Most people assume that people will either drink “healthily” or “unhealthily”. However, there’s actually three main types of drinking behavior. Knowing the differences can help you more accurately see when your drinking may be getting risky…
Drinking Behavior: What To Watch For
Casual drinking
The first kind of drinking behavior is causal drinking. This is what most people consider to be “healthy” drinking. In general, this is when a person will drink occasionally. They might have a few drinks when out with friends, or some wine with dinner.
Plus, they’ll limit how much they have to drink. In general, they’ll try and stick to having one “standard” serving of a drink every hour or so. That way, their bodies have had time to process the previous drink before another one is consumed.
Alcohol abuse
Drinking behavior begins to get unhealthy when it turns into alcohol abuse. Abuse occurs when someone had a pattern of drinking excessively despite the negative that come with it. For instance, this can be seen in heavy drinkers, who will have two or more drinks a day, and more than fourteen drinks every week.
There’s also binge drinkers, who will drink large amounts in a relatively short time span. These people will have four to five drinks in less than two hours, leaving them very intoxicated. Despite the health risks that come with this form of drinking, they’ll continue to do it, especially at social events like parties.
Alcoholism
The last, and most dangerous form of drinking behavior is alcoholism. While many people assume alcoholism and alcohol abuse are the same, they’re actually distinct from each other. Alcoholism means a person has developed an addiction to alcohol and needs it to function. Still, it’s very easy for those abusing alcohol to end up with an addiction.
These drinkers need to drink all the time in order to feel “normal.” This means they’ll usually end up doing nothing but drinking all day. When they can’t drink, they’ll experience withdrawal symptoms. Over time, they’ll develop severe health issues, especially in the liver, heart, and brain. That’s why it’s so important for these drinkers to get help with breaking their addiction.
