Confessions of a Binge Drinker

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/confessions-of-a-binge-drinker/251582/

by nbj914 • 15 years ago

32 20 15 years ago

> If, as the CDC suggests in a new report, binge drinking leads to violence, spread of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, and risky behavior, then why am I doing just fine?

Because these studies never apply to 100% of the subjects.

andyakb• 15 years ago

That is his point. He is saying that while the generic definition of binge drinking [X drinks in Y time] shows an increase in those problems, it does not paint anywhere near the whole picture. Instead, he argues, a more important factor is the context in which those drinks are consumed and this context should have the most importance.

aptimpropriety• 15 years ago

I wish the author hadn't spent so much time on 'I beat the CDC score required to binge drink, therefore it must be wrong' to get to the actual point. It made his argument seem incredibly nit-picky.

While 'the number of drinks imbibed is the wrong way to measure drinking' is an interesting point, I wish he had actually spent time discussing the actual research / anecdotes that he mentions, which should have been the meat of his article.

I usually expect more from the atlantic.

theorique• 15 years ago

There's a individual, social/cultural, and interpersonal context that a raw number threshold ignores completely.

As the writer points out, seven drinks over the course of a multi-hour fine dining experience with friends is far different from a college freshman downing seven shots of tequila in his or her first hour of partying.

Other variables that matter:

* physical - weight, body fat, alcohol tolerance, fatigue, illness

* sex - men and women respond differently

* experience level - has the person ingested alcohol before in a variety of ways?

* emotional state - is the person using alcohol to self-medicate? to "get drunk" deliberately?

* social context - drinking at a social occasion is quite different from drinking alone

There are probably several other factors that a person could name.

The point is, there's no exact threshold above which red lights go on and drinking becomes "excessive" or "binge". It's a matter for the individual to judge, in a social context.

Retric4• 15 years ago

Another major change is stomach contents. It's vary different to down 7 shots on an empty stomach vs 7 shots after a full meal.

PS: 5 shots in a row classifies someone as a binge drinker. But for most people 7 glasses of wine over 2 hours results in the same level of intoxication.

pflats• 15 years ago

7 glasses of wine in two hours is just under one full bottle of wine an hour. That's a significant amount of wine.

edit: What I'm trying (probably poorly) to get at is that almost anyone who kills a bottle of wine in an hour knows that they're drinking heavily.

funkah• 15 years ago

Confession of the binge drinker who wrote this article: I don't understand statistics, or why anecdotes aren't the same thing as data.

Up next from this genius: "I smoke but I don't have cancer, so suck it, ALA!"

qdog• 15 years ago

Yeah, complaining about the CDC's definition just make him sound like someone trying to cover up a problem. Maybe he doesn't have a problem with alcohol, but it's possible to read this essay as "I drank too much at least 4 times last month, and take the opportunity at events to get shitfaced, but I'M FINE."

FD: I have had a binge or two myself in the last month, I'm just not impressed with this article.

caublestone• 15 years ago

Though I didn't kill or sleep with anyone - I regret last night right now.

mseebach• 15 years ago

The point being made, although not very clearly - as I read it: It's not the drinking, it's the drinker. We all know people who are 'nasty drunks' and we all know people who behave just fine, even after a full night of drinking.

Drinking enhances your emotions. If you're emotionally unstable, getting drunk could well lead to an outburst of feelings and depending on how well you can manage your expressiveness, lead to ill-advised sexual encounters or violence.

If you're emotionally in balance, chances are you can keep that balance getting drunk.

There are probably health issues to drinking too much, but fixing social issues by throwing a blanket maximum number of drinks indiscriminately over everybody.

gravitronic• 15 years ago

So, I made a little web app for fun, that could consider trying next time you're drinking. It's dedicated to all of you who, like myself, get to a certain point in the night and then cannot stop drinking more.

http://www.drinkpacer.com

unfortunately once I get into this state I also stop using the app.. so... it's a work in progress :)

and yes, native android/ios apps are planned :)

pavel_lishin• 15 years ago

Seven drinks in four hours, at a nice restaurant with friends? Of course he didn't get into a fight.

flurie• 15 years ago

The point of this article has less to do with drinking than people realize. It has to do with his establishments. They promote binge drinking, and the CDC discourages binge drinking, so he has to find a way to reconcile this to his very white, very educated patrons who also read the Atlantic.

Confessions of a Binge Drinker

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