Young people are drinking more now than they used to. Studies have shown that young people are drinking more per drinking session and having more sessions per week than they did ten years ago.

Drinking in moderation is an enjoyable and usually harmless feature of life. However getting drunk regularly can have potentially serious physical, and social effects. Even drinking to excess just occasionally can be damaging.

In the short term, drinking too much can put you at immediate risk of serious situations ranging from date rape to car crashes. If you’re drunk, you’re also more likely to be a victim of violence or to have unprotected sex, which carries all the associated risks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancy.

In the longer-term, regularly drinking too much can cause liver disease, an increased risk of heart attack, weight gain and a number of different cancers. Such problems are now occurring at younger ages as alcohol use has increased.

The healthy choice in the short-term is to take just a little extra care to protect yourself and your friends when you are going out drinking (for instance, know your own limits and make sure you know how to get home safely). If you have had a heavy drinking session, you should remain alcohol-free for a full 48 hours to give your body tissues time to recover.

In the longer-term, you do need to have an idea how much you're drinking on a regular basis, in units of alcohol, so you can keep your risks low. The NHS recommends:

Men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day.

Women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day.

The effects of binge drinking

A drink-by-drink guide to the effects of alcohol on your mind and body.

One medium drink (around two units):

• You’re talkative and you feel relaxed.  
• Your self-confidence increases.
• You may be over the drink-driving limit.

Two medium drinks (four units):

• Your blood flow increases.
• You feel less inhibited and your attention span is shorter.
• You start dehydrating, one of the causes of a hangover.

Three medium drinks (six units):

• Your libido (sex drive) increases.
• Your reaction time is slower.
• Your liver is having to work harder.

Four medium drinks (eight units):

• You’re easily confused.
• You’re noticeably emotional.
• Your libido (sex drive) decreases.

Five medium drinks (10 units):

• Your vision may be blurred.
• Wine drinkers have drunk the calorie equivalent of four Mars bars.
• If you drive, you're 20 times more likely to have an accident.

Six medium drinks (12 units):

• You may become obnoxious to others.
• You may become depressed.
• You may be slurring your speech and may have poor co-ordination and balance.

Eight medium drinks (16 units):

• You’ll find it very hard to control what you say and do.
• You may feel nauseous.
• You may lose bladder control in a half-asleep state. 
• You're at risk of losing consciousness.

Nine to 10 medium drinks and more (18 units+):

• Strong likelihood of losing consciousness.
• You may become incontinent.
• You face an increased heart attack risk.
• You’re at risk of breathing in your own vomit and suffocating