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To tackle it, the best first step is to keep alcohol out of your house. It can help to view binge drinking as a habit loop made of a cue, routine, and reward. When you surround yourself with the same cues that trigger your urge to binge drink—like certain people or settings—it becomes harder to break the loop. If you’re a binge drinker, the first step to changing your drinking problem is to understand what factors drive your behavior. Depending on your age, different factors may come into play, but some motivations are common among all age groups. This occurs when the level of alcohol in your bloodstream is so high that it creates a life-threatening situation.
To help an underage drinker drop the habit, you’ll need to understand their motivations and be willing to converse with them in a nonjudgmental way. Because underage drinking can come with legal consequences, it’s also necessary to establish rules and consequences. If no one’s pressuring you, but you still feel a desire to fit in, have a non-alcoholic beverage. Simply having a drink to sip on might make you feel more at ease.
How to stop every-day drinking
If you frequently binge drink, you are exposing yourself to a battery of negative consequences. I’ve spent the last six years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. Finally, this is also a good time to connect with a counselor. They can give you an objective opinion on your drinking and help you address some underlying issues that triggered your drinking habits.
Is it OK to binge drink occasionally?
If you binge drink, you are putting your health at risk even if you're drinking less than 14 units per week in total (as advised by the Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines).
We like feeling good, so the brain tells us to keep going back for more. Every year 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes. It is the third most preventable death in the United States.
Use a Drink-Tracking App
While you’re getting a handle on your drinking behavior, you may need to avoid certain bars, parties, or other activities you know will center around excessive drinking. You may need to avoid spending time with specific people or groups who focus on alcohol for fun. It’s possible you may need to permanently avoid these potential triggers. If you do choose to go to a bar or party, limit yourself to one drink, or less, an hour, and have a non-alcoholic drink in between those with alcohol. Binge drinking is a common health risk that people who use alcohol may deal with.
Studies suggest that moderate drinking may reduce your risk for certain cognitive impairments like dementia. Because small amounts of alcohol are believed to make your brain cells “more fit”, healthy alcohol doses may help improve cognitive function in both short and long-term ways. A precise definition of “moderate drinking” is challenging to find. However, most would consider moderate drinking to be between one and two drinks per day for men and no more than one per day for women8.
Verbal Learning Skills
Depending on your culture and social circle, you may belong to a group of people for whom heavy partying and binge drinking is the norm. Although the risk of developing breast cancer under age 40 is still relatively low, your drinking habits in your youth could impact your chances of developing it later in life. These include vehicle crashes, falls, burns, and drowning.
Does alcohol age you?
Dehydration can sap your skin of moisture and elasticity, leading to sagginess, dryness, and wrinkles. In other words, alcohol use can make you look old. Moreover, the older you get, the more likely you are to be dehydrated. Even one night of heavy drinking can make your lines and wrinkles look more pronounced.
Unfortunately, all of this alcohol use can lead to dangerous consequences. Statistics from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism shows that over 1500 college students aged die each year from alcohol-related causes. Along with binge drinking death, assault, sexual assault, academic problems, and risk of addiction are all potential problems that can also occur from this. It is easy for us to do something over and over if we feel we’ve gained some type of reward for doing it.
Binge Drinking Health Effects
I would get a boost of productivity with the first cup or two of coffee, and then it was a downward slide after that. I would often end up at the point of paralyzing myself with anxiety about deadlines and things that I could not control. Drinking too much can also make managing other health problems and conditions more difficult, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and others. If you are interested in learning more about how Renaissance can help you and what it might cost, contact our team today.
Mixed drinks that include other components like milk, juice, syrups, or soda are generally higher. That said, binge drinking may add more than 500 calories to your daily intake. In time, this can increase the chances of weight gain connected https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/ptsd-and-alcohol-abuse/ to drinking. Also, consider the people you are with when you engage in binge drinking. This will help you better understand your “why.” It can also help you find and put into place different tools you can use to reduce binge drinking.