Is There Such a Thing as a Weekend Alcoholic?

The most common days of the week to drink alcohol are Friday and Saturday. Most people are out of work or school for the week and drink alcohol during social events on the weekends. Some social settings even encourage binge drinking. Bars may have drink specials offered. Parties may promote the invitees to BYOB. Some individuals may find it harder than others to limit their alcohol intake, or use the weekend as an opportunity to drink excessively. This can pose a risk to those more prone to alcohol addiction, or tempt those already suffering from alcohol abuse. 

Not everyone who drinks on the weekend is an alcoholic. It’s common to find people who drink a glass of wine with dinner or grab a beer with friends. But, excessive drinking on the weekends may indicate a deeper addiction. 

While it’s hard to measure how many people drink on the weekends, one study on weekend drinking reported that 51.1% of people drink on Fridays and 62.8% on Saturdays, compared to as low as 16% on Tuesday or even 21.7% on Thursday. Those who suffer from a dependency on alcohol may take advantage of the higher drinking culture on the weekends compared to the amount of people who drink during a weekday. 

In loved ones, it may be hard to detect when someone has a problem. Social drinking, while most common on the weekends, can mask some alcoholism. If you suspect that someone you know has trouble with alcohol abuse, or if you yourself struggle with weekend alcohol abuse, consult with a mental health or addiction professional to determine how to intervene or seek the right treatment.

A weekend alcoholic is someone who experiences alcohol dependency on the weekends. This often involves drinking quantities well over the legal limit. It also may involve more frequent binge drinking on the weekends than the general population.

An individual may have an underlying weekend alcohol addiction if they experience the following:

• They use the weekends as an excuse to drink heavily 
• Weekend drinking is used as a coping strategy for dealing with a busy work week, stressful recent events, or other mental health issues 
• It’s hard to stop after one drink
• Drinking is put on a priority above all other things, including spending time with family 
• Sundays, or even Mondays, become a “recovery” from a weekend of drinking
• Patterns of heavy drinking every weekend begin to develop 

While drinking is most common on the weekends, feeling a need to drink or feeling the inability to avoid overconsumption turns weekend drinking into a serious issue. If you are concerned about your drinking or a loved one, it may be time to seek treatment from an inpatient or outpatient treatment program for alcohol addiction.

Even if it’s only confined to the weekends, heavy drinking poses serious health risks including an increased risk of liver damage and heart disease. It’s common, especially in young people, to fall into social drinking settings where alcohol is most “acceptable” and think that there is no mental or physical harm. But, frequent or heavy drinking has an underlying effect that may be harder to detect when drinking is confined to the weekends.

Drinking, even just on the weekends, can have detrimental effects on health and lifestyle if left untreated. In the short-term, heavy weekend drinking can lead to alcohol poisoning or physical injuries from drunk driving accidents, falling, or other reasons caused by lack of motor skills. Long-term, it can cause changes to the brain, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, digestive issues, live disease, and mental health disorders. 

Weekend drinking can also have social implications when it becomes an addiction. Individuals may become more aggressive during episodes of heavy drinking. It may also shape who they decide to spend more or less time with on the weekends. For example, a kid in college may opt to hang out with college kids who party more on the weekends at bars or clubs, as opposed to friends who opt for a more laid-back weekend. Over longer periods of time, harmful friendships may blossom while other friendships may fizzle out.

The social nature of weekends is a major driving factor for individuals to only drink on the weekends. Most people have less responsibility on the weekends. School is done for the week, work is done for the week, and people tend to have more open schedules or free time. For some who abuse alcohol, drinking is a form of stress relief from a busy week or a coping mechanism where alcohol is used as a reward.

Weekend drinking becomes a problem when an individual experiences a strong dependency on it. Oftentimes, this stems from alcohol being used as a coping mechanism for negative emotions felt throughout the week. On weekends, when it’s more socially acceptable to drink due to less responsibilities, these individuals take advantage of the opportunity to drink heavily. 

The impact of weekend alcoholism may also creep into the weekdays. You may start the week hungover or recovering from the previous weekend. In addition, most people still have some level of personal responsibility during the weekend, such as catching up with family, grocery shopping, or even doing household chores. Those who begin to rely heavily on weekend drinking may drop these responsibilities, forcing themselves to have to catch up on even daily tasks during busier weekdays.