This is an intervention: Signs your drinking is starting to get out of hand

By Georgia Wearing 

A large part of student culture is comprised of drinking, getting on the piss, celebrating wins, and drowning out failures, festivities, and flat warmings are marked by house parties. Every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and all the days in between are opportunities to get dressed up, go out, and make some memories. A large part of student drinking culture is also starting to drink, overdrinking and then coming to terms with overdrinking. It took me until after I graduated to realise I’d been over drinking for years, and many of my behaviours were textbook signs of addiction. There is nothing wrong with enjoying alcohol or doing drugs. You’re not damned for eternity after starting, but looking out for yourself and others involves having the hard conversations and facing the reality of the situation. The line between being the life of the party and forever uninvited is thinner than you think.

Here are some signs and things to look out for in yourself and others that signal a need for a classic sit down intervention. 

1. You only drink alcohol above 6% or buy the highest alcohol percentage you can find

If instead of comparing prices you’re comparing alcohol percentages, trying to find which Hazy IPA, RTD, or bottom of the barrel wine will get you the most fucked up the fastest you aren’t drinking to drink — you’re fast-tracking to drunk. Try and reframe the way you think about drinking. Lean towards alcoholic drinks you enjoy the taste of, or take a longer time to drink, and ignore the alcohol percentage. 

2. You become a different person

We all become a different person when we drink. Some people get extroverted, sleepy, reserved, elated, but if the person you or others become is violent, offensive and reactive instead of excusing the behaviour, stop and reassess. There is no excuse for laying your hands on someone else under the influence of anything, drugs or alcohol. Seek support like therapy to work through the emotions alcohol is amplifying. 

3. House parties are just a second location

If you drink before a house party or event and upon arrival, you or others separate yourselves and dive-down a k-hole, your ‘social’ behaviour might actually be anti-social. If second locations are just a reason to start drinking earlier and gain access to free alcohol it’s likely you’re not a social drinker, just a drinker. 

4. Once you start you can’t stop 

At house parties you go through the fridge to take others drinks, pull cans out of unsupervised bags and take swigs of abandoned beers at the edge of the bar. If as soon as you pass tipsy you take any drink offered to you and can no longer pass judgement on whether you should continue drinking or if you're at the ‘perfect level of drunkenness’ (everyone's perfect level is a different amount, if your perfect amount is black out you need an intervention) then it’s time to take a step back and reconsider how you can learn to stop. 

A good sign you can stop is being able to identify when you’ve begun to black out and arrange to get yourself home no matter how fun the party is. This includes asking your friends to order you an uber home and help guide you down the flat steps. Or removing yourself from the party and finding somewhere quiet to sober up (after telling someone where you are and what you’re doing), going to Take 10, or being able to refuse free drinks..

5. You’re beginning to black out earlier and earlier 

When I was deep into my ‘party girl era’ (typed ironically — I was a mess), as I continued to get blackout drunk every night I slowly realised I was blacking out earlier and earlier on after fewer and fewer drinks. Despite my alcohol tolerance being high, my brain was shutting down after fewer drinks. I’d drink three cans out of a four pack and lose my vision. When I was sober I’d have trouble remembering basic information, a sign that my brain was damaged and needed time to heal. Blackouts (alcohol-induced amnesia) are dangerous and can trigger long term damage, they should be happening rarely and you should be able to recover quickly. If they are frequent it’s time to seek help. 

‘What About You’ has online resources and quizzes you can take to assess your drinking. Drinking responsibly and looking out for yourself and others in the short term will keep you partying more in the long term. Look after your friends, monitor their drinks, speak up if you’re concerned. 

Let’s keep the party going xx