<p>Plenty of binge drinking at Virginia Tech, see this related topic:</p>
<p><a href=“Parents: Apartments around VT & Binge Drinking - Virginia Tech - College Confidential Forums”>Parents: Apartments around VT & Binge Drinking - Virginia Tech - College Confidential Forums;
<p>The colleges really need to start putting pressure on the businesses that profit off their relationships with the student population.</p>
<p>“Of the people who lived on my (small) floor, I can count, without taxing my memory or consulting the alumni guide, four lawyers, three doctors, two architects, two city planning officials, one economics professor, one pharmicist, and many other solid citizens who not only graduated but did well enough to go on to graduate or professional school, enter the work force, start businesses. We now work, pay taxes, raise children, coach little league, etc. None of us the worse for wear for our Friday night partying.”</p>
<p>The data would likely show that of the HEAVY drinkers (those who in college drank 2 or more drinks nearly daily, or binged 3-4 times in a two-week period), somewhere between 12-16% became alcoholics or had serious alcohol problems later in life. Many became doctors, lawyers, executives. Most became parents. Lots were very smart.</p>
<p>Alcoholics are not stupid. Just alcoholics.</p>
<p>Agreed, mini. I think it’s a popular misconception that if you’re able to have a career then you’re not an alcoholic–but I grew up in a family of functional alcoholics. My dad never missed a day of work due to drinking, and he was a boy scout troop leader.</p>
<p>My ds was a freshman this year at a big 10 school. He lived in a dorm community that while not specifically for non-drinkers, was structured in a way that would make it an unappealing choice for partiers. He was the envy of his friends that lived in other dorms because they quickly became sick of people leaving puke in the hallways, trashing the bathrooms, and the constant noise. </p>
<p>He had a good friend that lived on a floor that was a real party floor and as a non-drinker she dealt with ridicule on a regular basis. True, the people giving her a hard time were probably drunk, but she said it was a drag to deal with it. </p>
<p>My friend’s daughter ended up hospitalized from binge drinking. She said to her parents,“You don’t understand. There are parties every single night.” She was in a sorority and these social functions were required. She said it wasn’t good enough to show up–it was important to show up and drink with the boys. They told her some tricks she could use to make it appear she was consuming more alchohol than she was, so as to keep up the party girl appearance so necessary for popularity. </p>
<p>Frankly I’m a little fed up with this idea that drinking is critically tied to the college experience. Why? Can we evolve a little?</p>
<p>Thanks. I mis-stated the data though. It is 12-16% of the total college population in a college in which 50% are binge drinkers. It is actually closer to 55-60% of “heavy drinkers” (as defined above).</p>
<p>Once again where is the proof that 55-60% of heavy college drinkers become alcoholics?? That is absurd on its face. And no, you have not provided it before as all your data and covers all drinkers and not just those who drank in college. You cannot infer that the general data applies to the unique college subset.</p>
<p>What scares me about the way kids are binge drinking these days is that the consequences are more severe. Yes, our college had a drinking problem in that students drank too much and did stupid things. However, I don’t know of a single case of someone dying from drinking too much alcohol, or even being hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. I hear and read about these things happening a lot now days and personally know a number of kids who drank so much that they had to be hospitalized. This is a whole different situation than kids getting sick, hungover and doing stupid things.</p>
<p>The other issue is that it seems to me that a lot more kids seem to have cars. When I went to our college which is in a major city, the rules were such that having a car was a major pain in the neck. The school did not prohibit cars; it simply had no provisions for them. Parking was very limited and you could not get a parking permit unless you were considered a commuter living X miles from campus. I did have a friend with a car who had to park her car in a garage, paying a monthly fee, and was located a couple of miles from campus. It could take a half hour for her to go get the car to use. </p>
<p>Now colleges seem to be providing parking for cars more than ever. At many college tour sessions, I hear the questions about whether freshmen could bring cars and car provisions at a school. This leads to a whole other dimension in alcohol and drug complications. When you got drunk on campus, the entire core of the campus was car traffic free, so that element was usually out of the picture. Mixing drinking and driving can be a lethal combo.</p>
<p>"Once again where is the proof that 55-60% of heavy college drinkers become alcoholics?? "</p>
<p>Yes (or have serious problems related to alcohol, but not alcoholics during their lifetime) and I’ve already offered you multiple links that you seem eager to ignore. </p>
<p>Since you don’t like my links, come back and talk to us after you’ve actually done your own research. (And, no, alcoholism and serious alcohol problems in later life are NOT linked to binge drinking, only to heavy drinking.)</p>
<p>You don’t have to be a binge drinker or an alcoholic to have trouble with alcohol in your life. One bad incident, a tragedy can adversely hurt you and others when it comes to drugs/alcohol and really any risky behavior.</p>
<p>It should be added that a significant proportion of 18-25 year-olds are already alcohol dependent.</p>
<p>14.7% are heavy drinkers:</p>
<p>[Results</a> from the 2007 NSDUH: National Findings, SAMHSA, OAS](<a href=“http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/2k7results.cfm#Ch3]Results”>http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/2k7results.cfm#Ch3)</p>
<p>A very high percentage of young adults ages 18-25 already meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependency (alcoholism):</p>
<p>[2007</a> Tables: Dependence, Abuse, and Treatment - 5.1 to 5.56 (PE), SAMHSA OAS](<a href=“http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/tabs/Sect5peTabs1to56.htm#Tab5.3B]2007”>http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/tabs/Sect5peTabs1to56.htm#Tab5.3B)</p>
<p>In 2007:
18 year olds - 12.5%
19 - 17.2%
20 - 17.7%
21 - 20.5%
22 - 19.4%
23 - 18.1%
24 - 17.5%</p>
<p>Mind you, those are just those who are dependent, not those who have serious alcohol related issues.</p>
<p>Frightening stats. We have had problems with drinking in our family though no one seems to meet the criteria for being alcohol dependent or an alcoholic. Just misuse of alcohol and a lack of sense when drinking.</p>
<p>The stats were not clear to me. Are these a combination of people who have had at least one incident of abuseor dependence within the last year? So if I had a few too many glasses ofwine with my sister in my house after my daughter’s graduation, do I make the list???</p>
<p>None in my family. Just good genetics (unfortunately, not for a range of other things!)</p>
<p>“Are these a combination of people who have had at least one incident of abuseor dependence within the last year? So if I had a few too many glasses ofwine with my sister in my house after my daughter’s graduation, do I make the list???”</p>
<p>No. Dependence is clinically defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fourth Edition of the American Psychiatric Association, as follows:</p>
<p>A maladaptive pattern of alcohol use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three or more of the following seven criteria, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period: </p>
<ol>
<li>Tolerance, as defined by either of the following: </li>
<li>A need for markedly increased amounts of alcohol to achieve intoxication or desired effect. </li>
<li>Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of alcohol. </li>
<li>Withdrawal, as defined by either of the following: </li>
<li>The characteristic withdrawal syndrome for alcohol (refer to DSM-IV for further details).
