Difference Between Binge Drinking And Heavy Drinking

If you or someone you love are drinking excessively, you may be concerned about the pattern of alcohol abuse.

Binge drinking and heavy drinking are often terms used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two.

Binge drinking involves heavy alcohol consumption in a short period, while heavy drinking may define a larger pattern of abuse over a given week or month.

What Is Binge Drinking?

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) describes binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams per decilitre (g/dl) or above.

This typically happens when adult women consume four or more drinks at a time, and when adult men consume five or more drinks in a two-hour period.

For youth, the numbers are lower: it takes three drinks for girls to pass the threshold and three to five drinks for boys.

This is the most common type of excessive drinking, often seen in one of the four stages of alcoholism, pre-alcoholism.

What Is Heavy Drinking?

Heavy drinking is generally defined as excessive drinking in a given week.

For women, heavy drinking means consuming ​​eight drinks or more per week, and for men, it means consuming 15 or more drinks per week.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) considers heavy drinking to be binge drinking five or more days in a month.

The Difference Between Binge Drinking And Heavy Drinking

Both binge drinking and heavy drinking have major negative implications on health and can lead to alcohol use disorders (AUD).

One is not necessarily worse than the other — they simply describe patterns of alcohol consumption.

A person who drinks heavily may binge drink, and a person who drinks in binges may be heavily drinking. The difference lies in how much is consumed at once.

Generally, binge drinking occurs when a person consumes multiple drinks at once, whereas a person who drinks heavily may spread out their drinks throughout a week or month.

Binge Drinking Or Heavy Drinking May Lead To Alcohol Use Disorder

If someone binge drinks, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they have an alcohol use disorder.

Heavy drinking is more cause for concern when considering an AUD because it points to a larger, more consistent pattern of abuse.

Any abuse of alcohol can lead to physical, mental, and health consequences in the short and long run.

The health consequences of binge drinking include:

• weight gain
• alcohol poisoning
• harmful effects on pregnant women, including miscarriage and stillbirth or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs)
• high blood pressure
• heart disease
• stroke
• weakened immune system

The health consequences of heavy drinking include:

• higher risk of developing AUD
• heart disease
• damage to the nervous system
• anemia
• Seizures
• difficulty sleeping
• liver damage
• digestive issues from pancreas damage

Get Help For Alcohol Abuse

Recognizing the early stages of binge drinking and heavy drinking is crucial when identifying serious alcohol abuse.

If you’re worried that you or your loved one are showing signs of alcoholism and engaging in these behaviors, help is available.

Reach out to our helpline and we can help you to take the first steps toward recovery.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff