Internal Conflicts and Binge Drinking

Abstract

Binge drinking in colleges has been a notorious topic discussed for the past few decades. However, there are multiple reasons for binge drinking. The two primary branches are binge drinking due to the excitement of partying and binge drinking due to stress and depression. I am interested in the depression and stress aspects of binge drinking. My article is written to discuss what exactly is meant by depression and stress leading to binge drinking. I will also try to explain how they are both a spiraling effect, how they impact not only you but the people around you, and the repercussion. One of my biggest arguments would be trying to prove how depression and stress related binge drinking is an even bigger concern than excitement of drinking. I will also talk about how it is underrepresented in today’s society. Whenever people think of binge drinking in college, they think about it in terms of Greek life and peer pressure. I want to prove that depression and stress related binge drinking is just as if not more rampant.

College Binge Drinking: What does it look like?

Around last week my friend called me at 6:30 in the morning. He said, “Dude, ummm we have a problem… There is a person sleeping in my room. I have no idea who this person is. Just come down here.” Concerned for my friend, I rushed up to his room. Fortunately, her boyfriend came and took her back. This wasn’t the first time this happened to us. Around a week before that incident, one day when I walked into my room, there was someone sleeping in my bed. Me and my roommate usually did not lock our room until then. The root cause of both of these instances was binge drinking. However, what is the root cause of binge drinking? The false perception is that majority of binge drinking in college happens because people have too much fun drinking. However, in most cases there is an internal conflict that these people are going through, which causes them to go down this dark path of binge drinking.

Binge drinking in general is considered the most serious problem in terms of public health concerns. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 5 or more drinks within 2 hours is considered the standard norm for binge drinking (Chung, Feeley, 1). In a survey conducted in 2010, it was confirmed that 37% of students surveyed on college were students that partook in binge drinking (Chung, Feeley, 2).

Greek Life’s massive impact on Binge Drinking

There is no denying the fact that binge drinking due to Greek life is very common and dangerous. The number of binge drinkers that are associated with fraternities are significantly higher than the number of binge drinkers not associated with a fraternity. 70% of the men and 50% of the women in fraternities and sororities indulge in binge drinking (Turrisi, Mallett, Mastrolleo, 9). “…. Cashin and colleagues reported that the average number of drinks consumed per week is significantly higher for Greek fraternity and sorority members (men: 12 drinks per week, women: 6 drinks per week) than for non-Greek fraternity and sorority members (men: 6 drinks, women: 2 drinks). Furthermore, although many of the negative consequences experienced by Greek members are prevalent among college students (e.g., hangovers, blackouts, unplanned sexual activity, and academic problems), fraternity and sorority members report experiencing these consequences at a much higher rate than do nonmembers”, say Turrisi, Mallett and Mastroleo. This evidence makes it clear that Greek life can play a huge role in terms of binge drinking. I would go as far as to say that Greek life plays an impact on negative decisions made at college. But what is the root cause behind guy and girls even joining Greek life? Majority of the times, guys and girls indulge in Greek life to escape stress and pressures that are placed upon them. They are already suffering internally and decide to vent out by partaking in binge drinking.

Internal Conflicts of a Binge Drinker!!!

The internal conflicts that eventually lead to binge drinking go beyond joining Greek life -which instigates such behavior in students- and even reaches athletes. Because there are a lot of expectations from athletes, many times binge drinking is used as a coping mechanism. When a student is admitted as an athlete, there is an immense amount of expectation placed upon the student by the student’s parents, peers, college, and even by the students themselves. This can lead to these athletes reaching their breaking points, and that will eventually lead to them succumbing to binge drinking. Another factor that can be considered as an internal conflict is peer pressure. Many times, athletes or even students drink more because of the perception of that their respective peers drink more than them. The sense of wanting to belong and the sense of competition are internal pressures that lead to students making decisions that are not in their best choice.

There are multiple challenges that researchers deal with when they are working with fraternities, sororities and student athletes. Examples of these challenges can be generations of alcohol abuse amongst families of students, student’s disregard of personal health, and low motivation in students to change their behavior (Turrisi, Mallett, Mastrolleo, 9). This results in researchers not being able to get their message across to the student population. Another factor that comes into play is that these students are still young when they first come to college. Even though they are still dealing with their internal conflicts (pressure, stress, etc.), they also have a lack of adult guidance. They can fall prey to many things they wouldn’t have fallen prey to if they were still living at home.

