Binge drinking is the type of problem most often engaged in by young people age 16 to 29. Binge drinking is known as the consumption of five or more drinks at one sitting for males, and three or more drinks at one sitting for females. These behaviors usually occur during the last year of school, during the college years, and when graduates are establishing a professional setting in their lives and attending many social activities. However, these behaviors are known to be possible early warning signs of an alcohol problem. These include any established pattern of drinking, such as heavy regular alcohol consumption and frequent intoxication.
Alcohol abuse is definitely more severe than binge drinking, as well as more dangerous.
It often results in impaired functioning of school, job, and household responsibilities, and encountering physically dangerous circumstances, such as driving under the influence of alcohol. People who abuse alcohol may continue to drink despite the knowledge that the drinking causes them significant social, interpersonal, and legal problems. The condition known as alcohol dependence is a chronic and often progressive disease that includes a strong need to drink, despite such social and interpersonal problems as deteriorating relationships with friends and family, as well as losing a job or failing at school. Alcohol dependence has recognizable symptoms and is influenced by a complex interplay of genes, psychological factors, such as the influence of family members, friends, and the effect of culture on drinking behavior and drinking attitudes. Alcohol dependence is the most severe alcohol problem.