The University Times

Katie Boucher | Contributing Writer

It is nothing new to suggest that we have a culture of drinking in Ireland. Much of our socialisation is centred around alcohol, and this is perhaps even more pronounced among the student population. And with good reason. Drinking is fun, it’s relaxing, it’s sociable, and there’s no mystery as to why it is referred to as a “social lubricant”. It lowers our inhibitions, and while too much of this can be undoubtedly harmful, in moderation this can facilitate social bonding by enhancing our mood and encouraging us to let our guard down a little. In the dating world, it is rare in some circles for the first move to be made unless the person is under the influence of alcohol. Even for those who have been close friends for years, normally any effort to take a relationship to the next level happens in a drinking context. Alcohol is ingrained and embedded in our lives, it is not going to go away anytime soon, and nor should it.

However, it cannot be denied that alcohol does have a number of fairly serious downsides. Amy Colla, an assistant psychologist working in the Student Counselling Service, argued that one of the biggest things we have to watch out for when it comes to drinking is its complex relationship with mental health. Following a night of heavy drinking, it is extremely common to experience “the fear”, or post-alcohol anxiety. Often this involves feelings of regret and embarrassment for something you said or did, but other times it may be more of a general anxiousness that cannot be traced to any one particular action. Alcohol is a depressant, so it can often exacerbate pre-existing feelings of anxiety or depression. This can have extremely serious implications for some people, with over 50 per cent of suicides in Ireland occurring after the person has consumed alcohol.

ADVERTISEMENT

Alcohol is ingrained and embedded in our lives, it is not going to go away anytime soon, and nor should it.

Clearly, alcohol needs to be enjoyed in moderation, otherwise it can cause health, social, and psychological problems. However, it is difficult to know how much is too much, seeing as each individual’s perception of what is acceptable is socially constructed by what others in their circle of friends are doing. e-PUB, or the Electronic Personal Use Barometer, is a self-monitoring online tool that is being promoted by the counselling service as a way to examine your personal drinking habits and get feedback about whether they are considered healthy and normal compared with the rest of the student population. It is derived from the E-CHUG (Electronic Check-Up to Go) program, which is the original American version, but uses Irish drinking norms among college students as its comparative data. It is available in a number of different universities across Ireland, with some even making it a compulsory step during registration. This is not the case in Trinity, however. According to Colla, who is the main promoter of e-PUB this year, the counselling service feel that it is far more effective to allow people make their own decisions about monitoring behaviour, rather than forcing someone into a particular course of action. This service has been available to Trinity students for around two years, and its user traffic tends to fluctuate. Higher numbers of students tend to use e-PUB following email campaigns advertising the service. Most recently, following the email campaign during mental health week, over 350 students completed e-PUB, which would suggest that many Trinity students are interested in examining their relationship with alcohol.

As someone who never would have thought much about my own drinking habits, I decided to complete the e-PUB program out of curiosity. It takes approximately ten minutes to complete, and gives detailed feedback afterwards. It begins by gathering some general demographic information such as age, sex, weight, and year in college. Following this, it asks some questions about your typical drinking habits, such as how much you would drink on a standard night during a typical week. It also asks questions about how much you would estimate the general student population drinks on average, how much you know about the effects of drinking, and how motivated you are to change your own drinking. All questions were straightforward, aside from the difficulty in deciding what exactly constitutes an average week, and I was confident that I was fairly average with regards to my drinking habits.

According to Colla, who is the main promoter of e-PUB this year, the counselling service feel that it is far more effective to allow people make their own decisions about monitoring behaviour, rather than forcing someone into a particular course of action.

Apparently not. The old definition of binge-drinking was “a period of continuous drunkenness lasting two days or more, during which time a person neglects his or her duties and responsibilities in order to become intoxicated”, which is admittedly very generous with regards to what constitutes excessive drinking. However, the new definition terms binge drinking as having six or more drinks in one sitting. While that may still sound reasonable, bear in mind that one pint of beer would be considered two standard drinks. To me, at 5 ft 2 inches tall, three pints would certainly have an effect, but I would imagine that it would affect a 200-pound 6 ft man differently. So when I saw that I drink enough to be considered “binging” at least once a week, I didn’t take it too seriously, convincing myself that it was too stringent of a definition, that it was fundamentally flawed, and that 95 per cent of other college students do the exact same thing. I was also wrong about that. College students seem to drink less heavily, and less frequently, than I thought they did. While the exact stats should be experienced on the site for oneself, suffice to say my estimations were way off.

The feedback also informed me that I spend approximately €2,000 a year on alcohol, cheerily noting that with that money I could have bought a plasma screen TV. Bleak. Other highlights include the fact that the calories in the amount of alcohol I drank last month is the equivalent to 23 cheeseburgers, and that it would take me 11 hours of continuous running to work that off. Luckily, I went for a 30-minute jog last week, so I only have 10 hours and 30 minutes of intense exercise to go. Apparently during my most intoxicated period last month, I had a blood-alcohol concentration level of about 0.18, which is enough to cause confusion, stupor, and impaired sensory perception, and is over three times the legal driving limit. It takes approximately twelve hours to completely sober up from a blood alcohol concentration of 0.18, meaning I wouldn’t have completely sobered up until around 2 or 3 pm the following day. Finally, my risk of developing future alcohol problems is “medium”.

The feedback informed me that I spend approximately €2,000 a year on alcohol, cheerily noting that with that money I could have bought a plasma screen TV. Bleak.

These facts and figures, along with other pieces of information included in the comprehensive feedback, are real eye-openers. This isn’t a scare tactic but rather gives each person the information to deal with things as they need. As someone who never would have considered myself to be a big drinker, it has certainly made me more aware of my own habits. e-PUB is free, it does not take too long to complete, and it is entirely confidential. It may give you the push you need to re-evaluate your drinking, or it could just be a way to get some interesting feedback about your own relationship with alcohol. It is being endorsed by both the Student Counselling Service and College Health Centre, and they would encourage anyone who has concerns about their own drinking, or who is just interested to see how they compare to the college average, to give the e-PUB service a try.

You can book an appointment with the Student Counselling Service by calling the following number: (01) 8961407 and you can take the e-PUB here.