Binge drinking - have you ever done it?

[Admiral Drason]

Personally I haven't been able to drink myself to the point of being sick or having a hang over. I've been testing my limits very recently and just haven't been able to reach that level. Maybe its something in my head that makes me stop drinking before I'm trashed.

I can't for the life of me come up with a reason why you could possibly support binge drinking. I've asked fellow class mates whom hit the bars every other night why, and they usually give me the bull shit answer that "they like to have fun."

[Zac Naloen]

Depends on your definition of binge drinking.

I really only get to go out drinking once a week if at all and I generally drink about 6-8 units worth of alcohol. At the end of the night I'd be completely incapable of driving but by no means plastered.

By some definitions (going out and drinking all of my units in one go rather than steadily having 6 units over the week) that is binge drinking.


But with the number of units (I.e not very many) by another definition that isn't even close to a binge.

[Ford Prefect]

Personally, drinking to the point of getting drunk has always struck me as being ridiculous. Especially seeing that they do it with liquid shit. I can get drinking something that tastes good (I recently had some aces tequila), but drinking litres of Passion Pop? That's grounds for a right kick in the face.

[Netko]

Used to do it occasionally back in my high school days, mostly for the social aspect, but since I've started university, ironically considering the stereotypes (especially US ones), I've been very rarely drinking alcohol, and haven't gotten really drunk probably since New Year's celebration 3 (or was it 4?) years ago - even if I drink alcohol (which is maybe once a month these days) its rarely more then one drink or two. I guess its mainly because having full control of my body and faculties has become more important to me. I consider the whole behavior from the HS days a bout of youthful stupidity, however I'm glad I got it out of the way back then, because, aside from alcohol poisoning - which wasn't that much of a danger since I knew my limits and rarely went near or over them, it was a relatively safe time to do it, compared to university where everyone drives and its questionable if the designated driver will actually act like such (these days I'm usually the said driver do to me never drinking in that situation, and rarely otherwise).

[Dooey Jo]

Haven't done it, don't intend to either. I find it pretty ridiculous for the same reasons as Ford (ignoring the health effects etc.). I wonder just how bad something would have to taste for people to not drink tons of it. I once heard of moron kids who drank the soap you could find in portable toilets because they thought they could get drunk or high on it. I'd try to get a drink to taste like actual poo to see if people would still drink it, but then we have that abominable homebrewed "wine" which might actually taste worse than actual homebrewed shit, and for reasons I'd equate to downright alcoholism, people drink barrels of that poison. Not to mention moonshine, which exists for the sole purpose of making people drunk and is probably distilled from vomited liquor from what I've heard of its taste (I wouldn't touch shit like that). Sure smells like it anyhow...

The only justification I've heard is that it's supposed to be fun (or because everyone does it, but when asking again why everyone does it, it's because it's fun). I've been pretty bored in my life, but never so bored that I felt a need to drink ass-sweat and puke to have fun. Drinks that actually taste good are another deal though. Even I like some things, but I wouldn't drink whole bottles of it just to get wasted (and it's way too expensive for that)...

[Cairber]

Binge drinking has a lot of different definitions; I know in college the university anti alcohol group use to say it was defined as 4 drinks in one sitting. By that definition I would say I have done it 10 times, but by definitions of 7+ drinks I have done that once.

[Rye]

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.

What's the definition of binge drinking here? If it's something like "more than 3 alcoholic drinks" which is one definition I've heard in the UK, then yes, several times. Looking on the wiki, a popular one is 5 drinks for men, and I rarely drink that much in one week, though if I do drink (itself a rarity), it'll be in one go, so perhaps that's "binging".

As for so drunk I throw up or walk like a zombie, I only did that once or twice and yeah, that was stupid and utterly pointless. Seemed like a good idea at the time is all I can say, but after experiencing it, I rarely have more than 3 drinks on a night out, and since I rarely drink that gets me tipsy enough to have more fun than when I'm sober, but coordinated enough to not fall over after a death metal windmill.

Well, you live and learn.

