#binge-drinking

#binge-drinking

Hi, I'm Cullen, and I'm an alcoholic. At least that's what I recited in front of hundreds of strangers once a week while attending virtual Alcoholics Anonymous meetings last year. I mumbled the words, but often didn't believe them or give their depth of meaning to my life. But when I turned the legal drinking age, even though I swapped out plastic bottles for premium glass ones, that frenzied "teenage" spirit didn't go away.

The CDC says even moderate drinking can increase health issues; going above the line, even more so. It recommends no more than one drink a day, which means around seven a week, for women (the amount doubles for men). Based on the NIAAA's guidance, having four or more drinks in a day counts as binge drinking, no matter how spaced out the drinks are. This was a rule I also broke fairly frequently at parties and weddings.

One of the biggest surprises of not drinking was realizing how much social anxiety I have. And I'm a pretty social person. Back in 2022, after COVID pushed me into remote work, I noticed something: my only social life outside work usually involved drinks at a bar. Unlike school or office life, home meant being clear-headed; out meant being drunk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol consumption is a technical term that includes both binge drinking and heavy drinking. Binge drinking is defined as four or more standard drinks on a single occasion for women and five or more drinks for men. Heavy drinking is eight or more drinks in a one-week period for women and 15 or more drinks for men. Any alcohol consumed by pregnant women or individuals under the legal age is also considered excessive drinking.

"An inability to handle rejection of any kind. Sometimes, for better or worse, the answer is 'no', and how people respond to this tells you so much about them. 'I've seen awful cases of this in both men and women. No, I won't sleep with you. No, I won't be your boyfriend. No, I won't give you money, No, I won't take you out. No, I won't meet you at X time in y place. No, I'm not interested.'"

I honestly believe if she weren't there I'd be dead,