Daily Alcohol Use vs Social Binge Drinking, Term Paper Example

Daily Alcohol Drinking versus Social Binge Drinking: A comparison of Harmfulness

Abstract

There is a narrow difference between the definition of the daily based alcohol consumption and social binge drinking. Daily drinking entails the efforts by an individual to have a drink such as a glass for each day or most days of the month. In this case, the volume of alcohol taken at a point is small but is sustained throughout the life of an individual. In the event that the person drinks heavily each day, it can lead to association of daily binge drinking. But for this case, the aim is to compare a situation of drinking small amounts of alcohol, similar to daily addiction to alcohol. On the other hand, binge drinking entails taking huge amounts of alcohol such as five drinks for men, and four drinks for women under two hours.

Introduction

Drug addiction is one of the leading causes of death in the world. In 2017, approximately 19.7 million adults in the United States struggled with a substance use disorder. Out of the high number, 74 percent battled with alcohol use disorder, while 38 percent struggled with an illicit drug use disorder. Besides, drug addiction and abuse cost American society over $740 billion yearly in lost workplace productivity, crime-related costs, and healthcare expenses. Meanwhile, the battle to combat drug addiction has been focused mainly on psychological and environmental factors without giving much attention to biological factors. A report by American Addiction Centers shows that genetics account for nearly 40 percent to 60 percent of an individual’s risk of addiction. The amount of alcohol consumed in a short period is high and affects the normal functioning of the body. Social binge drinking therefore entails the heavy drinking in a short period using some social gatherings or events that may happen once a week or with specific occasions. However, there has been a debate regarding which of the two approaches to drinking is the most harmful to the body. In this respect, the study entailed conducting a literature review research on the issue based on original results to evaluate the most harmful one. Based on the findings, the nature harmfulness can be either to the health of an individual or the effects even to the social surroundings of the person such as friends, lovers, other road users, and friends at the social gathering. Therefore, the aim and main research question was determining which of the two approaches to drinking is the most harmful and how each one affects the health of the person and those around them the most.  The findings indicate that binge drinking is the most harmful compared to daily drinking if in small amounts. Therefore, there is need to look for interventions for binge drinking to reduce most of the harmful effects including unwanted pregnancies, violence, and possible alcohol poisoning among others. Despite social binge drinking being the most harmful, the impact of daily drinking was most harmful through damaging of the liver in the long-term which even led to higher death rates.

Whether a drink is a spirit, wine, or a beer, it contains alcohol. The alcohol drank by human beings is usually bought in bars, restaurants, and licensed stores. Typically, alcohol contained in the alcoholic drinks people drink is made from a chemical known as ethanol. To make an alcoholic drink, one can use vegetables, grain, and fruits via a process known as fermentation. In this process, bacteria react with sugars in these foods to produce CO2 and ethanol (alcohol). Alcoholic drinks such as cider and wine are made by fermenting fruits while beer and spirits are made by fermenting cereals such as rye and barley. The content of alcohol in a drink depends on how long it is left to ferment – they longer it is left, the more it is concentrated.

Since alcohol is a liquid element, it is taken orally. Alcohol is abused when an individual drink it in excess. Studies show that prolonged use of alcohol and alcohol abuse can have profound effects on an individual’s health. Excess alcohol taken for a short period can lead to alcohol poisoning. Besides, too much drinking alcohol can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases such as cancer, among other serious health problems. Alcohol belongs to depressant and sedative classes of drugs. As a depressant, alcohol inhibits the functioning central nervous system since it affects neurons in CNS. This leads to symptoms such as sleep, coma, drowsiness, relaxation, anesthesia, and even death. Similarly, as a sedative, alcohol slows brain activity. Hence, when taken in excess, alcohol can have profound effects on the human’s CNS and results in adverse reactions inside our bodies, which can affect our overall well-being.

According to a survey conducted by DHHS, the most demographic using alcohol are those aged between 13 – 40 years. The report shows that the use of alcohol is persistent to teenagers aged between 13 – 19 years, followed by adults aged between 20 – 30 years. Several factors contribute to the use of alcohol for these demographics. First, it is the availability of alcohol in bars, restaurants, near schools, stores, and shops. So, when one wants to buy an alcoholic drink, he or she can quickly get it regardless of the age. Most alcoholic drinks are cheap, meaning everyone can buy. Also, people are buying and storing alcoholic drinks in their homes; this means they can drink any time they want. Lack of effective laws to limit the use of alcohol can also be termed as a contributing factor. Alcohol is not a lethal drug; however, when taken excessively, it can lead to adverse effects on human health.

