Can binge drinking damage the brain?

[Reiper]

as per the title

I usually do not drink, but a few nights ago I drank way more than I should have to the point where I only remember fragments of the night. It is now three days afterwards and I still feel vacant, almost like I not all here. This is like the third time in my life I have been drunk, but I was having difficulty finding literature on the effects of binge drinking rarely or only once.

Is it possible I have inflicted any kind of permanent damage, or is am I just being a hypochondriac?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Er, most definitely, yes.

OTOH, binge drinking just once is a bit unusual, most studies are about long term binge drinking.

Spoiler: OTOH, generally not a good idea to trust net randoms with this sort of thing

 

[Link_to_Future]

Man, if one instance of blacked-out binge drinking were enough to cause permanent brain damage then I would have been vegetable a long time ago.

It isn't great for you but if it happens only on occasion then you should be fine. You know, so long as you don't do anything too stupid while completely intoxicated.

I understand the vacant feeling a few nights after a bender though. I've always attributed it to me quietly reevaluating my life choices and just hoping that my friends don't have any further blackmail material to reveal to me on Monday morning. >.<

 

[Reiper]

Yeah everything I found was about long term effects. I assume the body is fairly resilient. I do have a hard time believing that over drinking one time permanently damages your mental faculties, but I do feel sluggish still, though maybe this my mind is playing some kind of confirmation trick.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Yes, binge drinking can cause damage to the brain, but it really depends on how much drinking it really was. I mean, I have friends who will black out from like 5 shots of Vodka just because they aren't used to alcohol, but I would say that's not nearly enough to actually cause any noticeable or permanent damage.

Saying that you feel vacant and not all there isn't particularly descriptive. That could be caused by any number of things, like stress, or depression, and there are much MUCH more likely explanations than brain damage from a single night of binge drinking.

So, yes binge drinking causes damage to your brain, but it's highly unlikely that a single night of binge drinking did anything to you.

 

[nogitsune]

I think you're liver would conc out way before you got to the point to do significant brain damage that would have lasting effects.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

This is from HowStuffWorks.com

Even in alcoholics, alcohol use doesn't actually result in the death of brain cells. It can, however, damage the ends of neurons, which are called dendrites. This results in problems conveying messages between the neurons. The cell itself isn't damaged, but the way that it communicates with others is altered. According to researchers such as Roberta J. Pentney, professor of anatomy and cell biology at the University at Buffalo, this damage is mostly reversible.

Alcoholics can develop a neurological disorder called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which can result in a loss of neurons in some parts of the brain. This syndrome also causes memory problems, confusion, paralysis of the eyes, lack of muscle coordination and amnesia. It can lead to death. However, the disorder isn't caused by the alcohol itself. It's the result of a deficiency of thiamine, an essential B vitamin. Not only are severe alcoholics often malnourished, extreme alcohol consumption can interfere with the body's absorption of thiamine.

So while alcohol doesn't actually kill brain cells, it can still damage your brain if you drink in mass quantities.

There you go. Don't binge drink, it's bad for your health.

 

[HoneyVision]

Alcohol is a drug and its negative effects greatly outweigh its positive ones. That's all you need to know.

 

[Lilani]

as per the title

I usually do not drink, but a few nights ago I drank way more than I should have to the point where I only remember fragments of the night. It is now three days afterwards and I still feel vacant, almost like I not all here. This is like the third time in my life I have been drunk, but I was having difficulty finding literature on the effects of binge drinking rarely or only once.

Is it possible I have inflicted any kind of permanent damage, or is am I just being a hypochondriac?

Binge drinking and blacking out on a regular basis certainly does cause brain damage, but if you only do it once in a great while then I don't think it's that big of a deal. It's still something you shouldn't do, but I don't think it's anything you should spend a lot of time worrying about. Just try to avoid it in the future.

And from what I understand, the brain damage is actually more long-term. People who severely binge drink will suffer from liver problems before they suffer brain problems, more often than not. I believe the brain problems that arise are earlier and more severe dementia and Alzheimer's when they are older.

 

[gigastar]

I think it would cause more damage to your liver first, but yes consuming alcohol to the point of unconciousness repeatedly is most certainly not a good thing for ones mental integrity.

