Binge drinking - have you ever done it?

[Darth Wong]

Have you ever gone binge drinking? If so, did you do it just once, or have you done it many times? If the latter, how would you respond to the charge that you're a fucking idiot?

I'm just curious; the subject of alcoholism always comes up and everyone always takes pains to say that they're defending "responsible drinking" but not "binge drinking". Leaving aside my reservations with those arguments, I am curious how many people have gone binge drinking, and whether there are any arguments they can come up with in defense of this behaviour.

[Dark Flame]

Depending on how you define binge drinking, I've done it once or twice.
One night I had about 10 drinks, another around 6-7.

I regret those nights, and I decided to never drink that much again because I really don't like what I do when I'm that drunk.

[Gandalf]

I did it once.

Drunkenness was so overrated that it wasn't worth the financial cost of shitty tasting alcohol, or the hangover the next morning. So I gave up the whole idea of alcohol.

Then I learned about the biological effects of alcohol.

[Dillon]

I've gotten drunk exactly one time in my life. It was the day I turned 17. I realized how fucking stupid it was the next day. I didn't drink any alcohol at all until recently, and it's still rare. Occasionally at social functions is enough for me.

[aerius]

I did it a couple times, the first time I grossly overestimated my limit and the 2nd time was a temporary bout of stupidity on a good friend's birthday shortly after midterms. Too many girls, too much fun, got carried away with my boozing after too much stress & lack of pussy. That was the last time I ever drank beer by the pitcher.

As for a defence, nope, can't really think of one other than lack of experience & maturity, and that only applies to the first time and even then it's not exactly a great excuse. Serial binge drinkers, well, we're looking at some serious issues here and the word "alcoholic" comes to mind.

[Faabio]

I got really drunk once so I could experience Hangover. The night drinking was fun. The next morning was not so fun. I'll be avoiding drinking that much again. Reason for that is I can have as much fun with less alcohol and dont have to feel like shit the next morning.

[General Zod]

My stomach can't seem to tolerate that much alcohol, so I've never been able to drink very much before feeling ill. So no, I've never gone binge drinking.

[Covenant]

I don't drink.

Hah! I win!

[Superman]

Yes, have done it more than once. I partied a little too much back in my Japan days.

Unless you like waking up in strange places, not remembering certain things from the previous night, being sick, getting so hammered that you make a complete douche out of yourself, getting into legal trouble, and getting into fights, then I'd say it's a completely stupid, and dangerous, thing to do.

Luckily, it didn't stick. These days, the smell of hard liquor makes me want to puke; I honestly don't know how I partied the way I did. Thinking of the stupid shit I did is now totally embarrassing. I guess that's a good thing, because it means that I've changed quite a bit.

[Justforfun000]

I used to binge drink quite frequently. Rarely do it now. By all standards I could be judged as a past alcoholic. However, I never had to take AA to grow out of it. Now it's just rare situations that happen. Of course it's stupid behavior. Anything that does serious damage to your body is dumb.
Defend it? Nah. Not really. But also, you could make the same argument with every single bite of food you take in your mouth. Does everyone eat 100% healthy ALL the time?
Do we go out of our way to be in the perfect breathing environment ALL the time? (Of course it's easier now that most public smoking is restricted.)
But overall it comes down to life is a series of choices that involve gratification of the moment at the expense of long-term health. Twill always be thus. It's only a matter of degree between each person.

[Superman]

I used to binge drink quite frequently. Rarely do it now. By all standards I could be judged as a past alcoholic. However, I never had to take AA to grow out of it. Now it's just rare situations that happen. Of course it's stupid behavior. Anything that does serious damage to your body is dumb.

I think we're just lucky enough to NOT be alcoholics; we just liked partying a little too much at the time.

Defend it? Nah. Not really. But also, you could make the same argument with every single bite of food you take in your mouth. Does everyone eat 100% healthy ALL the time?

The problem with this argument is that I don't really know of any food that does half as much damage as alcohol in high amounts will do. It literally affects every system in the body. I've never eaten anything that's caused me to "black out."

