.

Lifestyle Quizzes

You may begin to binge drink more often, the days you abstain between sessions becoming fewer. Binge drinking involves a pattern of short but heavy bursts of alcohol use. When you drink like this, you consume enough alcohol over the course of two hours to raise your blood alcohol concentration to the legal limit of intoxication (0.08 percent in the U.S.) or higher. That translates to about four or more drinks for an adult female or five or more drinks for an adult male. Binge drinking means having a blood alcohol content of .08%.

There’s a powerful story behind every headline at Ohio State Health & Discovery. You can support more innovations fueling advances across medicine, science, health and wellness by giving today. No matter how you choose to support your loved one’s efforts to stop binge drinking, remember you’re not their therapist. You also can’t be expected to constantly monitor their decisions. Your role is simply to remind them of commitments they made and offer small nudges in the right direction.

• This level of alcohol in the blood typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks or when women consume 4 or more drinks within about 2 hours.
• And the balance of risk and benefit likely varies from person to person, based on individual factors such as genetics and lifestyle factors.
• For example, you might feel tempted to recline on your couch, drink beer, and watch television simply to kill the hours spent alone.
• Many people grab a drink with coworkers, have a glass of wine or two with dinner, or have a beer at the end of the day regularly.
• If you’re concerned about the risks to the fetus, it’s best to seek the advice of a health care provider.

• To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level, both men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week.
• Even older adults can overestimate their tolerance and wind up drinking far more than they can handle.
• Once you find out you’re pregnant, it’s best to stop drinking alcohol immediately.
• Also, this widespread behavior is linked to serious injuries, diseases, and a higher risk of developing a dependency on alcohol.
• Drinking can lead to short and long-term harm to your health.

Be mindful of how often you engage in activities that could involve alcohol, such as local trivia nights or sports events. Try to make those types of activities take a backseat to other hobbies. For example, they might decide to stick to one drink per occasion or no more than three drinks per week. When you’re drinking together, remind them of the limit they set for themselves. Because excessive alcohol use impairs judgment and inhibitions, it can lead to risky behavior that can come with some serious binge drinking effects consequences.

• Your BAC quantifies the amount of alcohol circulating in your bloodstream.
• Alcohol abuse and mood disorders can even form a dangerous cycle.
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This can be particularly true of teens who want to drink to seem older or more mature. It’s easy for teens and young adults who aren’t sure how much alcohol they can handle to go past their limits. Even older adults can overestimate their tolerance and wind up drinking far more than they can handle. You have a hard time cutting yourself off once you start drinking. Perhaps you frequently get caught up in the feeling of euphoria that comes with being intoxicated. You feel compelled to keep drinking to maintain that high.

Other chronic diseases

Watching a Drug rehabilitation friend or family member struggle with a binge-drinking habit can be difficult, even heart-wrenching. You’ll likely be there to witness their most reckless behavior, painful hangovers, and their sense of shame and depression afterwards. If you’re having a hard time shifting your focus from internal to external, consider the quality of your inner self-talk. Are you beating yourself up for a mistake you made earlier?

• Binge drinking also increases the likelihood of unsafe sexual behavior and the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unintentional pregnancy.
• Continual alcohol problems cost 30 years of life on average.
• It’s easy for teens and young adults who aren’t sure how much alcohol they can handle to go past their limits.
• Digestive problems and liver disease are also potential long-term health risks that binge drinkers face.

Their volatile behavior and emotions might even have an effect on your relationship. Maybe your loved one has a tendency to say insensitive things while intoxicated, or perhaps they routinely drink and drive. You might arrive at a friend’s party in an upbeat and energized mood, but by the end of the night, you’re feeling sick and regretting your decisions.