binge drinking

A practice used by alcoholics who fail at controlled drinking. In this form, the alcoholic may have severely curbed or even managed to abstain from consumption for a short period of time only to go on a drinking spree. This is also a hallmark of "potential" alcoholics, often leading to full-blown alcoholism over time.

I don't encourage binge drinking. In fact, I can't stand it. But one thing I can stand even less is kids throwing up all over the place when they had too much. Hence the reason for this node:

Binge drinking is the practice of drinking to the point of throwing up or passing out; sadly common among high-school males seeking to prove themselves. On rare occasions this can cause blackouts, periods of time which don't register in one's memory. Considering one's state of mind and range of actions when under such an influence, this can be seen as a blessing.

The Rules:

     Don't mix colours of liquors: If you drink hard brown stuff, don't switch to clear or creamy. Decide what you want early on and stick with it, or it probably won't stick with you.

     It's not the amount that gives you a hangover, it's the toxins: The reason you're sick the next morning is because your body has to destroy all the toxins you poured in the night before (the alcohol itself is gone as soon as you sober up.)

     The alcohol with the least toxins is most of the time also the priciest, since aging is the only way to remove them. Different types of alcohol also have different levels of toxins, with Vodka having the least and Brandy having the most.

     Grease it up! Alcohol enters the bloodstream (where it delivers its positive effect) through the liver, not through the stomach, so we want to avoid the contact of alcohol with out stomach walls. The best way to do this (besides injection :P ) is to coat your stomach walls with oil / fats. (For all you non-bio majors: Alcohol is non-polar, so by adding a layer of lipids (polar) we can successfully erect a barrier between the alchol and our stomach walls.) Eat something greasy for dinner, or just down some sardines on the way to the party.

Following on from the previous definitions of binge drinking, in my sociology report I defined binge drinking as “ a session averaging of about 4 hrs when a person consumes on average 6 standard drinks more than once a month, or just 5 or more drinks on the one occasion at least once in the past month”. A standard drink is the amount of alcohol found in a pot, middy, schooner of regular strength beer, a glass of wine or a nip of spirits or a unit containing 8-10grams of absolute alcohol.

References where these definitions were in are ..

Barlow, D.H., & Durand, V.M., (2001), ‘Abornal Psychology’ Wadsworth.

‘Is there a safe level of daily consumption of alcohol for men and women?’ by the national health and medical research council, 1988, Australian Government publishing service, Canberra.

MacKinnon, D.P., Nohre, L., Pentz, M.A., & Stacy, A.W, ‘the alcohol warning and adolescents: 5 – year effects’ , American journal of public health, oct 2000, vol 90, issue 10, pg 1589.

Salvation Army:Alcohol awareness survey conducted for the salvation army by roy morgan research on 20-23 august 2001. available on the web http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/media/050901_alcohol.htm .