 

[FuzzyRaccoon]

Yes it can, every one of those times damages you. It's just that it's a measure of long term effects because it shows the CUMULATIVE affects. That is, each time you kill off a few brain cells, cause constrictions in the brain, and over time (because you have billions of these cells), impairment will occur. So yes it's damaging, it's just not readily noticeable until it happens more than just a few times.

 

[HardkorSB]

Alcohol is a mild poison, of course it can cause damage. It can cause death if you overdose.
It affects your whole body. The reason you're feeling odd is because your body is still slightly poisoned, it takes time (not a long time but still) to fully recover, especially if you're not used to it.
If you drink more water, you'll piss out the remains of alcohol faster.

You probably won't feel any real difference if you don't do it too often but maybe some childhood memory or a cheat code to a game was lost, you'll never know.

 

[omega 616]

I don't know how much weight you want to give this but in the book "the general book of ignorance", it says that alcohol doesn't kill brain cells, it just reduces the speed they grow.

People go out clubbing and get wasted constantly are fine, so doing it once wouldn't do you any harm at all (I assume. I'm not a doctor so I can't say for certain).

I know people who have been weekend binge drinkers from 16 to 25 and I don't know of any ill effects they have had, besides killer hang overs!

 

[Total LOLige]

Man, if one instance of blacked-out binge drinking were enough to cause permanent brain damage then I would have been vegetable a long time ago.

Maybe you are a vegetable and you've been put into some sort of cyber reality thing. Maybe we are all just programmes or figments of your veggie imagination.

OT: I bet the answer is yes but you've probably got to do it everyday.

 

[The Lugz]

as per the title

I usually do not drink, but a few nights ago I drank way more than I should have to the point where I only remember fragments of the night. It is now three days afterwards and I still feel vacant, almost like I not all here. This is like the third time in my life I have been drunk, but I was having difficulty finding literature on the effects of binge drinking rarely or only once.

Is it possible I have inflicted any kind of permanent damage, or is am I just being a hypochondriac?

alcohol is a poison, it's a slow acting poison and it's not particularly dangerous in small doses.

so it's entirely possible you may have given yourself alcohol poisoning and knocked off a few iq points but honestly if you're still alive don't worry too much seriously.. don't worry. just quit the binge drinking.

 

[II2]

Spoiler: Health Image

Damage is kinda a nebulous term, but yes, drinking yourself to the verge of losing consciousness isn't going to do your neurology any favors.

Ethanol Alcohol is something most of us can metabloize (practically speaking) harmlessly in safe quantities, but you can push it past the threshold of what your body can handle into toxicity. Accute or cumulatively 'damage' is being done, but so is healing, to the extent of regenerating liver tissues and neuro-plasticitiy.

Basically, just be careful and don't keep kicking yourself if you find yourself down, so to speak.

----

Personally, I used to drink pretty hectically in my young adult life. Drank heavily every weekend (by medical definition of 6+ drinks) for a few years. Most I ever put away in one night was 36 ounces of liquor. A mickey of vodka and a 26er of scotch, also some energy drinks and blow. Had a 2 or 3 day hangover. Nowadays I live cleanly, am a martial artist, writer, musician and programmer.

I'm neither a model of behavior or a judge of others, but I wouldn't sweat a one off night out.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Drinking too much in general is bad enough. It sounds like you would have to binge drink a crazy amount of times for it to start damaging your brain. By it's nature being an Alcoholic is pretty dangerous in several ways, one night of binge drinking won't be too bad, just don't make it a habit.

 

[sanquin]

Binge drinking damages your brain. Every time it damages your brain a little bit. Some brain cells deteriorate each time you drink too much, which accumulates if you do it more often.

So while binge drinking once does kill brain cells, it probably won't do noticeable permanent damage. But, and this is a guess, if you do it more often, the chance becomes higher and higher.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Another thing to bring up is that some people are actually vulnerable to alcohol-induced seizures that sometimes don't hit until the day after you've been drinking, so moderation is important. I can tell you right now as well that no one is as cool as they think they are when they're drunk, so there is really no point.