Dangers of Binge Drinking
Blacking Out/Memory Loss
A blackout is when alcohol interferes with the chemical process of recording an event in the brain’s memory. The person maintains consciousness and pre-black out memories to walk, talk, and drive stay intact. Students experiencing a blackout can have sex, drive a car, or get into a fight and not remember the event the next day.
Women are vulnerable to blackouts if they:
- Have four to five drinks in one sitting.
- If they rapidly consume large amounts of alcohol.
- Drink on an empty stomach.
- Drink when fatigued.
Sexual Assault
75% of women on campus who experience unwanted sex are under the influence. The majority of sexual assaults occur with an acquaintance.
65% of the assaults take place in the males’ place of residence.
60% of college women who get sexually transmitted diseases are under the influence.
Many college men surveyed said they believe if a female has two or more drinks she will be more interested in having sex. (Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other drug Prevention, 1999). http://www.edc.org/hec/abouthec.htm
UPIs: Unidentified Party Injuries
Injury: 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2005).
Death: 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes (Hingson et al., 2005).
Alcohol Poisoning
Students die annually from alcohol poisoning nationwide. Many students believe that once a person passes out they are going to sleep it off. A person’s BAC will continue to rise for at least one hour after their last drink. Signs of alcohol poisoning are:
- Unconsciousness or semi-consciousness.
- Slow breathing—eight breaths or less per minute, or lapses of more than eight seconds between breaths.
- Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin.
- A strong odor of alcohol.
- Repeated vomiting
If you encounter someone with these signs or symptoms call 911 or your campus security immediately.
Academic Problems
About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall (Engs et al., 1996; Presley et al., 1996a, 1996b; Wechsler et al., 2002). Consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in one night can affect brain and body activities for up to three days. Two consecutive nights of drinking five or more alcoholic beverages can affect brain and body activities for up to five days.
Police Involvement
About 5 percent of 4-year college students are involved with the police or campus security as a result of their drinking (Wechsler et al., 2002) and an estimated 110,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are arrested for an alcohol-related violation such as public drunkenness or driving under the influence (Hingson et al., 2002).
Alcohol Abuse and Dependence
31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking (Knight et al., 2002).
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