In college, going out to party and binge drinking are milestones that everyone is told they should experience in their four golden years. Campuses have thousands of students who struggle with alcohol thanks to popular bars and a culture that hails frequent drinking as the norm. Many of us know someone who had a drunken night out and boasted about not remembering what happened. However, frequent alcohol abuse leads to long term health consequences and can to problems with alchohol withdrawal. Most young people don’t understand the threshold there is where casual drinking turns into a serious problem. But the reality is that we’re all human, and keeping a strict level of self-discipline is difficult to do unless we make effort to become educated about alcohol abuse and possibly seek addiction treatment.
Short and Long Term Consequences
After drinking a lot of alcohol in a short time, people experience drowsiness, slurred speech, painful headaches, vomiting, blacking out, and impaired motor skills that can lead them to make poor decisions. Drinking this way can also increase their risk of health consequences from doing something too rash, like being in car crashes, participating in drunk driving, falling victim to sexual assaults, and experiences other injuries as well. If someone keeps this level of drinking up they eventually develop a tolerance to the point where they will need more drinks to get the same type of satisfaction.
Consistent alcohol abuse and binge drinking leads to serious long-term effects on the body and mind. First, they may experience severe withdrawal symptoms if they don’t intake alcohol for a certain period of time. They may also increase their risk of memory loss and not being able to concentrate on tasks throughout the day. Another effect is developing symptoms of anxiety and depression, heightened chances for cancers in the colon, liver, throat, breast, etc., higher blood pressure, and a damaged digestive system that can’t absorb the vitamins it needs to properly function. Other serious risks include a weakened heart and lungs as they develop difficulty pump blood and air correctly. A team of scientists found a striking statistic that the amount of people in three years who developed either heart failure, heart attack, or irregular heartbeat were three times higher at risk if they abused alcohol. So, it’s in your best interest to stay away from the substance as much as possible. The following infographic displays more areas of the body that binge drinking can put at risk.
Making a Change
Although many students struggling with their habit of binge drinking want to get on the road to recovery, it’s often more helpful to see a doctor or rehab specialist who can create an individualized action plan that fits their lifestyle. They can assess what your current stressors and triggers are to develop steps to avoid different situations that can hurt your recovery. If you or someone you know is experiencing a lot of difficulty with overcoming their habit of abuse, be sure to check out or refer them to Elevate Rehab. Elevate Rehab is an acclaimed rehabilitation center based in California that can provide you the tools to get back on your feet. Take the leap and restart your lifestyle to a healthier and happier one today!