Hypotheses Development

Null hypothesis (H₀): Although both daily based alcohol consumption and social binge drinking are harmful, binge drinking has more harmful effects on the individual than social binge drinking

Alternative Hypothesis (H₁): Although both daily based alcohol consumption and social binge drinking are harmful, binge drinking has lesser harmful effects on the individual than social binge drinking

The main hypothesis is that although both daily based alcohol consumption and social binge drinking are harmful, binge drinking has more harmful effects on the individual and other people as well. This hypothesis is based on the idea of measuring the harmful effects of both attitudes to drinking. The aim is to discover the harmful effects of each and compare between the two which is the most harmful and what interventions have been suggested through other original research that can help prevent such attitudes. In this case, it is hypothesized that most of the people that drink daily, especially when such drinks are not heavy can only suffer addiction and liver diseases.

Questions Being Answered

The following questions guided the literature research in determining which among the daily alcohol consumption and social binge drinking is more harmful.

1. What are the harmful effects of daily based alcohol consumption?
2. What are the harmful effects of social binge drinking?
3. In comparison, which is more harmful between social binge drinking and daily alcohol consumption?

Methods of Literature Review and Article Selection

The articles used in this research are peer reviewed studies and obtained from academic databases. The search was mostly through going to Google scholar and then using the key words of the approaches to drinking to narrow down the research. One article was obtained from a strong government source of the CDC which also entailed critical information regarding the harmful effects of both and the limitations.  For the CDC report, it was easy to get the recent report on the effects of social binge drinking and daily based alcohol consumptions, including the prevalence and impacts on others in the society as well. The article was chosen based on the strength of original studies of the government source and its reliability of using such information especially in academic writing. This helped greatly in revealing information of comparing the two approaches to drinking and what possible interventions can result in reducing the consequences of heavy, binge, or daily drinking.

For the academic studies, the search was more rigorous. Firstly, there was use of key words in searching for the information. In this case, there were three approaches in the searches of keywords. Firstly, the use of the word versus as a conjunction between social binge drinking and daily based alcohol drinking was used. This resulted in articles that directly conducted research on the two. With this approach, many of the studies had variations in the specific variables of the harmful effects which were then compared to determine which among the two. There were some of the studies that even focused on using rats which were given a small volume of alcohol each day for seven days while the others was given the same volume but in one or two days at the end of the week and the effects measures. Such original studies were more preferred. The most recent researches especially in the last 10 years also helped in limiting the types of original studies used for the literature review.

The second approach entailed searching for particular articles for either social binge drinking or daily based alcohol consumption. This approach narrowed down to articles that only focused on the specific attitude of drinking and increased the number of variables of the harmful effects of each. Therefore the approach of article selection increased finding more variables that evaluated the harmful effects of the drinking approaches of each type of drinking both to the health of the individual and to the people around the person drinking. The findings in the research would be critical in establishing which among the two is harmful in the health of an individual both in the short term and long term and what impacts or dangers are caused in the society as a result.

Lastly, the natures of the articles that popped up for the research and entailed appropriate information were many. However, in each of the articles except the CDC report, the abstracts were read to determine the most appropriate among the randomly picked articles with the key words. Further, to balance the two sides, there was a selection of four articles from the findings for each of the approaches making a total of 8 articles of original studies. At least four articles contained information on the social binge drinking while the other four entailed articles on daily based alcohol consumption harmful effects. Some of the articles however contained information on both and were used on either side in discussing the specific harmful effects of that topic in the research report.

Results Discussions

In total 8 original studies were used and one more CDC reports. After reading through the researches and findings of each, the findings were classified into two groups. The first category entailed the findings on the daily alcohol drinking attitudes and behaviors and the harmful effects resulting from such behaviors. This was discussed independently about the findings. The second topic included discussion of the findings for the social binge drinking effects. These were also discussed independently including a range of harmful effects both on the individual health, and effects of their behavior under influence on the others as well. Also, some focussed on the economic harms to the society and the person as well. For instance, the research by