[Cairber]

I also don't get the idea of "one sitting." I read the wiki article, too, and it mentioned the 4 drinks for women thing that our university use to spout. My mind immediately jumps to Christmas Eve; our tradition is to visit our relatives in Buffalo- we go to 4 houses and end up back at my grandmother's. I usually, if not in condition where unable such as pregnancy, have a drink at every house. That ends up being 4-5 drinks in an 8 hour period. Is that binge drinking?

[Rye]

I also don't know if it counts if you eat something sturdy before you go out or while you're out too. If you go to the pub and have 3 drinks, then you go to a restaurant and have a big curry (or whatever) you can be stone cold sober easily halfway through the main course. If you had 2 drinks of wine with your meal after 3 earlier, is that binging?

[Zac Naloen]

I also don't know if it counts if you eat something sturdy before you go out or while you're out too. If you go to the pub and have 3 drinks, then you go to a restaurant and have a big curry (or whatever) you can be stone cold sober easily halfway through the main course. If you had 2 drinks of wine with your meal after 3 earlier, is that binging?

Add the fact different people have different tolerances.

For example, some can drink 1 drink and be plastered.

Some can drink 6 drinks and just reach the point of that guy who's just had one drink.

I've always considered binge drinking to be knowingly and willingly going beyond your limits.

That doesn't mean keep going until your sick, that means literally stop when you start to feel the effects of the consumption beyond the giddy high because things start going down hill after that anyway.

In my case that 6 to 8 units depending on what I've eaten before during and after over a 6 hour period is a well established limit of what I feel comfortable drinking. I don't go over it, and I regularly keep under it.

[Cairber]

I've always considered binge drinking to be knowingly and willingly going beyond your limits.

I like this definition. But I also wonder if the affects on the body are just as bad when you are not feeling it? (ignorant as to whether or not that is the case)

I haven't really drank much in the past three years with pregnancy and breastfeeding, I would say I did most of that kinda thing in college. I just don't really enjoy it anymore...minus a few holidays where it can be fun. Now I think about all these what ifs...such as "what if I decide to have a few drinks once the kids are in bed but then an emergency arises" or "he doesn't nurse at night anymore but what if this is the one night he wakes up and wants to and I have been drinking." That kinda thing. My worries kinda make it not so fun to even have one or two.

Now I only feel really comfortable getting even a bit tipsy when the kids are in the care of relatives and we are having a night out together.

[salm]

I get really drunk once a week or once in two weeks on the weekend at parties, discos or bars. It´s surely stupid behavior and i see no way rationally defend it besides saying that it´s a hell of a lot of fun. Like Justforfun said, it´s basically trading short time fun for long term risks.
I do other life threatening things to enhance fun as well, like snowboarding in places that have not been checked for avalanche hazards or ignoring traveling warnings issued by the foreign office. That´s probably similarly stupid.

[Walsh]

No, I've never even been drunk. When I was in high school, I saw what happened to people when they got drunk, and thought to myself "fuck that".

I remember one guy who chugged a bottle of bourbon on a dare after already having drunk a lot, he threw up all over himself and passed out intermittently. When the paramedics were carting him off everyone started chanting "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye". I've hardly touched a beer since that night.

[Justforfun000]

Cairber Wrote:

I also don't get the idea of "one sitting." I read the wiki article, too, and it mentioned the 4 drinks for women thing that our university use to spout. My mind immediately jumps to Christmas Eve; our tradition is to visit our relatives in Buffalo- we go to 4 houses and end up back at my grandmother's. I usually, if not in condition where unable such as pregnancy, have a drink at every house. That ends up being 4-5 drinks in an 8 hour period. Is that binge drinking?

That's another thing, in REAL terms, your body is detoxifying the chemical over a period of time. As one reputable source said, detoxifying a drink containing an ounce of alcohol is a "walk in the park" for the liver in normal circumstances. If you are putting time between drinks, the 4 to 6 a day is NOT having the same effect as at one sitting. So it's not an accurate comparison. Typical anti-binge propaganda doesn't get into such details or exclusions.

[Dark Flame]

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.

