Eating Disorders

One Drink or Five

This past weekend I went to my fair share of parties. I watched and studied several people at each party. What I noticed was an unusual amount of binge drinkers. Binge drinking is consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in the duration of the night. I used to drink all the time, but as I have developed into a grown up I realized that you really don't have to drink to be cool. I know that every single one of us has been to one of those parties: the music pounding the windows, the girls and guys having a wonderful time, and you standing there not knowing anyone. What would you do? Have a couple drinks so that you will open up and meet new people? That is what everyone thinks happens when they drink more, but really it makes them act stupid. I watched and observed three people at these two parties that I went to, and in every case binge drinking occurred.

Her name is Kate Geoff, she is a girl who loves to have a good time. She is a regular at this house that the party was taking place at. She is a beautiful girl who almost everyone likes. I noticed this by the amount of people that came and talked to her during the course of the night. She started off with a jack and Coke, and then proceeded to gulp down a few Coronas, following up with a couple more beers. This happened within a period of two hours. "The Jack and Coke was to loosen me up a little" said Kate. While consuming the beers during an avid game of drunk driver, which was a very popular card game at both these parties I ventured to, she had no idea how much she drank. By the end of the night she was passed out in the bathroom in a pile of throw-up. She blacked out a couple times and had to be reminded the next day of what happened last night. The sad thing is, is that she will more than likely do it again the next night. She didn't know she was a binge drinker until the moment I told her. She didn't even know what a binge drinker was.

More than 40 percent of University students binge drink, according to a Penn State Pulse survey, and students younger than 21 are drinking an average of 4.4 drinks per occasion (Harris). Four drinks in a night doesn't seem like a lot, but think about it: a couple Jack and Cokes and beer to go with the card games will put you over the edge very quickly. Yes, it does also depend on the proof of the alcohol. Why is it that you have to drink to get drunk? Why not be a casual drinker and enjoy yourself and your surroundings? All too often that can't be the case, and binge drinkers like to have fun and not sit around and wait for the fun to begin. The fun obviously begins when they start to drink and become incoherent.

It all starts when you are young. Binge drinking often begins around 14 when you start to get into high school. Everyone tries to be cool while coming into more of a grown up school, and that's when drinking tends to start. 24.5% of those who start drinking at age 17 or younger develop alcohol dependence (In the zone). This means you are probably going to keep drinking throughout high school and carry it into college. If some of the people I went to high school with would have known that starting binge drinking early would hurt them for the later years, then I don't think they would have done it as much. Most high school students should wait until college for the binge drinking. I remember hearing about all the parties in high school which came hand-in-hand with the outrageous stories of a guy getting a pinky up the butt hole, a girl throwing up all over the room, and sexual activities in every corner. I figured that if I started out doing these things, then I would never end up anywhere. Kate started out in high school hanging out with the older crowd with her sister, which is why she is still drinking to this day. She has been binge drinking for almost 6 years now.

When all these binge drinkers sit down and really think about what they are doing to their bodies they will figure out that drinking excessively will hurt your body in the long run. You may think that you are having fun and alcohol is the greatest thing in the world, but you are damaging your body. The binge drinking could also result in death.

Alcohol is also especially dangerous for young people. Recent brain imaging studies in teens and young adults who drank heavily have shown shrinkage in an area of the brain that is responsible for memory and learning, which indicates that these young people's ability to learn and remember suffers. Alcohol can also prevent teens from growing to full-size. Heavy drinking in teens has been shown to interfere with muscle and bone growth. In addition, people who drink as teenagers have a greater chance of osteoporosis later in life (In the Zone).

Aren't students in college to pass school and get somewhere in life? Well, if you drink every weekend for the four years of college then you could decrease your memory a significant amount. I think that these college students, such as Josh and Kate, could really use their money and brain on something a little more important than alcohol.

The second party I went to with my friends they were enjoying themselves and drinking heavily. I would go up to them every hour or so and ask them to stop drinking, or at least slow down and they would tell me to have a good time. Having a good time and being the life of the party are two separate things. As time passed binge drinking occurred and my friends lost control of their bodies, blacked out, and even vomited all over. Is it really that cool to vomit? I didn't think so. You can drink Red Bull and still be the life of the party without binge drinking and damaging your body.

I sat and watched my friend's fork over $20 for more alcohol after all of the alcohol they already put in their body. Alcohol is expensive, but the binge drinking and drinking excessively costs a lot more. If you buy a case of beer and a bottle of alcohol every weekend that is $30-40 you could spend on something that will last a lifetime rather than a weekend of stupid mistakes. Imagine all the money you could save up for the next year of college or even take a vacation with that. That is more than books and tuition put together in one year.

Short term affects of alcohol include loss of consciousness, inability to make good decisions, behaving aggressively, choking to death on vomit, headaches, intense thirst, nausea, vomiting, blurry vision, and unsafe sexual activity. Everyone wakes up with hangovers after a rough night with alcohol, but when you are a binge drinker you can wake up with migraines and nausea. Kate is a drama queen and when the alcohol gets in her she starts fights with everyone and then has to figure out how to apologize to the people the next day.

Some of the long term affects