What is High Risk Alcohol Use?
High risk drinking can be defined in two different ways. One way to describe high risk drinking is engaging in the behaviors that lead to high levels of intoxication which can cause harm to self and others. The second way to describe high risk drinking can be defined by high risk patterns. These patterns can include the amount and frequency alcohol is consumed, a predisposition for tolerance, the age at which the student first starting drinking, and having a social support system for the way they drink. Some of these students may have a family history of alcoholism.
High Risk Drinking Behaviors:
- Chugging, drinking games, shots, funnels, pong
- Drinking to get drunk
- Driving after drinking, or riding with an intoxicated person
- Drinking too much too fast
- Going to parties that you know everyone drinks too much
- Not knowing what is in your glass or leaving it unattended
- Drinking while on medication
- Drinking while ill
- Drinking without a plan of how you will get home and with whom
Risks for these behaviors tend to come in the form of injuries related to the alcohol use, hospitalization for alcohol poisoning, or damage to property.
High Risk Patterns:
- Drinking frequently and in higher quantity than most students
- Tolerance – taking more and more to feel the buzz
- Began drinking in high school on a regular basis (coming to college with an established pattern)
- Family history of drinking problems
- Trouble stopping once one starts
- See consequences as a policy problem not a drinking problem
- Peer group supports frequent drinking and some may drink more
- See college as the “time to be alcoholic” I’ll quit or slow down after graduation
For these students, they sometimes describe drinking episodes as not having the shut off valve or they can’t stop once they start. The risk for these students, if behavior does not change, can be long term abuse of alcohol and the risk for developing alcohol dependency.