Photo credits (middle): Nightwatching
Binge drinking is the practice of consuming large quantities of alcohol in a single session, usually defined as five or more drinks at one time for a man, or four or more drinks at one time for a woman.
In the UK, 69 percent of male binge-drinkers and 45 percent of female binge-drinkers reported being involved in at least one incident of violence in the last year. A study in Ireland found 39 percent of all Irish people had engaged in binge drinking in the previous 30 days.
“I binge drink every chance I get and to be honest I am disgusted with myself, but I cannot control my desire to do it.... If I drink too much or drink certain drinks, I get breathless and go blotchy all over my body, but I continue to drink until I am so exhausted I fall asleep.... I am not sure that I am strong enough to quit my stupidity.” —Allen
“By the time I was in my mid-20s I was locked in to drinking.”
“A lot of my first concerns were about drinking, and everything else came second.
“I started to realize that when I didn’t have a drink I had a sense of panic and I would start shaking.
“If I had to go without a drink, I would go through shakes and sweats. I couldn’t go for more than a few hours without a drink.” —Paul
“This past year I have gone to work drunk, blacked out in clubs and bars and can’t remember getting home. Ashamedly I slept with someone and couldn’t even remember the person coming home with me until we bumped into each other the next day.”
“I’ve destroyed two relationships because I hurt them so much through my drinking, but I put drinking first.
“My family are so hurt that their daughter is killing herself for apparently no reason.”
—Jamie