Binge Drinking

LFCFan

Is anyone else annoyed with the way all the health groups, government etc have suddenly decided to change the definition of Binge drinking? Binge drinking used to be 3 or 4 days on the batter drinking yourself into oblivion and coming out the other side with severe alcohol induced memory loss and people telling you what mad things you got up to. No binge drinking is 4 or more drinks. i.e. Whe we go to the offy for a 6 pack to watch the game with, we are now binge drinking. It seems that have conveniently changed the definition so they can scaremonger the hell out of the country again to try and make us change our ways. Grrrr...... Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Paparazzo

I just ignore it or laugh at it. Everyone in the country that drinks, binge drinks!

aidan_walsh

Binge drinking used to be 3 or 4 days on the batter drinking yourself into oblivion and coming out the other side with severe alcohol induced memory loss and people telling you what mad things you got up to.

Given that people can now achieve this in a single session...

rediguana

The government is interested in promoting health, insofar as its binge drinking policy goes. Six drinks in one sitting, done regularly, would be associated statistically with a range of health issues. As such, I see no problem with their stance on the matter.

People are free agents. Most right-thinking people ignore the government anyway, so why sweat it?

danniemcq

i am fed up with goverment warnings i know drinkin does damage i know smokin x does damage i still do both i will continue to do both. my life is mine

WhiteWashMan

the beer wine and spirits forum is not about binge drinking.

away to the heathens in humanities for your dose of debate.

de5p0i1er

There always looking for something to complain about, we drink to much, we smoke to much, we drive to fast, were not working hard enough, were spending our hard earned money on ourselves. Anything to pass the blame from them to us.

Bradidup

I dont care what thy call it a long as they keep off the roads.

Zombrex

LFCFan wrote:

Is anyone else annoyed with the way all the health groups, government etc have suddenly decided to change the definition of Binge drinking?

Yes, the drinks industry. For obvious reasons

http://www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/BingeDrinking/KeyFactsandIssues/tabid/196/Default.aspx

tbh

de5p0i1er wrote:

There always looking for something to complain about, we drink to much, we smoke to much, we drive to fast, were not working hard enough, were spending our hard earned money on ourselves. Anything to pass the blame from them to us.

blame for what?

Zombrex

tbh wrote:

blame for what?

The fact that "they" are responsible for us drinking to much, smoking to much, driving to fast, not working hard enough etc etc ...

aidan24326

LFCFan I wouldn't pass too much heed of what the government say about stuff like this. They will move the goalposts at will to suit a particular agenda. To listen to some scaremongers you're now an alcoholic if you drink more than 5 or 6 drinks in a night, or have the temerity to go out and actually get a bit drunk. Shut up you puritanicals! (me says with slight hangover after last night's wild drinking binge of, oh I don't know, maybe 7 or 8 pints)

tbh

aidan24326 wrote:

LFCFan I wouldn't pass too much heed of what the government say about stuff like this. They will move the goalposts at will to suit a particular agenda. To listen to some scaremongers you're now an alcoholic if you drink more than 5 or 6 drinks in a night, or have the temerity to go out and actually get a bit drunk. Shut up you puritanicals! (me says with slight hangover after last night's wild drinking binge of, oh I don't know, maybe 7 or 8 pints)

what agenda? its the same question I asked before, and it's a genuine question. Why do you think it suits the government to define binge-drinking in the terms they do?

LFCFan

tbh wrote:

what agenda? its the same question I asked before, and it's a genuine question. Why do you think it suits the government to define binge-drinking in the terms they do?

The agenda to scare people into drinking less. Instead of the Government actually tackling the problems of drink in this country they just use scare tactics. Same with blaming Speed as the main reason for road deaths so they can pass the blame onto motorists for the road carnage. Of course motorists are partially to blame but a large proportion of the blame goes to the government too for not tackling issues like driver education, bad roads etc etc.

guildofevil

The government aren't trying to do anything but make themselves look suitably concerned.

This latest binge drinking debate came about as a result of an EU wide survey that said we are the worst in the EU for binge drinking.

The definition of a binge is actually less than most people on the forum seem to think. It's 5 units of alcohol. Now consider that a pint of your average stout or lager, in your average pub, adds up to 1.9 units and you are on a binge if you have three pints in a session.

You will forgive me if I am a little suspicious of who's agenda that definition serves, but I don't think it's our government.

Our politicians are doing nothing more than than they always do; acting the way they think they should, in front of the press.

Reporter bind sides local TD coming our of a meeting: “Mr.TD, what do you think of the latest EU statistics, that show Irish people are the worst binge drinkers in the EU?”

