When Does it Become a "Problem"?

       Distinguishing when drinking is starting to become a problem is difficult for some people to say. It is only considered an actual problem when it affects someone's personal life, career, or has absolute zero control over how much and how often they drink. Understanding how it is decided, then being able to distinguish a problem or not is easy. Drinking socially is MUCH different than having a drinking problem. Just don't let it turn into a problem!

        There are ways to determine whether or not you're a moderate or heavy drinker too. Moderate drinkers can have one to two drinks a day depending on gender and people who are 65 years and older cannot have more than one a day. Although drinking moderately can still cause problems. If someone is considered a moderate drinker, drinking alcohol too fast can cause health problems later in life. Yes, staying within low risk levels is VERY healthy and should be followed, but other aspects of how you drink needs to be thought of just as much as the amount. For women, heavy drinking is considered seven drinks per week, while men can have up to fourteen drink per week. Heavy drinkers have a higher risk of developing alcohol problems.

         Binge drinking is where the real danger is at. In just two hours, for women, having four or more drinks and five or more, for men, is considered binge drinking. Though binge drinkers can go days without drinking anything, once they start they can't stop. They have a HUGE risk of becoming dependent on alcohol and abusing it. They are much more likely to develop a drinking problem, due to the amount they drink. Often counseling and letting the drinker talk about the issues at hand helps; medication can also help. 

          A lot of people actually don't even fit the criteria for having an alcoholic problem. This is just to get all of you thinking and understanding how to safely avoid having any issues in the future.

Thinking About Drinking. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from http://thinkingaboutdrinking.msu.edu/index.php?option=com_content

Drinking & Grades

      Do you ever go out on a weekday instead of studying for a big test the next day? Well next time, rethink that decision! According to a study done at Penn State the relationship between alcohol abuse and a student's GPA is a poor one. The study began in 2008 and consisted of 28,000 students across the country. The students reported in the study were all students who had gone to a university counseling center.
       Students who had gone to seek help at the counseling centers had admitted to binge drinking or the abuse of alcohol. Though the study doesn't really tell us any details it does clearly show a correlation between the two. More than 15,000 students responded to questions about binge drinking. That's more than half of the entire study! The study was a two-week long period, they had to answer questions about about how many drinks they had and had to reflect on what they had done both weeks.
        The study showed an average of what students had received. Those that had not gone out received a 3.19, while those who had gone out received a 3.11. But, students who had gotten into trouble more than once received even lower. The study showed that the more incidents the binge drinking students had gotten into, the lower their GPA was. The lowest GPA found was a 2.95 and those students had gotten into trouble 10 or more times!
         Yes, the GPA's might not seem very low, but this is the reason we come to school to help be successful here and in our future! It's not just affecting their grades, but their health too. Everyone should go out and have fun, but we also need to be thinking about other aspects of our college career!


http://news.psu.edu/story/172329/2009/11/16/study-inverse-relationship-between-alcohol-abuse-and-college-gpa