Binge Drinking

The NHS defines binge drinking as ‘drinking heavily over a short space of time’. Another way of thinking about it is ‘drinking to get drunk’.

More than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for males, or more than 6 units in a single session for females is the technical definition. That’s equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman.

We know that the risks of short-term harms like accidents or injuries increase between two to five times as a result of drinking between 5 and 7 units of alcohol in a single drinking session, compared with not drinking any alcohol at all.

You become more vulnerable when you are drunk. The sorts of things that are more likely to happen if you drink a lot in a short space of time include accidents resulting in injury, misjudging risky situations or losing self-control. If you binge drink, you are likely to lose coordination, have impaired judgement and slower reaction times. Serious health risks from binge drinking include breathing problems, seizures, and brain damage.

Your body can only process about one unit of alcohol per hour (watch our What is a Unit? animation to find out more).

Two large glasses of wine may not seem like very much. But each large glass of wine contains three units of alcohol and drinking six units of alcohol in a short space of time – an hour, say – will raise your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and can make you drunk very quickly.

Drinking the same amount over several hours as well as eating food during that time will have less effect on your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). We also have some top tips on how you can reduce your drinking.

Almost three out of ten (29%) of the estimated 3 million deaths caused by alcohol globally in 2016 were due to unintentional injury.

Getting drunk can harm your physical and mental health:

• Accidents and falls are common because being drunk affects your balance and co-ordination. In extreme cases, you could die
• Overdosing on alcohol can stop you breathing or stop your heart, or you could choke on your vomit
• Binge drinking can affect your mood and your memory and, in the longer term, can lead to serious mental health problems, with some evidence showing it is linked to suicide
• There is evidence that binge drinking increases your risk of long-term health problems including becoming dependent on alcohol, alcohol-related cancer and heart disease

Both men and women are at risk from alcohol poisoning, although women tend to have higher blood alcohol levels after drinking the same amount of alcohol as men, so may be at greater risk.

However, studies also show that men are at greater overall risk of short-term harm from alcohol (including from accidents and violence). That’s because, on average, they drink more in total and tend to consume more in a single session. 

Acute alcohol poisoning is extremely dangerous. If you think someone might be experiencing alcohol poisoning, even if you have doubts, place them on their side in the recovery position and call 999 for an ambulance.

Have you ever asked yourself, ‘am I binge drinking?’ Even if you don’t drink alcohol every day, you could be a binge drinker if you:

• Tend to drink quickly
• Sometimes drink to get drunk

If you binge drink, you are putting your health at risk even if you’re drinking less than 14 units per week in total (as advised by the Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines).

If you find it hard to stop drinking once you have started, you could also have a problem with binge drinking and possibly alcohol dependence.

Binge drinking can lead to anti-social, aggressive and violent behavior.

A good place to start is taking our confidential online Drinking Check, to see if you have cause for concern.

If you’re worried about your drinking, there are three main ways you can get specialist help:

• Through your GP surgery, which can provide you with advice or refer you for extra support
• Contact a local treatment provider and refer yourself
• Or contact a local community alcohol support service like Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART Recovery directly