Binge Drinking
A serious problem facing the nation's youth of today
is binge drinking; although not entirely specific to
college age men and women, binge drinking is a devastating
issue across most campuses nationwide. Binge drinking
is defined as drinking 5 or more drinks in one time
frame. Using this definition, a recent study showed
that 40 percent of male college students and 31 percent
of female college students reported binge drinking within
2 weeks of the survey. Some argue that female usage
is actually higher, because they believe the criteria
for female binge drinking should be lessened. And upon
some college campuses, binge drinking was reported as
high as 70 percent of the student body.
Some may argue that binge drinking is simply a "right
of passage", especially among fraternity and sorority
members, however the facts show it is a serious matter
instead. Binge drinking is even more prevalent with
members of the Greek system and student athletes then
other students. Race also is a factor, with White students
having the most incidences of binge drinking at 43.8
percent, followed by Native American at 40.6 percent,
Hispanic at 31.3 percent, Asian at 22.7 percent, and
Black at 22.5 percent. Another factor is age, with students
under the age of 21 showing a higher amount of binge
drinking than students older than 21.
Students who consume large quantities of alcohol often
face serious consequences related to their binge drinking.
They are more likely to be the cause of property damage,
have problems with local authorities, perform poorly
in school, miss classes, experience injuries, be sexually
assaulted, engage in risky sexual activity, and contract
a sexually transmitted disease than students who did
not drink heavily. In fact, 67 percent of male sexual
aggressors and 50 percent of their victims had been
drinking at the time of sexual assault or attack.
Additional factors associated with binge drinking are
varied; heredity, perception of peer's alcohol consumption,
personal perception of drinking, high school history
of binge drinking, affiliations, and peer's alcohol
usage are all contributing factors to the likelihood
of heavy alcohol abuse.
Binge drinking is concerning not just for the potential
harm to the drinker, but also the potential harm to
people who are around the drinker. Deadly car crashes,
late night interruptions, physical and sexual assaults
are just some of the ways a person who has been consuming
large amounts of alcohol can affect others.
Binge drinking is a form of alcoholism, however a person
who drinks heavily may not think they have a problem.
At times, intervention may become necessary. Other times,
a client willingly agrees that a treatment center may
be the best option. At Treatment Referral, we provide
quality referrals to accredited treatment centers throughout
the US. For more information on binge drinking and alcoholism,
or for treatment information for you or a loved one,
please contact Treatment Referral today.
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