When a young adult moves to college and leaves home for the first time, they thrive in the new surroundings. New friends in a new place can lead to new things. Alcohol abuse in college is all over, and could easily affect any new college student. Alcohol abuse is not always obvious.

Alcohol abuse and college can often go hand in hand when considering the stereotypes of college itself. Drinking is a habit for many, and many do not realize that their actions could easily be categorized as alcohol abuse. This alcohol abuse is easily hidden by the guise of social outings, parties, and fitting in.

At parties, alcohol abuse is rampant. Students will chug beers as fast as they can. Alcohol is everywhere; alcohol is freely shared, at no cost. Everywhere you go, students are taking shots and drinking out of kegs. Too much of this action is alcohol abuse, and could affect a student’s schoolwork.

When drinking with friends, many fall to alcohol addiction without knowing it. Popular drinking games force people to drink more than they should, and do it faster than they should. These games are often competitive, and can be seen as contests, making people drink more than they usually would. Because they are having fun, many fail to see this as alcohol abuse.

The amount of alcohol consumed by college students would be considered alcohol abuse by experts and others on the outside; on the inside, it’s seen as normal. For beer, many students drink 12, 24, or 30 beers a night. Conveniently, these are the numbers that beer comes in when you purchase it. For liquor, students measure how much they drink by how much of the fifth they consume. This drinking is easily alcohol abuse, and should not be ignored in any sense, but addiction treatment should be sought.