College Binge Drinking

College binge drinking is defined as having a certain number of drinks in a row within a certain period of time; binge drinking for men is five or more drinks in a row at least once in the past two weeks and for women it is four or more drinks in a row in the same amount of time. Students across the country were asked if they had been college binge drinking and high numbers of students, both men and women, were considered to be "dependent on alcohol" or alcoholic. In addition a number were susceptible to heavy episodic and alcoholic drinking should they continue their current habits of drinking.

The College Alcohol Survey (CSA) of the School of Public Health have studied college binge drinking and used a few different criteria to determine both dependence and abuse of alcohol in college students.

Examples of criteria used to determine abuse:

· Experiencing hazardous situations (physical, emotional, mental)
· Alcohol related school problems
· Interpersonal problems
· Legal problems

Examples of criteria used to determine dependence

· Spending excessive time engaged in drinking related activities
· Uncontrollable drinking- drinking more than planned or desired
· Symptoms of high tolerance
· Symptoms of withdrawal

Despite college administrations' best efforts to curb the problems of college binge drinking, binge drinking continues to be a problem at schools nationwide contributing to 1400 deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 incidents involving unwilling sexual assault annually. Students participate in college binge drinking, which can be equated with "drinking to get drunk" and are often unable to stop even when problems mount in their lives.

Aside from being dangerous, many young people engaging in college binge drinking are underage and while laws are helping to enforce stricter drinking restrictions, the make-up of college campuses makes alcohol readily accessible for everyone. Studies do show that these laws, along with campaigns from organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and student groups, make college binge drinking less likely.

Because college students often think of themselves as "too young" to have problems with alcohol, college binge drinking students rarely seek treatment for their dependence on or abuse of alcohol. This myth contributes to the high numbers of death, assault and injury from college binge drinking that occur on or close to college campuses each year.

These drinkers can be helped. Treatment options, counseling and support groups are beneficial to the drinker that has admitted to having a problem. More often families will intervene on the binge drinking of their child because the youth does not see the problem.

If you or someone you love is involved in college binge drinking, there is a place to go. At National Treatment Referral we specialize in providing quality referrals for the treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence. We offer referrals to programs for people at all stages in their alcohol problem. College binge drinking is no different. Please give us a call if you have a concern or even a question, we are here to help at 800-886-4986.