Binge drinking, or heavy episodic drinking, is drinking alcoholic beverages with an intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time, but definitions (see below) vary considerably. Binge drinking.
On this page you'll find 11 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to heavy drinker, such as: barfly, chronic alcoholic, chronic drunk, dipsomaniac, drunkard, and hard drinker.
Alcohol intoxication disorder, more commonly known as binge drinking, has several different definitions, and the definition keeps changing. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines binge drinking as more than 7 drinks a night for men, and more than 5 for women.
Generally, people drink to either increase positive emotions or decrease negative ones. This results in all drinking motives falling into one of four categories: enhancement (because it's exciting), coping (to forget about my worries), social (to celebrate), and conformity (to fit in).
People who are addicted to alcohol tend to drink almost every day. This means that they typically have the same amount of alcohol in them every night and often increase their drinking after being sober for a period. However, the binge drinker tends to have a short period in which they consume most of their alcohol.
Most people who binge drink are not dependent on alcohol. However, binge drinking is harmful on its own. It is associated with serious injuries and diseases, as well as with a higher risk of alcohol use disorder.
Binge drinkers: Women who had 4 or more drinks and men who had 5 or more drinks on one occasion during the past 30 days. Heavy drinkers: Women who had 8 or more drinks per week or men who had 15 drinks or more per week during the past 30 days.
Both alcoholism and binge drinking are considered alcohol use disorders, and both pose serious risks. Binge drinkers put themselves at risk for: Accidents and injuries. Alcohol poisoning.
Alcoholism is also known as alcohol addiction, alcohol misuse or alcohol dependence. Medically, it's recognised as a type of 'alcohol-use disorder' which can be treated.
Binge drinking: For women, binge drinking is 4 or more drinks consumed on one occasion (one occasion = 2-3 hours). For men, binge drinking is 5 or more drinks consumed on one occasion. Underage drinking: Any alcohol use by those under age 21.
Binge drinking, commonly defined as consuming five or more standard drinks per occasion for men and four or more drinks for women, typically begins in adolescence. Adolescents, although they may drink less often, tend to consume higher quantities of alcohol per occasion compared with adults.
This typically happens if a woman has four or more drinks, or a man has five or more drinks, within about 2 hours. Research shows that fewer drinks in the same time frame result in the same BAC in youth: only three drinks for girls and three to five drinks for boys, depending on their age and size.
Some of the different types of binge drinkers include those who drink out of boredom, those who drink to improve their mood, and those who drink when they are stressed.
This pattern, known as heavy episodic drinking or binge drinking (BD), is found especially among adolescents and young adults in Western cultures.
Depending on your age, different factors may come into play, but some motivations are common among all age groups. Stress. People often use binge drinking as a way to self-medicate anxiety, depression, and stress.
Unfortunately, alcohol is a coping mechanism the temporary benefits of which are often outweighed by the long-term negative effects on health and relationships, poor decision-making under the influence, as well as increased dependency.
Heavy alcohol use can lead to changes in personality, such as: Changes in impulse control: Alcohol lowers inhibitions, leading to poor impulse control. Over time, repeated impulse control issues may lead to habitual poor decision-making.
But in other cases, particularly heart disease, the risk associated with alcohol increases exponentially, so doubling your alcohol intake does a far greater amount of damage to the heart.
Heavy drinking – even binging one or two nights a week – is harmful for your health, according to Dr. Bulat.
Episodic heavy drinking, or binge drinking, may be even worse than regular drinking in terms of cancer risk. However, it must be emphasized that the risk of cancer clearly increases with the amount and duration of alcohol consumption.