College Drinking: Know Your Limit
Avoid alcohol abuse, addiction, and poisoning symptoms
When it comes to drinking, what does it mean to "know your limit"? Here are tips to help you prevent alcohol abuse and learn when to stop.
How much alcohol is too much? There's no simple answer to this question. If you're going to drink alcohol, you need to learn how to make this judgment call. You can try to figure out your blood alcohol content, but that's just part of the story. What does it mean to "reach your limit"?Here's some common sense tips to keep in mind the next time you're out drinking and are wondering if it's time to quit-- or, in some cases, if you have a problem with alcohol addiction and abuse.
First of all, there's a thin line between losing your inhibitions and losing control of yourself, and that's the line you don't want to cross. Losing your inhibitions may cause you to engage in silly, loud, or unusually bold behavior. You may look back on these things in the morning and cringe, but there probably won't be any dire consequences (unless you die from embarrassment). However, when someone loses control of their behavior, that's when they can put themselves in danger or become a danger to others.
Second, there's a point when the lousy effects of alcohol outweigh the fun effects. If you feel good after four drinks, this doesn't mean you'll feel good after eight drinks, when you're puking and hungover and feel like you've been run over by a rhinoceros. More is not better. The number of drinks you can handle comfortably is different for everyone, of course, but that number may be lower for you than you think.
Another important point to consider: are you drinking as a part of an evening of fun with your friends, or are you having fun with your friends as a part of an evening of drinking? If you drink, it should be a part of your fun activity, not the fun activity itself. If drinking becomes the primary source of your entertainment on a regular basis, you may be drinking too much.
Finally, if you're out drinking and you think you might be at your limit, you probably are! And if your friends think you are at your limit, they are probably right. Remember, it's highly unlikely that tomorrow morning, you're going to regret that you didn't drink enough. It's much more likely that you're going to regret getting wasted. So know when to stop.
Have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions? Please join the discussion!
For more helpful articles, stop by the College Students and Freshman Year guide!