I've noticed that with myself too. I've drank far more than I should, but I never feel the effects in the morning. I've gotten sick a few times the night of the drinking, but no hangovers, ever.

I wonder if not having the dreaded hangover would change people's opinions and practices regarding binge drinking......

[Rye]

No, I've never even been drunk. When I was in high school, I saw what happened to people when they got drunk, and thought to myself "fuck that".

I remember one guy who chugged a bottle of bourbon on a dare after already having drunk a lot, he threw up all over himself and passed out intermittently. When the paramedics were carting him off everyone started chanting "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye". I've hardly touched a beer since that night.

Yeah, I wouldn't advise taking many substances that alter experience if the people you're doing it around are arseholes. I like doing it with a group of my closest friends, though.

[Justforfun000]

Walsh wrote:

I remember one guy who chugged a bottle of bourbon on a dare after already having drunk a lot, he threw up all over himself and passed out intermittently. When the paramedics were carting him off everyone started chanting "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye". I've hardly touched a beer since that night.

Now there is stupid, and there is STUPID. That is above and beyond binge drinking, that is literally a step away from suicide. Fucking idiot!
Hopefully he learned his lesson...assuming he survived.

[El Moose Monstero]

Walsh wrote:

I remember one guy who chugged a bottle of bourbon on a dare after already having drunk a lot, he threw up all over himself and passed out intermittently. When the paramedics were carting him off everyone started chanting "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye". I've hardly touched a beer since that night.

Now there is stupid, and there is STUPID. That is above and beyond binge drinking, that is literally a step away from suicide. Fucking idiot!
Hopefully he learned his lesson...assuming he survived.

Of similar stupidity, a friend of mine did the 'pint of shots' in his second year. Something like 20 shots bought by his mates as it was his birthday to fill a pint glass with almost everything that you can buy at a bar, which he downed. The barman told him to go and throw it up straight away, but he decided not to and the next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital after having his stomach pumped. Moron.

[NoXion]

I don't drink that often (I alter my mind with *ahem* other methods), but when I do, I drink to the point where I'm drunk but not liable to throw up or wake up with a splitting headache the next day. I don't see the point of drinking to that stage, but I do enjoy drinking socially and the feeling of being drunk is nice if it isn't too strong. I usually stop and wait to sober up a bit before continuing if I start feeling too dizzy.

There have been a couple of occasions where I've spread out my drinking from dusk to dawn, drinking constantly but not drinking all that much actual alcohol at any one time.

As for behaviour, the worst that's happened was when I tried to pick a fight with a big South African guy. Thankfully for me, he was sober and having none of it. But that's the only time I've ever come close to being violent when drunk. Usually when I'm drunk I just talk a lot. Or cry.

[Justforfun000]

To be honest, there were times in life that I drank far too much on a regular basis because of stress. I suppose one could argue for the "medicinal" side of it in those cases. I had two truly extreme, month long periods of distress that I don't know how I would have gotten through without something like drinking or anxiety medication. I chose to drink as it went better with my job (singing in bars).

Without that kind of stress though, I drink moderately. I actually am very thankful that I got kind of hooked on wine spritzers from my Aunt. I mix almost half and half, I actually prefer a little more club soda, with white wine. Then you cut a slice of lemon, not a wedge, the "face on" kind of slice, and a handful of ice. HAS to be the right kind of wine I found out. Some taste gross. A good one and my favourite so far is the Californian wine Carlo Rossi. You can buy it in a 3 Litre bottle for under $25.

Tasty, refreshing, and ultimately, you don't drink that much wine over the long run.

[speaker-to-trolls]

Several times, yeah, I think nine or ten, depending on your definitions, all when I've been out somewhere with friends. I think I have more fun when I'm drunk in those situations, but since I start off from that assumption I can never be sure if it's just psychosomatic or not. I also used to think that I'd be more sociable and confident under the influence, I am, but not as much as I'd imagined.

