Last semester, the Wake Forest campus had the highest numbers of alcohol abuse in years.
This semester started off with similarly high numbers.
Sarah Moran/Old Gold & Black
In January alone there were 34 students treated for alcohol related incidents, which was a higher number than Student Health anticipated.
Although February has been much more normal (only 11 students have been treated for alcohol related activities), the increased participation in a new type of drinking game, Neknominate, may not aid in the decrease in the number of these incidents.
Neknominate originated as a game in which participants filmed themselves chugging all of their drinks in one sitting, and then posting it on YouTube or other social media sites.
However, due to its increased popularity, variations have been added to the game. Now, it is common for the beverage to be any combination of things, the ingredients of which the player is usually unaware. Some participants also began to perform dangerous activities after they finished their drink. After the player finishes his challenge, the next person tries to beat the previous participant by doing an even more extreme challenge, such as adding more alcohol to the beverage, or finishing their drink more quickly.
Dangers associated with drinking games like Neknominate encourage students to drink in a high-risk manner, and they are usually unable to keep track of the amount of alcohol they are consuming.
Lavi Wilson, the Substance Abuse Prvention Coordinator, said one of the biggest dangers of Neknominate is that students could experience a spike in their blood alcohol content levels, which leads to alcohol injuries and poisoning; some participants of Neknominate have even died as a result of the game.
“Everyone has different mental and physical biphasic responses to alcohol,” said Wilson. “Drinking too much, too fast can effect people differently, therefore this practice is dangerous.”
Mixing different types of alcohol is dangerous because it affects the body in different ways than the normal consumption of alcohol would. Common affects of mixing alcohol include loss of memory and blacking out, and even respiratory failure.
Chief of WFU Emergency Response team Nick Ashburn said, “Several times this semester, we have had several trauma calls related to alcohol abuse. And I suspect that most of those traumas were related to mixing different types of alcohol together.”
Mixing different types of alcohol is dangerous in and of itself, but chugging alcohol in addition to mixing it is even worse. When a student drinks alcohol quickly, alcohol is absorbed more quickly, essentially overwhelming the body with alcohol. The combination of chugging and mixing alcohol makes Neknominate a lethal drinking game.
Some Wake Forest students have already taken part in Neknominate, but others do not see the appeal. Junior Lisha Gu said, “I think the fact that you’re supposed to do something crazier than the last person makes it a dangerous game.”
Junior Thomas Bartenstein agreed. “Since the entire point is to beat the last video, I could definitely see things getting out of hand really quickly.”
“Neknominations seemed to be an international trend that are now making their way over to the States. The first videos I saw were fairly simple and just seemed to be a way for friends to stay in touch or have fun. But they’ve obviously escalated to a pretty bad state, where people are hurting themselves or others around them, so it’s probably for the best if it stops,” said another junior who chose to remain anonymous.
It is unclear whether Neknominate will lead to an increase in alcohol-related injuries or illnesses. However, Ashburn said, “There are some other drinking games to seem to promote a kind of group think. When you get involved in these games, you don’t respect your body and more often than not that can result in severe levels of intoxication.”