Binge Drinking Statistics
We used to refer to binge drinking as a continuous period of time, days even, a person drinks to get stupid drunk. The updated definition of binge drinking is a man having more than five drinks at one time and for women it is four drinks, in other words, to drink with the intent of becoming drunk. This seemed to alter the binge drinking statistics to a frightening level and open our eyes as to what a problem drinking can be.
Who Binge Drinks?
According to the latest binge drinking statistics over half college males and forty percent college females have done it. To add to the scare factor, most of these college students are under legal drinking age. A frightening binge drinking statistic, 89% of high school seniors have admitted to trying alcohol. Thirty percent of this group participates in binge drinking. Even worse are the statistics for alcohol related deaths of children between 15 and 24 years old. These statistics are very eye opening for parents of high school to college students. Binge drinking statistics should scare the heck out of any parent. As parents we need to know what to do if we suspect children of binge drinking.
Signs of a Binge Drinking Problem
There are some tell tale signs that will let you know when to take action and avoid becoming part of the binge drinking statistics. A person with a drinking problem will attempt to hide the fact that they are binge drinking, but if you know what to look for, they will be easy to see.
Mood changes are top on the list. A binge drinker will have extreme mood swings. They may be happy with life one minute, and full of anger the next. You may be able to tell when they have been on a binge. If so, pay attention to how often it is happening. If it is happening frequently, seek help before the addiction takes over. Other signs are quite obvious, there comes a time when they are binging so much they just cannot hide it. They may drink at every chance, whether it is an appropriate time or not. They may drink first thing in the morning. They may even more resemble the old definition of a binge drinker by disappearing for days, or even weeks staying who knows where drinking who knows how much.
It may be troubling to hear these stats on how many younger people are binge drinking. It has to be noted that most admitted alcoholics began their horrific journey with either or both definitions of binge drinking. Those who are nearest to them need to see the signs for what they are and not brush them off as trivial growing pains of adolescence. Alcohol abuse is a growing trend among any age group and needs to be viewed as the illness it is. The sooner the illness is diagnosed, the better the outcome. Getting help for alcohol addiction before the problem becomes this dire is key to avoiding becoming one of a long, sad list of binge drinking statistics.