The norms of the society dictate how the student should behave. Those norms in society are different in college than they were prior to college. Chen and Feeley cite Azjen when they say “Subjective norm refers to the extent to which individuals believe that other people think that they should or should not perform a particular behavior.” Regardless, these are college subpopulations that are at high risk and in need of further attention. Studies that focus on the use of interventions, as well as continued studies on underlying themes behind higher levels of alcohol abuse are needed to be clearly understood. These studies can help lead to appropriate interventions that can change the drinking behaviors of these college students.

Another internal factor that can cause binge drinking is the perception through which a task can be deemed easy or difficult. In other to prove themselves to society (or even themselves) people can attempt to perform the task (in this case binge drinking). This will make the person feel like a more significant individual. Many times, people disagree with the fact that this can be a serious problem. They believe that it’s simply showing false sense of bravado and can easily be resolved. However, this is not true. This “false sense of bravado” stems from self-diffidence and anxiety. If a person, in particular a college student, turns to binge drinking to reduce self-diffidence, it will only make them worse. They will behave and act in a manner that will make them more awkward in society. They will take this perception as more self-diffidence and that will lead to even more binge drinking. A spiral effect ends up taking place and these problems only get worse. In order for this to stop, it is necessary for society to change its perceived image of this false-sense of bravado. If society overall changes its thinking, the victims would be less influenced.

Binge Drinking stemming from loneliness and stress

All of the internal causes which could lead to binge drinking in an individual can also stem from two aspects: loneliness and stress. There is evidence from a study done in 2013 that shows that students with high levels of stress tend to drink heavily. “Park et al. (2004) examined students who completed daily surveys for 28 consecutive days, and they found that participants drank more alcohol on days that they had more stressful experiences. Backer-Fulghum et al. (2011) reported that, among a sample of college students, increased stress is linked to more alcohol-related problems (e.g., indicative of alcohol use or dependence in emerging adulthood)”, says writers Yixin Chen and Thomas Hugh Feeley. Not only in college but in society, under stressful events, individuals are forced into situations that would cause them to develop unhealthy habits and patterns to cope with that stress. This in turn can become a cascading spiral that leads to more drinking.

Personal anecdote

As we can see now, there are many internal factors that we discussed that can lead to potential binge drinking. I also mentioned how it is a cascading effect. When you start binge drinking, it impacts your mind even more, which will lead to more internal problems and stress. I have a friend who is a senior at UNC and a former binge drinker. He started binge drinking when he was in his junior year. He had gone into depression due to the stress from his classes and the pressures of the college norms. So, he started binge drinking more often. When he started binge drinking, it threw him into even more stress. One reason could be because it took a lot of time away from his work and responsibilities. Eventually he tried to quit it, but many of the people around him underestimated the impact of binge drinking due to stress. They felt it was an excuse for sympathy, but it wasn’t. This is exactly the kind of mindset that needs to be changed. This is the time when we as a society are called upon to provide better support to the victims.

What is the solution to this?

I think that in order to solve this problem we have to reform the way society confronts this issue. We have to bring more awareness to the importance of pressure and how it relates to binge drinking. One of the reasons people even fall prey to their stress and start binge drinking is because nobody is ready give binge drinkers the necessary support. If binge drinkers knew that there was somebody empathizing with the,, maybe they wouldn’t run to binge drinking to drink away the stress in their lives, and who knows, maybe this will also reduce the stress and pressures of the binge drinker.

Work Cited

Turrisi, R., Mallett, K. A., Mastroleo, N. R., & Larimer, M. E. (2006, October). Heavy drinking in college students: who is at risk and what is being done about it? Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2238801/.

Wechsler, H., Lee, J. E., & Kuo, M. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2019, from http://vb3lk7eb4t.search.serialssolutions.com/

Chauvin, C. D. (2011, November 25). Social Norms and Motivations Associated with College Binge Drinking*. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00400.x.

Chen, Y., & Feeley, T. H. (n.d.). Predicting Binge Drinking in College Students: Rational Beliefs, Stress, or Loneliness? — Yixin Chen, Thomas Hugh Feeley, 2015. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0047237916639812?utm_source=summon&utm_medium=discovery-provider.

Admin. (2018, December 22). Substance abuse unit warns against binge drinking during Christmas. Retrieved November 6, 2019, from https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/substance-abuse-unit-warns-against-binge-drinking-during-christmas/.

One of the sources I am using is an actual person who has struggled with binge drinking. They have requested that I keep them unknown, but I can use their story. I feel like there won’t be a better primary source. I can help me understand these impacts on a personal level. Reading about these impacts as statistics or information will not extrapolate the information as excessively as a primary source.