By Christine Cioppa
Nearly half of active duty service members regularly chug four or five drinks at a time, qualifying as “binge drinkers.”
More specifically, women qualify as binge drinkers if they down four or more drinks and men if they down five or more drinks in a two hour period. The latest statistics available, published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, show that 20 to 27 percent of military personnel binge weekly. The problem is, many are drinking to relieve stress without realizing drinking can increase stress further.
Rajita Sinha, PhD and director of the Yale Stress Center at Yale University School of Medicine, Rajita Sinha, says binge drinking stimulates the stress hormone.
“The more you drink, the more stress hormone is released in the body,” she said.
So, alcohol may initially calm a drinker when one to two drinks is the norm. But, when that person drinks more and more, heading into binge-drink territory, the alcohol erodes a person’s ability to cope. The high levels of alcohol cause stress, which leads to drinking again to relieve stress. Which causes more stress. It becomes a vicious cycle.
“You may start off drinking for stress after a hard day’s work. You might increase your drinking level from two to four or three to four. If that starts to happen more frequently, and you don’t realize it, you start getting into a rut and a pattern. Really what is happening, the body actually needs more to feel the effects, and stress plays a role in that,” Sinha says.
This then can negatively affect the family. Binge drinkers may be prone to “emotional re-activity” and be more irritable, restless, and have a shorter temper. Bingers may also steer away from people with healthier coping strategies, and stick with the guzzlers, becoming the coping culture.
To get the body primed for better coping, some drinkers can cut down to light drinking. Some may need to quit if that’s too hard. Sinha has found that spouses can help by offering support once that person recognizes alcohol’s role in increasing stress.
“Spouses or partners can be very helpful in keeping people on track. Reminding them,” she said, especially when their spouse wants just one more drink.
“The heavier one’s pattern is, the harder it is to go down to a lighter pattern,” Sinha said. And for those who quit, the struggle of being sober and building a life without alcohol can be challenging, she says. Spouses can help there, too.
“At the end of the day, alcohol is a pharmacologic substance. It goes everywhere in every cell. We don’t think about it that way because it is socially acceptable; it's legal. It is something that makes us feel good. People do it commonly,” Sinha says. "The good news is that there are lots of ways to take back control over alcohol."
For tips on reducing alcohol consumption, head over to Recovery.org and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for more information.
