Recently Joyce Marter, LCPC provided an in-service for CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) for the clinical staff of Employee Resource Systems, a national EAP provider based in Chicago (www.ers-eap.com.)

The training instructed the EAP counselors about how to conduct an alcohol assessment and reviewed the criteria for binge drinking and current research findings. Joyce provided samples of binge drinking assessment tools and explained how to utilize them in counseling. Etiology and social, cultural and emotional variables that contribute to binge drinking were explained and discussed. Joyce Marter discussed effects of binge drinking on functioning emotionally, relationally and at work. Relationships between binge drinking and related mental health and addictive disorders were discussed. Resources were provided for education, assessment, moderation programs, 12-step programs, and treatment.

Binge Drinking

Below is a summary of binge drinking information compiled by UB’s Bridget Jordan, a second year student at Northwestern’s Masters Program in Counseling Psychology:

Definition: According to the University of Southern Indiana, is “any time a person consumes five or more drinks in a row. A drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer (five percent alcohol), five ounces of wine (12 percent alcohol), nine ounces of wine cooler (4 percent alcohol), or 1-1/2 ounces of 80 proof liquor (40 percent alcohol).  Binge drinking is drinking to get drunk. It's drinking as much as possible, as fast as possible. People who drink to get drunk may have a serious alcohol problem.

Definition: According to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, binge describes an extended period of time (typically at least two days) during which time a person repeatedly becomes intoxicated and gives up his or her usual activities and obligations in order to become intoxicated. It is the combination of prolonged use and the giving up of usual activities that forms the core of the clinical definition of binge.

Research:

• • Harvard, 2008. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2008-releases/binge-drinking-tied-to-conditions-in-the-college-environment.html

  • See attachments

Assessment tools:

• The Retrospective Diary (RD), usually requires the nomination of the amount of alcohol consumed on each day during a specified week (Millwood and McKay, 1978). Although the RD asks respondents about their actual behaviour, rather than requiring an abstraction, it is still susceptible to memory errors, which may result in an under- or over-estimation of the quantity and/or frequency of drinking (Hilton, 1989). The RD is, however, particularly suitable for use in clinical settings, relative to the prospective diary and a timeline follow-back procedure:

• The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): http://www.testandcalc.com/etc/tests/audit.asp

• http://health.rutgers.edu/adaps/alcoholselfassessment.htm

College Students are at high risk for binge drinking:

• Studies show college students account for the highest amount of binge drinkers. Approximately two out five college students are binge drinkers, according to the most recent Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study. Fifty-one percent of male students drink five or more drinks in a row. Forty percent of female students drink four or more drinks in a row. Since 1993, the proportion of students who binge drink (44 percent) has remained stable. However, the number of frequent binge drinkers — students who binge three or more times in a two-week period — rose from 20 to 23 percent. Students more likely to binge drink are white, age 23 or younger, and are residents of a fraternity or soroity.²

Additional articles/statistics about college population binge drinkers:

• • http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/rpo995/

  • http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-15-college-drug-use_N.htm

Binge drinking co-morbidity with mental illness:

• In a 2009 study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, investigators evaluated the association between eating disorders and substance use in more than 13,000 women. Five groups were studied: anorexia, bulimia, anorexia and bulimia, binge eating disorder, and no eating disorder (controls). Overall, people who had an eating disorder were more likely to engage in substance use when compared with controls. Those in the bulimia and anorexia/bulimia groups were more likely to report alcohol abuse or dependence than the anorexia group.

• “Drunkorexic” – anorexia with binge drinking

• Depression, anxiety, risk-taking behaviour, personality disorders and schizophrenia.

Long Term Effects of Binge Drinking:

• Brain damage

• Cancer

• Heart and circulation problems

• Liver issues

• Stomach Issues

• Kidney Issues

• Fertility Issues: In men: impotence (lowered libido/sex drive) and infertility. In women: infertility. Drinking alcohol when pregnant can seriously damage the development of the unborn baby

• Additionally, alcohol has also been linked to suicide. The Mental Health Foundation¹ reports that: 65% of suicides have been linked to excessive drinking. 70% of men who kill themselves have drunk alcohol before doing so. Almost one third of suicides among young people take place while the person is intoxicated.