Most authorities on health consider 1 to 2 alcoholic drinks per day to be within the guidelines of moderate drinking. So if you are drinking more than 1 to 2 drinks per day, any day, you have a drinking problem. For those who decide to drink heavily in a short period of time, the consequences are blackouts, hangovers, and death. A blackout is an amnesia-like state where a drinker loses their memory while drinking. The individual may have carried out activities and conversations fairly normally during the period of amnesia, but has no memory of these events afterwards.
Blackouts occur because alcohol robs the brain of oxygen.
It is a good indicator of a severe drinking problem. If you experience nausea, headaches, fatigue, and thirst the morning after a night of heavy drinking, you have a hangover. Hangovers are best avoided through moderate drinking. The ultimate effect of drinking is death. Those who drink a large quantity of alcohol in a short time, risk their own life.