I am aware that it's stupid and fairly pathetic to use alcohol when I should just make an effort to enjoy things on my own, I'm actually most keenly aware of this after a night of boozing ('oh Christ, did I say that? Did I think that was clever? Jesus. Where are my pants?').

[MartianHoplite]

I gave it up for new year. New year's eve I did over 20 shots, puked all over myself and had to get up at 8:00am the next morning to go to work. Needless to say I felt like shit all day and had a miserable shift.

That's only the second time I've been that drunk. It was certainly the last.

However, I still enjoy a good buzz from time to time. 6-7 drinks (I'm a big guy) put me in a warm and fuzzy mood without making me violent, nauseous or hungover.

I know it's poison, but I figure every once in a while (every two or three months) isn't that dangerous if I take reasonable precautions, like not driving or operating a wood chipper.

[rhoenix]

In a reply directly to the content of the OP, I have done the binge drinking thing - once. The result of that was painting the hostess' of the party's bathroom with vomit, and me drunkenly trying to clean it up, and only making it worse.

I've never done so since. Thanks to that incident, I've learned my tolerance, and learned to tell the difference between "buzzed" and "drunk." I no longer cross the line into "drunk" for any reason, as the memory of the night of painting a friend's bathroom with vomit stays with me.

[Frank Hipper]

I'm an alcoholic.

I haven't drank in 5 years, but my behavior in the past makes mere "binge drinking" look respectable.

There's no defence for it; what drinking behavior I'm not guilty of actually performing, I've been witness to.

Alcohol in the quantities we're talking about is the most dangerous, mind-bending drug there is.
Not even a delusional, hallucinating meth-head who's gone without sleep for a week is so impaired, out of touch with reality, or potentially violent as someone who's seriously drunk.

[TheFeniX]

I'm not sure of the definition of "binge drinker" used here. My grandmother (on my mothers side) was a binge drinker. She had been since my mom knew her. She wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol for months, but one taste during a get-together or at dinner would set her off. For the next few weeks she would be hammered 90% of the time. When she wasn't, she was usually passed out sleeping it off. She kept bottle upon bottle of Nyquil in the medicine cabinet. I wouldn't understand any of this until around the age of 13 when my mom explained it all to me. I just thought she was sick all the time (the sleeping and Nyquil). I am not and will never be that way. I've seen the damage it can do. I also know that I have a long line of alcoholics on both sides of my family, so I take steps to make sure it never becomes an issue for me.

If you define "binge-drinking" as getting wasted or so drunk you can barely walk straight: I've done that and still do it occasionally. I've never "blacked-out" from drinking. I've never even understood the concept. I've been so drunk I literally could not walk, and woken up in the morning remembering in full details what transpired the night before. People talk to me about forgetting entire sections of their night and I can't even comprehend it. I think it's just the way I'm wired.

For instance, my GF just went under a general anesthetic to get her wisdom teeth removed. She couldn't even remember getting to the doctor's office when she woke up. On the converse side, I remember specifically saying when the anesthetic was going into my arm for my back surgery "Man, that's cold." I then woke up immediately laying in the recovery room and my back hurt something awful. Then the nurse gave me morphine through my IV. Now that's something a man could get addicted to.

Since I gave up everything but Crown Royal, I don't even get hang-overs anymore. Mine generally aren't bad, except that one time I got drunk off beer. I had a headache that felt like bombs going off in my head.

Every once in a while, I'll cut loose and just get bombed, but I do it in my own house. My GF doesn't drink it public, so I could get wasted if I wanted to, but I hate that guy. You know him: the asshole at the bar who won't shut the fuck up because he's too wasted to realize he's being a dick.

I think the most hammered I ever got was at my 21st birthday. I won't lie: it was fun as Hell. I went to bed smashed and happy, woke up without a hang-over. It's just not fun to get that trashed anymore. My drinking has never affected my daily life as I rarely drink before week-days and I've never been close to a situation where me being drunk could endanger lives.

So, to sum up: I'm not a binge drinker although I do enjoy drinking. Sometimes I will drink more than I probably should, but my nights rarely start with the assumption of "get so drunk I pass out" unlike they would have in high school.