What is Considered a Heavy Drinker?

Frequently asked questions

What is Considered a Heavy Drinker?
Answer: According to the NIAAA, men are heavy drinkers if they consume more than 4 drinks in any day or more than 14 drinks per week. Women are considered heavy drinkers if they consume more than 3 drinks in a day or 7 in a week..

If you’re considering whether to complete alcohol detox  or rehab or not, then you’re probably curious about how bad your drinking really is. The best way to find out is to compare your habits to the drinking levels established by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Keep reading to learn more about heavy drinking and to find out what you should do if you fit into this category.

The three levels of alcohol consumption

According to medical convention, there are three levels of alcohol consumption. The first is moderate drinking.

This involves consuming alcohol in a healthy way. It means drinking four or fewer drinks per occasion and 8 or fewer drinks throughout the week. Typically, a moderate drinker has no more than 1-2 drinks per day.

After that level comes binge drinking. The NIAAA defines this as alcohol consumption that gets the blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 or higher. That typically means consuming 4-5 drinks in a span of about 2 hours.

Heavy drinking is the last level of alcohol consumption. It’s typically associated with alcohol addiction since most heavy drinkers feel incapable of limiting their alcohol consumption.

What if I don’t qualify as a heavy drinker every week?

Although the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism sets pretty straightforward guidelines, your drinking habits can vary from week to week. So what if some weeks you fit the heavy drinking category but others you qualify as either binge drinking or moderate drinking?

If you aren’t drinking heavily every week, it could be a sign that your alcohol addiction is less severe – especially if you’re a moderate drinker some weeks. This is because that behavior indicates that you are able to control or limit your drinking at least some of the time.

But it doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t still need treatment. If you’re drinking more than you want to and you feel it’s impacting your health, you could need support even if you’re not technically a heavy drinker every week.

What to do if you’re a heavy drinker

If you qualify as a heavy drinker, then it’s important for both your short and long-term health to quit consuming alcohol. The first step in beating an addiction to alcohol is completing alcohol detox. If you’re located in the Southern California area, Still Water Wellness can help you do this.

We provide high-quality and personalized detox programs in a comfortable facility. Our addiction specialists will watch over you to make sure that you detox as safely and efficiently as possible. That way, you can begin receiving the long-term care that you need to completely beat your addiction as quickly as possible.

Want to learn more about how we can help? Get in touch with us today.