Daily Alcohol Drinking

Some of the articles that specifically focused on alcohol consumption included three studies. Mostly, the articles focused on some of the harmful health effects of daily alcohol drinking and how it could lead to addiction and heavy drinking eventually. The first study that focused on this was by Amsterdam and Wim indicated that more than two billion persons take alcohol (248). In most cases, some associate daily drinking with low volumes of alcohol e ach day without necessarily causing arm to the body. However, Amsterdam and Wim indicate that even small volumes or low intake of alcohol has cardiovascular effects (249). This therefore can affect the health of the individual in the long run as well. For those taking alcohol moderately, most tend to develop a number of chronic diseases. Though these diseases are limited, they weaken the immunity and body functions of an individual. Some include development of liver diseases, and chronic ulcers which if not controlled could even lead to death. Other effects include alcohol use disorders which cost the people through avoidable treatments in the first place. Besides the public health harmful effects, Amsterdam and Wim also note in their research that low intake- to moderate alcohol consumption also has economic repercussions not only to the individual but the society as well making it more harmful than any other illicit drug (248). For instance, Amsterdam and Wim state that estimates of about 3-7% of the alcohol consumers, which consist of 76 million people worldwide have alcohol use disorders (Amsterdam and Wim 250). As a result, most of the costs incurred by the society in relation to the alcohol consumption compose 60 to 70% in treatment and interventions to rehabilitate the people (Amsterdam and Wim 250). For this reason, the authors propose the interventions that people should reduce alcohol consumption through implementing preventive policies to alcohol other than just focusing on the harm in a bid to reduce dependency on alcohol drugs. Therefore, in this research, the authors made the finding from the surveys and research that most of the daily alcohol consumers have most harm to the individual in the long term as well as the society in terms of costs, and the chronic diseases that consume a lot of funds during interventions.

A second research by Rehm also indicated that the harm and global disease burden worldwide. In the research, Rehm focused on the alcoholism which is an addiction to consuming alcohol almost daily and the heavy drinking as a trait of alcohol consumption. In most cases, people tend to become alcoholic as they become dependent on the drink and cannot do without it. In this way, the addiction can harmful to the health of an individual and considering how many people across the world are increasingly drinking, the burden across the world is as well increasing. Rehm noted that more than 30 conditions of the diseases are as a result of the alcohol consumption, and it contributes to other illnesses and conditions as well. Therefore, the impact on the diseases that the individual develop becomes a major health issue across the world and a concern of most of the governments. Rehm listed some of the diseases associated with alcohol consumption that eventually result in harmful effects in terms of health, to an individual. Some of them included categories of infectious diseases, diabetes, cancer, liver and pancreas diseases, neuropsychiatric illnesses including alcohol use disorders. From a physical point of view, individuals can also suffer from either intended or unintended injuries as a result of some actions when the person is under the influence of alcohol. Rehm notes that the health harms not only affects the individuals but to others as well, and the overall costs associated with daily based alcohol consumption. For instance, some of the infectious diseases such as HIV can be passed unto others that are intimate with the drinker, or some of the road carnages affect other road users who might not be even alcoholics in the first place. Some of the costs incurred in treating the chronic diseases also might come from external sources which increase the burden to the society through costs. Therefore, the intervention proposed by Rehm are aimed at encouraging the people to focus more on prevention strategies as a way to reduce associated costs of alcohol harms, pain and suffering, and health harms through the consumption of alcohol.

The third study was particularly interesting in the results from the comparison of daily drinking of alcohol to the binge approach to alcohol consumption. Kraus et al. focused on conducting a research using surveys of substance abuse between 1997 and 2000 to compare the effects of the two (314). The main purpose in this case was trying to find out which among the two approaches would result in a better way to predict the alcohol associated problems and therefore develop a more effective intervention. Therefore, a focus on 30 days was used where the frequency and volume of binge drinking was used, while on the other hand the volume was associated mostly with the daily drinkers (Kraus et al. 314). The findings indicated that in most instances, the individuals who had binge drinking had high levels of alcohol content in the blood but thereafter the volume decreased significantly giving time for the body to recuperate and return to normalcy. On the other hand the volume and frequency of those drinking regularly at least each day was measures and it was found out that the alcohol content in the body was high throughout the month (Kraus et al. 314). Therefore, the authors concluded that binge drinking was more harmful to the body. However, it was a better predictor of the social problems that arise from alcohol drinking other than the volume of the drink consumed. In this case, the comparison was especially insightful in showing that from the survey binge drinkers are exposed to more harm than the daily drinkers who take small volumes and maintain high alcohol content in the blood (Kraus et al. 314). Therefore, focusing on the episodic heavy drinkers such as through social binge drinking could significantly lower the harms especially on self and to others in the society for those consuming alcohol.

