Binge drinking is believed to be one of the most serious problems on college campuses according to college administrators.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said that binge drinking is defined as a pattern of drinking that brings one's blood alcohol concentration, BAC, to 0.08 percent or more. This typically happens in men when five or more drinks are consumed within two hours; in women, when four or more drinks are consumed within two hours.
Studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in the past 30 days 5 percent of the population drank heavily and 15 percent of the population binge drank.
Some studies show that binge drinking is more common than believed.
"One-fourth of adults binge drink," said Dr. Dafna Kanny, senior specialist of the alcohol program at CDC. "Binge drinking for the age group of 18 to 24 is getting worse. We found that approximately 35 percent of those surveyed binge drank."
There are many risks associated with binge drinking; one of the major risks is car crashes due to drunk driving. According to the CDC, other risks include sexual assault, domestic violence and alcohol poisoning amongst many more risks.
The highest risk of binge drinking is death.
"About 1,700 college students die from alcohol-related injuries," Kanny said.
According to Anna Williams, interim program coordinator of alcohol and drug education programs at Texas A&M, "the majority of the students I interact with are not what would be classified as alcoholics, they would fall into the category of substance abuser."
The Student Counseling Services place student drinkers into three categories: social users, substance abusers and alcoholics. Social drinkers include most people; social drinkers drink responsibly and with little or no risk.
Substance abusers are defined as some people who drink alcohol and/or use drugs and do so irresponsibly at some risk to themselves or others. People who are substance abusers experience negative consequences associated with their alcohol use, but they are able to alter the way they drink to avoid a recurrence of those problems.
According to Williams, they get complaints about their behavior and sometimes feel embarrassed or remorseful about things they say or do when drinking or using. They oftentimes use alcohol or drugs to medicate certain feelings, to change the way they feel about some aspects of their lives and/or change the way they feel about themselves.
For students who are substance abusers, abstaining from alcohol might not be necessary, but changing their behaviors of dealing with problems is necessary. According to Anna Williams, "examples of the kind of problems, issues and situations that encourage one to abuse alcohol and drugs include depression and anxiety, anger and resentment, insecurity, low self esteem, immaturity and peer pressure."
"Most binge drinkers are not alcohol-dependent. Only a small percentage, 10 percent, are alcoholics," Kanny said.
Alcoholics are a small percentage of people who drink alcohol and are dependent on it. They drink for any reason or no reason at all. They get complaints about their drinking but tend to resent, discount and/or disregard those comments.
There are some effective ways to decrease the amount of binge drinking.
"Increasing alcohol taxes will decrease alcohol consumption," Kanny said. "Reducing hours and days sold and decreasing the availability will also help with binge drinking."
Elana Prejean, a senior psychology major, said there are other ways to have fun besides binge drinking.
"If they decide to drink, they should drink responsibly and shouldn't be careless," said Prejean, who had to complete a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Certification program for one of her former jobs.
There are resources for students with substance abuse problems in the Student Counseling Services.
"There are substance abuse counselors in Student Counseling that specialize in supporting students with substance abuse issues," Williams said.
Students can also seek out support from Alcohol and Drug Education Programs by scheduling a meeting and receiving advice on what programs are the best fit for the student.
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