Binge drinking

What is the issue?

A lot of people don’t see binge drinking as an alcohol problem. It’s a huge part of Australian culture. Most of us don’t associate binge drinkers with the problems of alcoholics. After all, it’s not like dependence. Binge drinkers don’t necessarily drink every night. It’s just blowing off some steam on the weekend, out with the mates…

But there are consequences. Binge drinkers are just as likely as traditional alcoholics to develop alcohol-related diseases such as cancer and liver cirrhosis. Fifty per cent of all Australian car accidents are caused by binge drinkers. Sixty three per cent of binge drinkers admit to being more likely to have one-night stands, exposing themselves to the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy.

How do you know if you’re a binge drinker?

About 30 per cent of Australia’s youth realise that they are binge drinkers. Studies show that there are many more youth binge drinkers who have no idea their drinking patterns are classified as binges. The definition is whichever comes first out of a) drinking to get drunk, or b) drinking 10 standard drinks for guys, and 7 standard drinks for girls. If you’ve ever thrown up or passed out from alcohol, you were binge drinking.

Doing this once or twice could be accidental. If it’s the standard for Saturday nights, then you’re a binge drinker. More often than once a week and you could be an alcoholic in the traditional sense of the word.

Australia’s culture of binge drinking:

Australia is ranked in the top 30 drinking nations, and that rank is rising. The average Aussie will down 9.88 litres of pure alcohol each year. On top of this, Australia has a recognised binge drinking epidemic that is considered socially normal and acceptable.

So why do Australians binge drink? In many areas of regional or rural Australia, drinking is considered entertainment when there is not much else to do, and is associated with youth boredom and unemployment. Drinking can become a form of escape for people with poor mental health or high stress levels.. Young males are especially likely to become binge drinkers. Alcohol is just another way to fit in with friends, or prove that you are tough.

Binge drinking is also a big part of gambling and sporting tradition, both of which are central to our glorious Australian culture. Studies at football clubs show that 70 per cent of Aussie males think drinking is an important club tradition, and 13 per cent drink 13 or more standard drinks each time they visit.

Many Australians have experienced or witnessed the negative outcomes of binge drinking. Forty per cent of all Australian youth have passed out from drinking, and four per cent have passed out more than 20 times. The problem extends far below the legal drinking age. One in ten of Australian kids aged 12 to 17 binge drink each week.

But Australia is not alone. In Britain, one in three men, and one in five women are binge drinkers. In the United States, binge drinking accounts for 90 per cent of all alcohol drunk by under 21 year olds, and 75 per cent of the alcohol drunk by adults. Around the world, alcohol causes 3.2 per cent of all deaths each year. Most of these deaths are from injuries, car accidents, or alcohol poisoning related to binge drinking.

What’s being done?

In 2008, the federal government pledged almost 55 million dollars to tackle the youth binge drinking epidemic. The strategy includes an education program for youth who have been hospitalised or arrested for binge drinking, and a hard-hitting advertising campaign for TV, internet and radio about the consequences of binge drinking.

If this issue is affecting you or anyone else you know check out the info on our sister site Reach Out www.reachout.com.au/default.asp?ti=2113 

How do I know this?

Prime Minster’s official website, ‘National binge drinking strategy’ www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2008/media_release_0126.cfm,  viewed Nov 14, 2008.

The Age news website, ‘Alarm over binge drinking epidemic’ www.theage.com.au/news/national/alarm-over-our-bingedrinking-epidemic/2007/02/13/1171128980481.html, viewed Nov 14, 2008.

BBC news website, ‘Binge drinking costing billions’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3121440.stm, viewed Nov 14, 2008.

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention website, www.cdc.gov/alcohol/quickstats/binge_drinking.htm, viewed Nov 14, 2008.

World Health Organisation website, ‘Alcohol and Injury in Emergency Departments’ www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/alcohol
_injury_summary.pdf , viewed Nov 14, 2008.

World Health Organisation website, ‘WHO Collaborative Project on Identification and Management of Alcohol-Related Problems in Primary Health Care.’ www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/identification
_management_alcoholproblems_phaseiv.pdf , viewed Nov 14, 2008.

Preventative Health website, ‘Key trends in alcohol consumption’ http://preventativehealth.org.au/internet/preventativehealth/
publishing.nsf/Content/09C94C0F1B9799F5CA2574DD
0081E770/$File/alcohol-2.pdf, viewed Nov 14, 2008.