Binge drinking....a slippery slope or just media hype?

It's reported almost daily now:

"British teenagers binge drinking champions of Europe"

"Ladette binge drinking violence soars by 300% in just seven years"

"Binge drinking epidemic increases as alcohol related A&E admissions soar"

But is this so-called binge drinking culture just a phenomenon made up by the media, or a growing problem in society? And just who is to blame?

Binge drinking - for an average sized female such as myself is defined as "drinking more than six units of alcohol, equivalent to two large glasses of wine. "

Now I might be wrong, but I'd say about 80% of women I know do this every weekend - including myself! 2 glasses of wine - hardly enough to get drunk yet classed as dangerous to yourself and those around you.

From a young age, at every big celebration I have watched the wine flow and everyone enjoy themselves without any complaints. But now, thanks to such intense media focus, it seems that having two glasses of wine turns women into "ladettes" and god forbid that men have three pints and turn into brawling idiots.

Countless things are apparently to blame for causing this "binge drinking nation" - bars and shops providing cheap alcohol and the 24 hour licensing laws come out top of the list.

We (and by we, I mean the media and the blame culture we live in) seem to have forgotten that people are able to exercise self control. If I want to go out have a few drinks, I can. But on those nights I choose to go out and get blind drunk - I know exactly what I'm doing. That's why you see those people lining up the shots on the bar at the beginning of their night, because they WANT to get drunk.

Getting drunk is a conscious decision - we have the ability to say yes or no when being offered a drink, but the media portrays us as mindless youths who are incapable of looking after ourselves.

Regrettably there are a few of those people around, and believe me I'm not saying it is okay for you to drink your life away down at the S.U, but you cannot tar everyone with the same brush. Putting someone who has a few glasses of wine and a chat with some friends in the same category as a vodka-downing tutu-wearing stumbling mess is hardly a fair deal.

The blame should lie solely with the person doing the drinking. My mum always said "Self inflicted illness doesn't get sympathy." It shouldn't have excuses made for it either.

And if still you're going to blame someone else - blame the media themselves!! Skins-type programmes are the ultimate in showing teens how to drink and take drugs, often without showing the repercussions.

So let's stop moaning about a glass of wine too many and enjoy ourselves while we can - most of us have already grown out of the all-night drinking stage and would much rather remember our evening than wake up covered in ketchup after falling asleep in our chips.

And for those of you that haven't realised yet -that hangover in the morning will teach you all you need to know about not drinking so much.