[Justforfun000]

The problem with this argument is that I don't really know of any food that does half as much damage as alcohol in high amounts will do. It literally affects every system in the body. I've never eaten anything that's caused me to "black out."

This is true. The degree of short-term harm is immeasurably higher with alcohol consumption. But mind you, for example, I can binge drink without even being obviously DRUNK. Yet that doesn't make it "ok" either. Hence the degree reference I was going for. A regular drinker can drink quite heavy without major symptoms and the body can even handle it fairly well considering the circumstances.

For example, my mother loves her wine. Her and my father regularly go on a semi-sobriety kick and limit themselves to two a night, but there are regular periods where she'll have a glass of wine at lunchtime because company was over in some cases, or what have you, and by the end of the day, she might have had 5 glasses! Ironically, she gets periodic liver tests done as she's on Dilantin for Trigeminal Neuralgia..has been for many years..and she is always within the safe limits of the enzyme tests. Sometimes the upper end, but I introduced her to milk thistle long ago, and she takes a specialized herbal mixture formula from Natural Factors that is kickass for the liver and to help detoxify stresses to your system like alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Thankfully she's never smoked.

Also, she takes certain supplements like Omega 3's faithfully and she has an HDL cholesterol that is more than DOUBLE her low. Her doctor told her she'll never die of a heart attack.

So to sum all this up, she definitely drinks WAY too much, but in her case her tolerance, her supplementation, and probably even more important..her specific body genes is able to deal with such behaviour with far lesser consequences than other people. Again, all a matter of degree. We aren't all held to the same measuring stick in our reaping.

[Superman]

This is true. The degree of short-term harm is immeasurably higher with alcohol consumption. But mind you, for example, I can binge drink without even being obviously DRUNK.

Right. I know exactly what you mean; we're the so-called "heavyweights." There's a school of thought out there that says we probably have the gene for alcoholism, but, for whatever reason, lack the psychological component that creates an addict/alcoholic. My wife is the same way; her dad is a raging alcoholic, she's a "heavyweight" (all 100 pounds of her), but she only drinks about a glass of wine every week.

[Kanastrous]

Once, and only once.

I was so sick all night, that if someone had handed me a pistol I would have probably shot myself just to make it stop.

I really don't much care for alcohol. There are other intoxicants I enjoy much more, if I really feel like getting fucked up.

[Justforfun000]

Right. I know exactly what you mean; we're the so-called "heavyweights." There's a school of thought out there that says we probably have the gene for alcoholism, but, for whatever reason, lack the psychological component that creates an addict/alcoholic. My wife is the same way; her dad is a raging alcoholic, she's a "heavyweight" (all 100 pounds of her), but she only drinks about a glass of wine every week.

lol. It's amazing isn't it? I've known girls that could drink ME under the table, and they would be 5 foot fucking nothing.
The human body is truly amazing. Our ability to adapt and become tolerant to something that is essentially a poison in those amounts, is really incredible.

I find nowadays I just don't like doing anything to myself that is obviously detrimental. I've always been kind of a health nut, and in other respects have been quite good as to my general health. I didn't eat red meat for 7 years, went out of my way to get organic food, swore off white bread, calorie devoid shit like pastry and pasta, etc etc...
Now some of that is debatable as to being "healthy", but the point is I TRIED to go above and beyond the norm. I always have to some degree. So I'm one of those weird people that allowed vices to get the upper hand at times while at the same time probably mitigating the extent of the potential damage by my other behaviors.
Only humans seem to have this strange dichotomy of behavior. At least what I've seen. Do any of you know any other animal species that act this way? Consciously choose good and bad behaviors, KNOWING that they are such? It's fascinating from a certain point of view...