Social Binge Drinking

In most of the studies, binge drinking came up as the most researched area. the harmful effects of the binge drinking spread from focusing on the teenagers and young adults, to effects of road accidents, unwanted pregnancies, infectious diseases, and sexual violence among others. Therefore, it is undeniable that binge drinking is a concern for most government policies and probably the most harmful. In a study by the CDC regarding the prevalence of binge drinking in the U.S., the organization found out that about 80,000 in each year is as a result of binge drinking accounts (PubMed 14). Further, out of the total costs of excessive alcohol consumption ($223.5 billion), three quarters of the costs are directly related to the binge drinking (PubMed 14). From these statistics alone, it is already clear that binge drinking is not only harmful but a big concern and costly issue for the drinkers. On average, the binge drinkers take almost 8 drinks around four times to five times each month which is almost every weekend. Besides, most of the people involved include teenagers and young adults. Also, most of the people with higher household incomes also had higher prevalence of being drinking (PubMed 15). However, those with middle income and young had the most episodes of drinking intensive per month and consumed the highest volume of alcohol which is more dangerous and harmful.

Based on the CDC reports, binge drinking comprised the most deadly drinking behavior where the blood’s alcohol concentration was about 0.08 g/dl or above than that. Averagely, this translates to about 5 or more drinks for the males more 4 for females under a period of two hours. In the US, the CDC estimates this to be about 1 in 6 adults that drink at least four times each month of 7 drinks. If this was estimated to each individual, then each person would be consuming about 467 binge drinks per drinker. Besides, about 90% of the people that report drinking are also binge drinkers as well.  The following graph shows the binge drinking behavior in the US based on the various age groups.

Figure 1: binge drinking patterns in the US

From the summarised data adapted from the CDC report, it indicates how the teenagers from high school and young adults up to the age of around 35 have high prevalence of the behavior. Considering this is the most productive ages of the person, there need to initiate enough intervention to promote health among the people. In the study by Bartel et al., the authors identified some of the most influencers of binge drinking who included the romantic partners and peers (2). In the findings, the authors concluded that watching drinking habits of siblings and parents had a lesser effect than those of peers and romantic partners. This resulted in high ego of binge drinking especially when there is peer involved between ages of 17 to 25 years. In most cases, the prevalence of the men drinking is higher than those in women involved in binge drinking (Choi and Diana 860). Therefore there is need to monitor the most endangered group of teenagers and young adults.

Besides binge drinking is being depicted as the most dangerous way of drinking behavior, it also has negative harmful effects to the health of an individual and other people as well. In the study by Townshend et al., the authors conclude that repeated intoxication from alcohol referred to as binge drinking can result in adverse effects on the nervous system (1143). For instance, binge drinking affects the prefrontal neural systems which affect how people make decisions and control impulse. Therefore there is a direct connection between such effects on the cognitive process which over long time can alter the brain function and responses to various stimuli when excessively drunk. Another harmful effect implicated in the study is involvement in sexual behavior. Townshend et al. argue that when people binge drink, it results in unplanned sexual behavior especially among teenagers (1143). This is risky because it not only can result in unwanted pregnancies, but can lead to sexual violence, infectious diseases, and lowering of self-esteem among others that can affect the health of the individual both mentally and the body negatively. There are few studies that focus on the how alcohol alters the behavior of an individual. It is easy to find an individual act differently when having self-control and not drunk than when the have binge drinking. Sometimes they result in blurred vision and reduced impulse control that can lead to delayed responses to stimuli and cause road accidents and other physical injuries among others (Townshend 1143). For instance, an individual can fall from a tall building; have no control of where they are going and this increase the vulnerability to harm than any type of drinking including daily drinking but in low volumes.

The effects of daily alchohol use in the brain are severe and prolonged. First, the more a person utilizes use alcohol; the brain is triggered to adjust to the heightened level of dopamine, as well as other types of neurotransmitters by generating minimal dopamine. The brain also responds by minimizing the production of receptors that can obtain signals. In this regard, the effect of dopamine on the brain’s reward circuit of a person who engages with alchohol abuse becomes unusually low, thereby reducing his or her potential to experience any pleasure (Febo et al., 2017). The approach explains why most people who use alchohol on daily basis tend to feel depressed, lifeless, and flat. The individuals cannot embrace anything, including things that used to be pleasurable. The only thing that makes sense alchohol abusers is the continuous drinking, as that is the only way they can bring their dopamine to work as usual. However, the same as a vicious cycle, they create more problems. Therefore, the latter has more negative and harmful effects due to the nature of the vulnerability.

To an extent, the binge drinking also affects the diet and nutrition intake among the heavy drinkers. In the study, the authors indicated that the development of diseases and disabilities in most places is as a result of alcohol use. Based on this assumption the authors decided to evaluate in the research the association between binge drinking and the impact on the general and mental health, as well as the diet and nutrition especially among young adults (Mohamed and Muhammad 483). The results indicated that binge drinking contributed to depression, eating fast fried foods, and leading to a poor quality of life. Therefore, the conclusion included that poor eating habits and bad health was significantly influenced by binge drinking which is harmful to the mental and general health of the individuals as well (Mohamed and Muhammad 483). In this case, alcohol consumption is depicted to be the most dangerous especially when it involves the youths. Not only does long time binge drinking influence the mental health such as stress and depression, it also impacts on the health outcomes of the individual including development of bad eating habits that can result in other diseases as well (Mohamed and Muhammad 483). In this respect, the harmful effects of binge drinking not only are dangerous to the individuals but can result in secondary harmful effects to other people as well.

