How to help someone who has drunk too much on a night out

Drinking too much can be dangerous. It can make you be sick, you are more likely to have an accident or get into a fight or it can even cause acute alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal. 

The NHS defines binge drinking as ‘drinking heavily over a short space of time’.¹ The technical definition is more than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for males, or more than 6 units in a single session for females² (equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman). 

Spotting the signs

It takes an average adult around an hour to process one unit of alcohol so that there's none left in their bloodstream, although this varies a lot for individuals. 

Early signs that a friend might be drinking too much on a night out include their speech becoming slurred and being unsteady on their feet. This is because alcohol is a depressant and it slows down the brain, affecting the body’s responses.^3,4 

You might also see your friend becoming increasingly irrational as alcohol affects judgement.⁵  

Lowered inhibitions are a noticeable sign. For example, alcohol can make a normally quiet person may become loud or extravert, or a loud person even louder.^6,7 

You might notice your friend is drinking more quickly than you, or that there is a growing number of empty bottles or glasses around them. But don’t be fooled into thinking someone is okay if they’ve had the same number of drinks as you or less. 

How much alcohol someone’s body can process depends on lots of things, including how much they have drunk, whether they drink regularly, how much they’ve eaten that day, their general health, their size and their sex.⁸  

If you think they’ve had too much, suggest having no more, getting some air outside together and a glass of water. 

Helping your friend

Acting quickly when you think your friend has had too much to drink can help avoid more serious consequences: 

• Stay with them and keep talking to them 
• Don’t let them go home on their own 
• Don’t let them leave with someone you don’t know or trust 
• Don’t let them drink more alcohol - this could lead to more serious problem 
• Call an ambulance if their condition deteriorates 

If you think someone might be experiencing alcohol poisoning, even if you have doubts, call 999 for an ambulance. 

Remember, when someone has had too much to drink, their judgement might be impaired, so don’t get angry with your friend. Get them a glass of water or a soft drink, or even order them some food. This will stop them drinking and give their bodies time to process the alcohol. 

In the future, agree a drinks limit with your friends and make sure you have some soft drinks or water. For example, for each alcoholic drink you have, you could alternate with a glass of water before and afterwards.   

Following the UK Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines yourself is a good idea. It’s safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, spread across the week, with several drink-free days each week. 

 Worried someone has been spiked? Here’s our advice

When drinking too much gets dangerous

Drinking large quantities of alcohol very quickly can lead to acute alcohol poisoning, which can be extremely dangerous. In the most serious cases, alcohol poisoning can result in coma or even death.⁹  

Alcohol poisoning can reduce your body temperature (risking hypothermia), cause vomiting (with a risk of choking), lead to a heart attack or a fit, or cause you to stop breathing. Tragically, acute alcohol poisoning was the cause of 525 deaths in the UK during 2022.¹⁰ 

There is no minimum amount of alcohol that can cause alcohol poisoning, because alcohol affects us all differently. The risks of short-term harms like accidents or injuries increase between two to five times as a result of drinking between 5 and 7 units of alcohol in a single drinking session, compared with not drinking any alcohol at all.¹¹ 

Someone affected by alcohol poisoning may experience:  

• Vomiting 
• Confusion 
• Severely slurred speech 
• Irregular or slow breathing 
• Loss of coordination 
• Pale or almost blue skin due to low body temperature 
• Being conscious but unresponsive 
• Passing out and being unconscious