Mr.TD, has no idea what Reporter is talking about but can't seem uninformed: “I am very concerned with this latest data. Binge drinking is of great concern to everyone in <insert party name here>.”

aidan24326

tbh wrote:

what agenda? its the same question I asked before, and it's a genuine question. Why do you think it suits the government to define binge-drinking in the terms they do?

Well they haven't defined it really. As others have said they're only parroting what's been said by Brussels, and of course what they would consider to be the 'right' thing to say in front of the media.

As usual though, this will amount to little more than soundbytes and they probably won't do anything to really tackle the problem.

In any case, what someone chooses with their own body is their business ultimately. If I choose to drink a bottle of whiskey per day and wreck my liver that's my problem. Yes there are impacts on healthcare costs but if the government were really serious about tackling that issue they would give the whole health service the complete overhaul that it needs. Oh, and stop wasting buckets of money on one hair brained cock-up after another.

Zombrex

aidan24326 wrote:

In any case, what someone chooses with their own body is their business ultimately. If I choose to drink a bottle of whiskey per day and wreck my liver that's my problem.

Is anyone stopping people from doing this though?

TBH it seems that people want to be able to drink a bottle of whiskey per day but they don't want to be reminded that this is actually bad for you.

So there is resentment towards anti-drinking campaigns, not because it is stopping people from doing this but because it is making people feel guilty for doing this. And they would rather not feel guilty.

I still know people who get really annoyed over the "Smoking Kills" stickers on the cigarettes, and they have been doing that for years.

EDIT

I should add that I'm not acting holier than though. I often get annoyed when someone like my house mate or my mum points out that something I'm about to eat is very bad for me. I look forward to something like a slice of chocolate cake after dinner for example, and if someone say "I though you were trying to get in shape?" or "you know how much sugar is in that?" I get pissed off because it is ruining my buzz.

But when I calm down I realise that it is my problem not theirs. I am trying to get in shape. I don't like to think about the sugar in a slice of cake. This is all my thing all the person is doing is pointing out something that I don't want to hear. And as such I get pissed off because it triggers a feeling of guilt in me for eating the cake anyway. Or a feeling of annoyance because I don't eat the cake but I wanted to and was looking forward to.

I think a lot of the issue with people getting annoyed over guidelines over food, smokes, drink is not anything to do with the "nanny-state" (no one is actually stopping you from doing anything) but because it is a reminder that this stuff isn't good for us. But because we want to do these things we don't want to be reminded of this. So we get annoyed at the messenger rather than looking at ourselves.

CerebralCortex

danniemcq wrote:

i am fed up with goverment warnings i know drinkin does damage i know smokin x does damage i still do both i will continue to do both. my life is mine

Until you're on an operating table at relatively young age and your life is in someone else's hand when they'd rather not have it.

guildofevil

CerebralCortex wrote:

Until you're on an operating table at relatively young age and your life is in someone else's hand when they'd rather not have it.

Then maybe they chose the wrong career, because that is what surgeons do.

Zombrex

guildofevil wrote:

Then maybe they chose the wrong career, because that is what surgeons do.

That ain't going to stop them accidentally killing you of course

guildofevil

True. But that is a danger with any operation.

I am in danger when I drink soft drinks. There are sugars and chemicals in them which are bad for me.

I am in danger when I breath the air in the city in which I live.

I am in danger when I take my bicycle out on the streets of Dublin.

I am in danger of skin cancer when I expose myself to sunlight.

I am in danger of vitamin D deficiency and SAD, when I fail to expose myself to sunlight.

I am in danger when I eat fatty foods, or salty foods, or highly processed foods, or unpasteurised foods, or...

Don't get me wrong. I'm not of the opinion that you should throw caution to the wind because you could be run over by a bus tomorrow, but I'm not going to live my life in fear of everything which may be bad for me either. I might live longer, but it would be a wasted life, in my opinion.

CerebralCortex

Do ya feel vindicated yet? Btw go to the fitness board and tell them their wasting their time they'll really appreciate it.
Bon Santé mon amis

guildofevil

I’m sorry if you don’t like the reality of the situation, but it’s all a numbers game.

For example, some smokers die of cancer at 25. Some live to 95, most die somewhere in the middle.

On average, you are more likely to die younger if you smoke.

That does not mean that you will die younger if you smoke, nor does it, mean you will live longer if don’t. The same goes for any one of the myriad lifestyle choices you make.

And don’t try to rope the people on the fitness board into your anti alcohol crusade, by implication. Put up a poll and find out how many of them drink, then come back at me with your data, before you do that.

