1:52 • Published Nov 6, 2025 • Alcohol & Drinking
Binge drinking is one of the most common—and most misunderstood—patterns of alcohol misuse. We break down why episodic binge drinking can be even harder to control than daily drinking.
Who This Video Is For: Weekend drinkers who can't seem to stop once they start, professionals who only drink socially but overdo it, and anyone who doesn't drink daily but loses control.
People who come for treatment more often than not report a pattern of binge drinking more than they do a pattern of daily drinking. It's much more likely that they are drinking in spurts rather than drinking on a daily basis and being physically addicted to alcohol. Many people think that if they're not physically addicted to alcohol, if they're not getting the shakes in the morning, I mean, maybe the problem isn't that bad. But it's actually a minority
of people who come to treatment for alcohol problems who are physically dependent on alcohol in that particular way. Uh the more common pattern is what's known as episodic binge drinking, which means consuming large amounts of alcohol in a relatively short period of time, but not doing it every day. Some people are weekend binge drinkers. Some
people binge drink only on certain occasions when they're with certain people. The binge drinking episode can for some people mean having five or six drinks, which gets them significantly intoxicated. And for some people it could mean I see especially young guys who can have 10 or 15 beers in an evening over the course of 6 or 7 hours and then continue drinking into the next day which is you know classic binge drinking. In many ways binge drinking is
a harder pattern to break than daily drinking. And the reason is because people who binge drink often can go days or weeks at a time in between the binges without drinking anything and not have cravings and urges, not have withdrawal symptoms. And so they say to themselves, and understandably so, I mean, if I could stay away from alcohol for weeks at a time, how is it that I could have a significant alcohol problem that would warrant some kind of treatment or professional help? The problem is that I
don't have a reliable off switch. Once I start drinking, especially in certain situations or with certain people, I can't stop. I've tried time and time again, but once I have three or four drinks, I go on to have five or 10 drinks. And it what begins as a a fun
evening with with a group of friends ends up being another drunken binge.
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