<ul>
<li>Alcohol is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
3.Alcohol is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended. </li>
</ul></li>
<li>There is a persistent desire or there are unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use. </li>
<li>A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain alcohol, use alcohol or recover from its effects. </li>
<li>Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of alcohol use. </li>
<li>Alcohol use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the alcohol (e.g., continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer was made worse by alcohol consumption).</li>
</ol>
<p>Alcohol abuse is more liberally defined:</p>
<p>A maladaptive pattern of alcohol abuse leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one or more of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:
<p>These symptoms must never have met the criteria for alcohol dependence.</p>
<p>mini, so if I have too much too drink twice, and each time get in an argument with my sister about it? Is that abuse?</p>
<p>And how in the world do they get people to honestly respond??</p>
<p>To answer your first question, that would be up to your clinician, whom you supposedly went to see because you thought you had a problem, or a court sent you there. (which is why the clinical data by themelves are supplemented with surveys like the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.)</p>
<p>To your second question (which would require a very long answer). We really, really do know how to validate surveys - telephone, in-person etc. NSDUH in particular is an in-person survey. This is done in multiple ways. In pen-and-paper surveys, there will be trick questions (asking you about the use of a non-existent drug), or repeat questions where the same answer would be expected. Paper surveys will be repeated in-person to see at what rate answers don’t conform. Etc., etc., There are entire books devoted to this subject. There are many problems with national surveys (I could regale you all afternoon, dealt with a big one yesterday), but “honesty” isn’t really among them.</p>
<p>I find this intrigueing – for two reasons. One, the % looks high to me (I guess I hang out with all the boring people), and Two, I don’t how you get people to respond to surveys.</p>
<p>The college binge drinking rate over the past 15 years has remained relatively stable, between 40-44%. Five separate national surveys, all using different methodologies, have come to the same conclusion. Currently, we seem to be toward the top of that range.</p>
<p>However, there has been notable polarization in the numbers (which is why your “boring people” statement has more truth in it than you may know.) In this period, there have been increases in the number/percentage of abstainers and increases in the number/percentage of frequent bingers. The middle is disappearing. Among college drinkings, 48% report that drinking to get drunk is an important reason for drinking, 1 in 4 (23%) drink alcohol 10 or more times in a month, and 29% report being intoxicated 3 or more times in a month. Bingers consumed 91% of all alcohol that students reported drinking, and 68% was consumed by the frequent binge drinkers. </p>
<p>A 2002 study (Knight, et al., 2002) found that 1 in 5 college frequent bingers qualified for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. (I think that is a little high, as among heavy drinkers, defined as near daily drinking, the numbers I see more recently are around 16%). However, less than a quarter think they have ever had a problem with alcohol.</p>
<p>A recent retrospective study by Wechsler and Nelson (J. Stud. Alcohol/Drugs, 2008) looked at the roles of campus culture, alcohol control policies, enforcement of policies, access, availability, pricing, marketing, and special promotions of alcohol as it relates to student alcohol consumption.</p>
<p>Actually I read all your links and none said what you claim. Nor have I found any support elsewhere–only reports to the contrary.</p>
<p>I also like you change for “alcoholism” to anyone who had any acohol related negative even in their life. The two do not equate in most opinions.</p>
<p>Didn’t change in the least - here’s my original post:</p>
<p>The data would likely show that of the HEAVY drinkers (those who in college drank 2 or more drinks nearly daily, or binged 3-4 times in a two-week period), somewhere between 12-16% became alcoholics or had serious alcohol problems later in life. Many became doctors, lawyers, executives. Most became parents. Lots were very smart.</p>
<p>You obviously haven’t bothered to read the links. (or you would have noted, Knight, et al cited above) that 20% were ALREADY alcoholics (qualified for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence) when they were first surveyed.</p>
<p>Drugs and alcohol were probably used more by college students in the late 60’s and early 70’s than today. Coolers filled with beer and Boones Farm wine were loaded into trunks or back seats of cars. Thank god that’s not the case today. </p>
<p>Pot, mescaline, hash, acid, speed, and numerous other substances were passed around like pieces of candy back then. Today’s college kids would have to go a long way to top the Woodstock Generation’s drinking and drug habits.</p>