CerebralCortex

I concede.

Zombrex

guildofevil wrote:

I am in danger when I drink soft drinks. There are sugars and chemicals in them which are bad for me.

You are right there are. Diseases like diabetes are on the increase and occurring at a younger and younger age.

guildofevil wrote:

I am in danger when I breath the air in the city in which I live.

Again you are right, you are. Asthma and other respiratory diseases are on the increase in urban and densely populated areas, particularly in children.

guildofevil wrote:

I am in danger when I take my bicycle out on the streets of Dublin.

Road deaths increase each year.

guildofevil wrote:

I am in danger of skin cancer when I expose myself to sunlight.

Skin cancer is on the rise in both Europe and America. In Britain cases rose by 64% between 1990 and 2000.

guildofevil wrote:

I am in danger of vitamin D deficiency and SAD, when I fail to expose myself to sunlight.

You are right. Office working, or working indoors for long periods of time has been linked to depression, stress and other illnesses.

guildofevil wrote:

I am in danger when I eat fatty foods, or salty foods, or highly processed foods, or unpasteurised foods, or...

Again right. Obesity and the health problems that occur with that are on the increase. Doctors are predicting that this generation are going to be the first generation where a significant proportion of people do not out live their parents.

guildofevil wrote:

Don't get me wrong. I'm not of the opinion that you should throw caution to the wind because you could be run over by a bus tomorrow, but I'm not going to live my life in fear of everything which may be bad for me either.

"Fear" is rather irrelevant. It is perfectly possible to avoid all these things above by simply being aware and taking better care of yourself.

caffrey

whilst i dont agree with the definition of binge drinking and have been known to binge drink heavily according to the definition i do think that irelands drink culture is pretty crazy. a walk around temple bar at 2 o clock at night while stone cold sober just shows what we are at. When this level of drinking is being done our society gets let down by people who go out of their way to cause trouble, alcohol just compounds the situation. Most people are fine its the dirtbags out there. This is probably the problem that the government really want to address but they are disguising it by saying that it is for our health. I am not saying that i havnt had too many from time to time its that people go out on a friday/saturday with a goal to get into that state. there is being drunk and there is being blind drunk. A few ruining it for the masses. If you are on this forum disgussing it in a mature way you are probably not the type of person who abuses alcohol in a huge way.

Zombrex

caffrey wrote:

whilst i dont agree with the definition of binge drinking and have been known to binge drink heavily according to the definition i do think that irelands drink culture is pretty crazy. a walk around temple bar at 2 o clock at night while stone cold sober just shows what we are at. When this level of drinking is being done our society gets let down by people who go out of their way to cause trouble, alcohol just compounds the situation. Most people are fine its the dirtbags out there. This is probably the problem that the government really want to address but they are disguising it by saying that it is for our health. I am not saying that i havnt had too many from time to time its that people go out on a friday/saturday with a goal to get into that state. there is being drunk and there is being blind drunk. A few ruining it for the masses. If you are on this forum disgussing it in a mature way you are probably not the type of person who abuses alcohol in a huge way.

I agree with most of what you are saying.

I would just make the point that it isn't necessary to get "blind drunk" for the drink to be damaging your body.

Really there are two issues to the alcohol campaigns. One is the scum bags starting fights at 2 am in temple bar because they are totally pissed. This of course is a serious problem. But as you point out it is a problem with a small minority who have issues and go out to get very drunk and start fights.

But the other issue, often ignored by most people, is that a far great percentage of people regularly drink too much and as such we have started to see the damage that this is doing to peoples long term health. Binge drinking is not just defined by those who start fights at 2 am. It is actually defined by the amount of alcohol one can safely drink. More than this limit and the alcohol is doing proper harm to your body. But because this is silent we don't notice nor pay much attention to it. Until of course we are in hospital 10-15 years later being told we have the liver of a 97 year old. Doctors are estimating that our generation is that first generation where a sigificant percentage of us are not going to out live our parents. This is not just due to drink, it is due to our unhealthy life style in general (for example diet). But drink plays a factor in it. A few months ago I was reading a column about a GP who was finding people in their 30s coming into him with damage to the livers and kidneys that he would expect to see in someone of old age. And this was becoming increasingly common.

The idea that we can just drink alcohol as if it was any other drink is clearly having a damaging effect on the over all health of this generation.

So it is something to keep in mind. Just because someone is not the time to be getting plastered and starting fights on O'Connel St. doesn't mean that they don't need to be thinking about their health in relation to alcohol consumption.