What is high-intensity drinking? Meet the trend more harmful than binge drinking

Here’s what you need to know about the latest concerning drinking trend, and the surprising demographic most likely to try it.

Words by Mia Erickson at bodyandsoul.com.au

Heading into the festive season, most people’s calendars will be quickly filling with office parties and end-of-year family gatherings – events that can oftentimes require a fair bit of booze to endure.

But before stocking up on an affordable case of bubbles (or two), it may be wise to sense-check exactly how much you intend to drink this festive season, with a new drinking trend gaining popularity nationwide.

Here’s everything you need to know about high-intensity drinking and how exactly it differs from traditional binge drinking.

What is high-intensity drinking?

Think back, if you will, to your first year out of high school. You and your friends had just turned 18, and likely developed a taste for cheap, sugary pre-mixed drinks (which you were now able to buy yourself).

Weekends were probably spent pre-gaming with whatever bottle of spirits was on sale at the local bottle-o, lining up outside sticky nightclubs, and ending the night stooped over a toilet, regretting every sip.

We’ve all experienced the blur and consequence of binge drinking at least once in our lives, defined by drinking an excessive amount of alcohol in two hours – four standard drinks or more for women, and five or more for men.

Now, experts are becoming increasingly concerned about a rising drinking trend among adults, dubbed high-intensity drinking. Focusing more on the volume of alcohol consumed over a long period of time, high-intensity drinking refers to the consumption of eight or more drinks in a row for women, and ten or more for men.

As expected, high-intensity drinking significantly increases the risk of alcohol poisoning, injuries and death. To put the drinking trend in perspective, a regular binge drinking session usually results in a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 per cent, while high-intensity drinking can lead to a BAC of 0.2 per cent – over double the result.

As Keith Humphreys, an addiction expert and psychologist at Stanford University, tells The New York Times, high-intensity drinkers are far more likely to be “grossly intoxicated and a danger to themselves and others. The risk of harm goes up pretty dramatically.”

Typically, young adults are usually assumed to be the age group most commonly embracing binge drinking culture. However, as experts and new research points out, young adults – especially men – are moving away from excessive social drinking, with middle-aged adults taking over the habit.

While people may be influenced to participate in binge or high-intensity drinking for a variety of reasons, experts say two common causes of alcohol abuse amongst middle-aged adults are genetic disposition and self-medication. Recent studies have also outlined the desire to increase their sociability as a leading motivation.

‘Tis the silly season

While substantially improved over the last decade – thanks to the rising popularity of alcohol-free beverages – it’s no secret Australia still has a rampant drinking culture. Whether it’s sharing a cold one with a mate at the footy or cheers-ing the end of a long week at dinner with the family, you’d be hard-pressed to find a gathering of Aussies where alcohol isn’t anywhere in sight.

Our underlying drinking culture only intensifies during the festive season, too. With the holiday season comes an influx of office parties, family gatherings and catch-ups with friends; i.e. different opportunities for alcohol to make a headlining appearance.

For many, the festive season consists of ferrying around with the family from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, jumping from family breakfasts to barbeques to sunset drinks, only to pick up where you left off a few days later on New Year’s Eve.

It’s one long drinking session, broken up by sporadic bouts of gift-opening and post-lunch napping.

Hence, unlike once-a-year birthday celebrations, occasional bachelorette parties and 20-year high school reunions, the consumption of alcohol during the festive season is not typically contained to one 5-hour block of time, creating more opportunities for high-intensity drinking across the board.

This article first appeared in Body + Soul.