Binge drinking is a dangerous habit that can turn into a dangerous lifestyle. For some, it has been a big problem whether they had to watch someone binge drink or they experienced it themselves.

Demarkiyo Devoil, a freshmen physical therapy major, knows someone personally who has suffered from binge drinking.

“He was drinking too much and I told him to stop. He had fallen into the ditch because he thought he was seeing things. The next day I told him what happened. He felt bad, and he stopped drinking,” Devoil said.

According to the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission, binge drinking is the consumption of five or more alcoholic drinks in at one sitting.  Binge drinking can result in depression, memory loss or even death.

Ashley Buchanan, a junior sociology major, spent most of her teenage years binge drinking. Buchanan said she would drink until she passed out or got sick. To Buchanan, binge drinking became a lifestyle.

Every weekend was an excuse for her to drink. The drinking began in spite of anxiety issues. Buchanan said drinking gave her the social strength to be able to deal with people in a public area.

Then she started to notice the physical effects drinking had caused.

“I lost all of my friends, and the ones I did have weren’t friends. I couldn’t function and I was withdrawn from school. I had no money,” Buchanan said.

Today, Buchanan is recovering and sober. She says it is still a struggle and she doesn’t want to drink anymore.  Buchanan admits to making it so hard on herself to the point where she doesn’t want to touch alcohol.

“If it gets to the point where that’s all you think about and altering your life so you can do it, it’s not worth it. You miss out on so much when you’re fixated on it,” Buchanan said.

Counselor Russell Hollis hosted a binge drinking workshop to spread awareness. He spoke about the affects it has on students and provided data from previous research. Hollis suggests eating and drinking water during alcohol intake. Time and rest are the only two methods to resolve heavy drinking.