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Binge Drinking

/Alcohol Use Disorder/Binge Drinking

Binge Drinking

You might not realize that it doesn’t take many drinks to qualify as a binge. With binge drinking on the rise, it’s important to learn more about what binge drinking is and how it can impact your health and safety.

What is binge drinking?

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), binge drinking is “a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08%—or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter—or more.” What does this break down to?

  • Four or more drinks for women over the course of 2 hours
  • Five or more drinks for men over the course of 2 hours

Binge drinking and health

While drinking alcohol in any amount comes with risk, binge drinking increases the risk of a wide range of health-related issues, including:

  • Blackouts
  • Alcohol poisoning
  • Overdoses
  • Unsafe sexual behavior
  • Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) 
  • Sexual assault
  • Unintentional pregnancies
  • Falls, burns, and other injuries
  • Drownings
  • Car crashes  
  • Physical, sexual, and emotional violence 
  • Death
  • Unsafe interaction with medication

Even just one binge can harm the immune system, leading to acute pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas. If binge drinking continues, it will impact the liver and can increase cancer risk, including head and neck, esophageal, liver, breast, and colorectal cancers. Learn more about the health impacts of drinking for a long period of time.

Who binge drinks?

Binge drinking can impact anyone and happen anywhere. However, binges are frequently associated with group activities such as hazing rituals and fraternity and sorority events. Research has also shown that binge drinking is more common among younger adults ages 18-34 and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

How does binge drinking impact your safety?

When alcohol is consumed on its own or combined with other substances, safety can become an issue because judgment and decision making are impaired. When binge drinking is involved, safety concerns can become even more serious:

  • Impaired driving (cars, boats, ATVs, heavy machinery, etc.) can lead to serious injury or death.
  • Blacking out is more likely when excessive amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short period of time.
  • Drowning occurs more often as those who are intoxicated are more likely to take more risks and not be aware of the dangers around bodies of water.
  • Alcohol poisoning or alcohol overdose occurs when someone drinks too much alcohol too quickly, over a short period of time or excessively over a few days, and can lead to death.
  • Sexual assault is more likely to occur, especially on college campuses.
  • Alcohol misuse can worsen mental health and is associated with suicidal behaviors.

Alcohol does not cause sexual assault, but it can be a contributing factor. Research has found that alcohol is involved in about half of sexual assaults on college campuses with the perpetrator, the victim, or both, consuming alcohol.

Help for binge drinking

It’s okay to need help to control or stop drinking. There are many resources and supports to help those struggling with alcohol use, from treatment options to recovery groups and meetings, and beyond:

For a list of even more resources, visit our Tips for Cutting Back page.

Alcohol can be especially harmful to women. For more information on women and alcohol, click the button below.

Get more information

High-Intensity Drinking

High-intensity drinking is much riskier than bingeing. It is very dangerous and can have a serious impact on your brain and health.

What is high-intensity drinking?

High-intensity drinking is defined as drinking eight or more drinks in a row for women, and 10 for men.

Why is high-intensity drinking so risky?

When someone engages in high-intensity drinking, they are more likely to experience the most dangerous effects of alcohol, including blackouts and alcohol poisoning.

What is a blackout?

Blackouts are gaps in a person’s memory that happen when they are drinking heavily. Blackouts tend to begin at blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of about 0.16 percent (nearly twice the legal driving limit) and higher. That’s why blacking out is so tied to high-intensity drinking.

Blackouts are not the same as passing out or getting sleepy from too much alcohol. During a blackout, a person is still awake but their brain is not working the way it normally does and is not creating new memories. This is why people who drink a very large amount of alcohol may have no memories of what happened.

Because women’s bodies contain less water than men’s they absorb alcohol more quickly and are more likely to have a blackout during binge or high-intensity drinking.

Help for high-intensity drinking

It’s okay to need help to control or stop drinking. There are many resources and supports to help those struggling with alcohol use, from treatment options to recovery groups and meetings, and beyond:

  • Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Access Line 1-800-563-4086 offers 24/7 support for recovery and treatment resources.
  • Connecticut Community Addiction Recovery (CCAR) telephone support program
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline: call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
  • Find Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings near you.
  • Gays and Lesbians in Alcoholics Anonymous (GAL-AA)
  • Visit our Resources page to find meetings available for just women and  non-English speakers.
  • Visit In the Rooms to attend online recovery meetings.
  • If you are a family member or friend of someone with an alcohol use issue, consider attending an Al-Anon or Alateen meeting for support.
  • Healthcare providers. Speak to your primary care doctor or other healthcare provider about your drinking. Ask about behavioral treatments, medications, and mutual support groups.