[Metatwaddle]

I don't know what's considered binge drinking. I have gotten drunk to the point of being sick three times, which doesn't take very many drinks by most people's standards (usually between 4 and 6). Each time, I simply overestimated my limits and tolerance for alcohol: I have a much lower tolerance than the people I usually drink with. I like being a bit drunk; the stupid part was when I assumed that if being a little drunk felt good, then having another drink or two must be even better. At the very least, I didn't want to sober up, so when I felt myself starting to do so, I would sometimes take another shot or have another beer, and eventually this set me over the edge.

The last time was really ugly. I got drunk and then sick in the late afternoon, fell asleep on a couch, and then woke up later, with a hangover this time. I felt dehydrated, so I drank some water, which made me feel sick again. I had to make myself throw up the water, then make myself throw up several more times (I think it was about 12 if you include unsuccessful dry heaves) before I got the stomach bile out of my system. By the time I was finished, I was shaking uncontrollably - worse than when I've mixed stimulants by mistake, which is pretty awful - and could barely move. It wasn't the most miserable night of my life, but it was probably number two.

[Ghost Rider]

I have done it, and calling me a fucking idiot is something one will have to get in line for.

As for defending it? Only the complete and utter retard would do such. That level of drinking, barring the immense health concerns, is nothing more then some form of escape...be it because of some mental anguish or sheer pressure from peers.

[dragon]

I don't drink.

Hah! I win!

Haha it's a tie because I don't drink either.

[Superman]

As for defending it? Only the complete and utter retard would do such.

I think a good number of alcoholics who are active in their addiction would defend it. Of course, lying constantly is another quality almost all alcoholics seem to have.

[Ghost Rider]

As for defending it? Only the complete and utter retard would do such.

I think a good number of alcoholics who are active in their addiction would defend it. Of course, lying constantly is another quality almost all alcoholics seem to have.

LOL...very true. Hell, I knew a couple and were amazed at the levels they would go to. I think one actually tried to claim it was medical condition that he needed a certain amount of alcohol a day.

[Superman]

I think one actually tried to claim it was medical condition that he needed a certain amount of alcohol a day.

There's a joke among the inner circles of N.A. and A.A. that I've heard a few times from working with them. It goes something like this: "Addicts and alcoholics are the only people who will flunk geometry, but then go home and make a bong out of a fish." It's really true, if some of these people could put that same creativity and energy for getting loaded into something like Quantum Physics, we might just find the next Einstein.

[SilverWingedSeraph]

Whenever I got invited to a party (not often), if there was alcohol available, I would usually get completely trashed. This started when I was fifteen and didn't really end until one night when I got incredibly depressed due to something that now seems rather insignificant, but really upset me at the time. I drank so much in a really short period that I got alcohol poisoning.

Now, when I drink, it's in moderation. I never, ever get drunk. One or two bears, maybe, or a single shot, or whatever.

I'm not sure why, but no matter how much I used to drink, I never, ever had a hangover, so they horrid pain in the morning didn't deter me from getting wasted.

[FSTargetDrone]

Seems this is worthy of a poll?

Anyway, nope, I've never gone on a binge, drinking, at least not chugging down beer after beer or sucking down a pitcher at a time, what people think of when they think of binge drinking. When I drink, I tend to drink slowly, no matter the situation. But I rarely drink and the first and last two times I was actually drunk was one night each in 1997 and in 2000. And I remember the details of each of those nights quite clearly.

[Junghalli]

No, I enjoy alcohol, but I've never drunk with the intention of getting drunk. I don't like the thought of my faculties being all fucked up by some mind-altering substance for any length of time, so I've always very suspicious of drugs in general.

[Karza]

Well, it's a thin line between responsible drinking and binge drinking, and I've crossed it before and still sometimes do. Nowadays it is quite rare, since I pretty much know my limits and the thought of a titanic hangover usually reins me in in time . I don't really see any defense for it, I'm perfectly aware I could avoid those occasions if I didn't drink in the first place.

Why do I still drink then? Because sometimes, and done in a controlled way, it's fun. Even when I've lost control, I've never gotten into any sort of trouble (apart from the hangover, of course). Maybe I haven't drunk quite hard enough?