Good mental health is indispensable to human being’s well-being, interpersonal relationship, healthy families, and the ability to live a better, productive, and fruitful life. Empirical studies indicate that people with untreated mental illness are linked to severe risks and perilous behaviors such as alcohol abuse and destructive or violent behaviors. Additionally, alcohol-related disorders have vastly contributed to suicidal cases throughout the country. Recent health data indicate that suicide as an 11^th leading cause of death in all age groups and the second cause of death of adults, especially those aged 25 and above. Mental wellbeing plays a pivotal role in the health of society. The society may take mental wellbeing to be associated with the physical conditions of the human bodies. From the outer environment of society, mental wellbeing is an important factor that is highly considered in the workplace. It entails how one can respond to ups and downs that arise during our lifetime. Personal thinking and handling of emotions are associated with mental wellbeing in society. Alcohol-related disorders have severe impacts on the physical health of many people. Most of these impacts have been strongly linked with the outcome, prevalence, as well as the progression of most persistent and pressing chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases. Besides, alcohol-related disorders are said to have harmful as well as long-lasting impacts such as economic costs and psychosocial effects not only to the patients but also to their families, work and school colleagues and communities.

Conclusion

One of the conclusions made is that binge drinking is more harmful that daily based alcohol consumption. In most instances, people who are binge drinkers also during almost daily and become addicts. Some of the harmful effects include developing depression, altering impulse control, and cognitive functioning of the brain in the long term. Besides, it increases the vulnerability to other forms of general health harm and physical injuries as well. For instance, unplanned sexual behavior can also influence other harms and unwanted behaviors. Based on the findings, the nature harmfulness can be either to the health of an individual or the effects even to the social surroundings of the person such as friends, lovers, other road users, and friends at the social gathering. Therefore, the aim and main research question was determining which of the two approaches to drinking is the most harmful and how each one affects the health of the person and those around them the most.

The findings indicate that binge drinking is the most harmful compared to daily drinking if in small amounts. There is need to look for interventions for binge drinking to reduce most of the harmful effects including unwanted pregnancies, violence, and possible alcohol poisoning, among others. In this case, it is hypothesized that most of the people that drink daily, especially when such drinks are not heavy can only suffer addiction and liver diseases. However, the people involved in binge drinking have more negative and harmful consequences. In addition to the blurred vision, slowed memory, and other metabolic reaction effect, individual can be vulnerable to violence, or become victims of violence, road accidents, can get alcohol poisoning, sexually abused, unwanted pregnancies, and getting infections among others. From a physical point of view, individuals can also suffer from either intended or unintended injuries because of some actions when the person is under the influence of alcohol. The health harms not only affect the individuals but to others as well, and the overall costs associated with daily based alcohol consumption. Some of the costs incurred in treating the chronic diseases also might come from external sources which increase the burden to the society through costs. Therefore, based on our initial hypothesis, we can conclude that it is true that daily use of alcohol is more harmful than social binge drinking, and this conclusion is widely supported by numerous studies.

Works Cited

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CDC. “Binge Drinking Is A Serious But Preventable Problem of Excessive Alcohol Use | CDC”. Cdc.Gov, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htm.

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Mohamed, Samahir, and Muhammad Ajmal. “Multivariate Analysis Of Binge Drinking In Young Adult Population: Data Analysis Of The 2007 Survey Of Lifestyle, Attitude And Nutrition In Ireland”. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, vol 69, no. 8, 2015, pp. 483-488. Wiley, doi:10.1111/pcn.12284. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.

PubMed. “Vital Signs: Binge Drinking Prevalence, Frequency, And Intensity Among Adults – United States, 2010”. Pubmed, 2012, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22237031/.

Rehm, Jürgen. “The Risks Associated With Alcohol Use And Alcoholism”. Pubmed Central (PMC), 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307043/.

Townshend, Julia M. et al. “Binge Drinking, Reflection Impulsivity, And Unplanned Sexual Behavior: Impaired Decision-Making In Young Social Drinkers”. Alcoholism: Clinical And Experimental Research, vol 38, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1143-1150. Wiley, doi:10.1111/acer.12333. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.