"Binge Drinking": The perceived reward of gratification is stronger than the long-term health risks.
Access to HE. Project Writing
INTRODUCTION
A government report shows that 17 million working days are lost to hangovers and drink related illness each year. The annual cost to employers is estimated to be £6.4bn while the cost to the National Health Service is around £1.7bn: Around 40% 0f Accident & Emergency admissions are alcohol-related Billions more are spent clearing up alcohol-related crime; there are around 1.2 million incidents of alcohol related violence each year. Additionally alcohol-related problems are responsible for an estimated 22,000 premature deaths each year, a figure thought to be conservative.
Over 90% of British adults drink alcohol, spending over £30bn on alcohol each year. One in three men drink more than they should. One in five woman drink more than they should, and woman in skilled jobs drink more heavily than other woman. (BBC[1])
The new government concern however is not only the amount of alcohol, but also the short durations during which much of it is consumed. A now common term used to describe this high intake of alcohol in a single drinking occasion is “binge drinking”. This is thought to account for 40% of all men’s drinking sessions. (Press Association)
People who binge drink could be causing rapid damage to their brain cells. Originally it was thought that damage to the brain (Neurodegeneration) was caused not while drunk, but over a longer period when the brain had to cope with alcohol withdrawal. Recent, but unconfirmed research, suggests that degeneration after a couple of days of heavy intoxication might translate to someone who is not a chronic alcohol abuser.
Andrew McNeill, co-director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, told BBC News Online that many people were still unaware of the potential damage of alcohol. ‘People still think that alcohol damage only affects middle-aged people when their liver drops out. The fact that it can also cause brain damage, and that you don’t have to be an alcoholic for this to happen is not something that people fully understand’
Reflecting government concern about the costs to the economy and heath service rung up by heavy drinking, London’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, is considering building upon existing voluntary schemes such as “pubwatch”, and limiting ‘happy hours’, requiring more seating to discourage drinking while standing and better bar service to curb the binge-drinking culture. (Meikle)
‘Binge drinking is part of young people’s culture. For a lot of young people there is ignorance about the effects on health.” (Moran) and binge-drinking woman on Wearside are putting their long-term health at risk. Of Sunderland, Dr Judy Thomas, Director of public health said in her annual report 2003, ‘the proportion of adults who drink alcohol above the safe level is among the highest in the country’. The report also highlighted that ‘many young people regularly drink more that the amounts experts say they should have. Binge drinking, where they down large amounts in a short space of time is a particular problem.’ ‘Sunderland kids are also drinking more than most other young people in England. A survey of schools showed that 15% of 12-15 year olds locally had drunk alcohol in the week before. This was more than double the national figure of 7%.’
Binge drinking is far from either a new or British phenomenon. As a northern European country, heavy sessional intake and drinking to get drunk have been an integral part of British drinking culture for generations and are reported at least as far back as the Vikings. (IAS) The major contrast in drinking culture between Mediterranean and Northern Europe is the dominant beverage is wine against beers and spirits. While wine is regarded as part of the diet and so consumed on a regular basis as part of meals and in family settings, there are strong informal sanctions against public drunkenness. In contrast Northern culture is characterised by less frequent but heavier ‘explosive’ patterns, typically around weekends, away from the family setting and as a means to itself – drinking to get drunk. As such, public drunkenness in not unexpected and sometimes socially accepted and even expected. In Britain drinking developed to being very pub-centred, where predominately men went to drink beer as an activity in its own right, not associated with another activity, tending to be concentrated around evenings and weekends. This bingeing style of consumption was further reinforced by the practice of buying in ‘rounds’ that naturally encourages everyone in the group to drink at the speed of the fastest and to drink more than they might otherwise do. Getting drunk may be an unplanned consequence of a night out, but most often binge drinkers go out with the intention of getting drunk. They report strategies of accelerating the process such as having a few drinks before leaving home, mixing drinks and deliberately drinking quickly and missing a meal to drink on empty stomachs. (IAS) The alcohol industry has also adapted to this market, producing new rages of designer alcohol drinks aimed at a new generation of drinkers. Increasing the strength of alcoholic drinks to compete in the ‘psychoactive’ market, being advertised as such drugs and as lifestyle markers. One of the current fastest growing market segments are the ‘shots’ and ‘shooters’. Short drinks packages and sold as a means of rapid intoxication. Promotions such as ‘happy hour’ encourage rapid and heavy consumption by offering reduced prices for a short time, often in the earlier part of an evening. Government claims that amending the ‘artificially’ early pub closing will reduce binge drinking, as people will no longer have to beat the clock, seems unrelated to the ‘culture’ and ‘history’ of drinking habits in the UK. It is also notable that in Australia, with a similar drinking culture to the British, extended drinking hours resulted in an increased in binge drinking drunkenness. (IAS) Given the cultural and psychological factors effecting binge drinking, it would also seem questionable whether education into the long-term health problems associated with excessive drinking would have an influence on current drinking habits.
