Do Students Really Care About Binging?

Drinking hurts--from the confused tumble down the stairs, to a painful death from liver damage. Still, 43 percent of college students "binge drink," according to an Oct. 24 New York Times report.

Binge drinking means four drinks in a sitting for women, five for men--a rate and frequency that has made headlines in recent years.

The recent discovery of this high rate of drinking at colleges, coupled with several recent alcohol-related deaths on campuses around the country, have sparked colleges nationwide to reconsider, and in most cases step up their alcohol policies and enforcement measures.

Students are more aware than ever of the potential risks associated with drinking. But it seems that at Harvard, at least, students have not changed their behavior despite being well-informed.

According to H. Westley Clark, director of the center for substance abuse treatment, a federal government program, this generation of college students is "under no greater or lesser risk" of falling prey to the risks of drinking.

"Today's college students are more health conscious, but they are more bombarded by marketing and media influences," Clark says.

"People have become more health literate," says UHS Director David S. Rosenthal '59. "They want to be more productive, live longer, be healthy. They know that alcohol inhibits these."

But at the same time, Rosenthal says "many people see binge drinking as a rite of college. Afterwards, and many even during college, turn to healthy living."

Binge drinking "typically ends when a student leaves the environment that propagated it," says Amanda T. Thomas '00.

Unhealthy Habit

Many students have a misconception that if they are not drunk, they are avoiding risk.

According to Rosenthal, the quantity of alcohol matters most, whether or not a person feels the effects.

According to Clark and Rosenthal, the long-term impacts of binge drinking are primarily the continuing fallout of acute drinking-related risks. As long as people confine their binge drinking to college, the primary dangers are the result of their activity while under the influence, like unwanted and unplanned sex, stunts and driving.

But college binge drinking can put students at a greater risk of long-term alcohol abuse because it creates a habit that can lead to alcoholism. An ongoing dependency could lead to greater health consequences later in life.

Alcohol-related health problems like liver disease, heart disease, hypertension, and emotional and mental health problems "tend to accrete," Clark says.

The list of health problems either caused or exacerbated by alcohol abuse includes a broad range of organs and systems from the heart and liver, to the stomach, esophagus, and mouth.

Students should be aware of the risk of combining tobacco and alcohol, according to Rosenthal. Though the relationship between the two chemicals has not been fully explored or explained, it appears, Rosenthal says, they tend to exacerbate each other's health impacts.

In addition to physical health problems, long-term alcohol abuse can also cause psychological, social and relational health problems. Depression, coping and relationship problems, as well as decreased productivity result from alcohol abuse.

Young and Invincible

Harvard students interviewed by The Crimson were not only interested in protecting their health but were also informed about the effects drinking can have on their bodies.

Binge drinking "can't be healthy psychologically," says Karen M. LeBlanc, an extension school student. "It's a form of escapism."

Students were informed about the risks of drinking but say it does not affect their own behavior.

"I wouldn't think the health effects are that great," says Nick H. Horbaczewski '03. "It's more the stupid things you do that cause problems in the long-term."

He and other students were confident that they could control their own drinking, especially since they are well-informed about the short- and the long- term effects.

"You take a chance, when you give up that much control [by drinking to excess], of doing one stupid thing that will follow you for the rest of your life," says Mike D. Geyer, also an extension student.

Though Clark confirms that short-term alcohol abuse is not likely to cause these long-term health problems, it can impact a person in the long term.

"Unless you are particularly sensitive, short-term binge drinking does not usually produce long-term [health] consequences. Overdoses and alcohol poisoning can produce profound physical consequences," Clark says.

The activities people take part in while drunk cause the most severe consequences.

Despite the great publicity given to recent alcohol-related deaths on campuses around the country, students do not seem to view themselves as being particularly at risk. Students interviewed say they are more aware of other's drunkenness at parties and make a point of helping drunk friends and keeping them out of trouble.

Students point out that colleges--like Harvard--that offer clemency to students who bring drunk friends into campus clinics for treatment do not help deter drinking.

When students know that they will not get in trouble for going overboard, and know that their friends are looking out for them, they said they do not feel a need to show restraint and avoid acute risks.

"The simple answer [to avoid risks] is don't binge drink. Find alternative ways to deal with stress, social awkwardness, and social phobias," Clark says.

Colleges and parents seem to be in a Catch-22. The more information they provide students, the more likely it is that their kids will feel secure while drinking.

And LeBlanc mentioned that the recent publicity about campus drinking and colleges' increased vigilance has caused harms as well as benefits.

"It also created a lot of rebellious drinking," she says.