“The name certainly promotes and potentially normalizes hazardous drinking,” said Andrea King, a professor at the University of Chicago who has studied addiction.
“It’s easy to see how it could be the perfect storm for a young person emerging into adulthood: back home from college, reconnecting with friends in social environment with an abundance of bar promotions and events,” King added. “Mixed feelings about gathering with family the next day and wanting to rebel may also tie in.”
The key to weathering that perfect storm is to not give into temptation or let your drinking get out of hand.
“Because addiction is a progressive condition, people often rationalize single drinking events such as Blackout Wednesday as normal, and as a result may not be aware of a developing addiction problem in their lives,” said Christopher Yadron, director of Chicago Recovery Services with Rosecrance, a Rockford, Ill.-based private behavioral health organization.
While binge drinking and addiction don’t necessarily go hand in hand, consistently rationalizing drinking yourself into a stupor could lead to longer-term problems down the road.
“Even a single episode of binge drinking is dangerous and harmful,” he said. “However, when this becomes a pattern of behavior, a person is at serious risk for a substance use disorder.”
With more people out and drinking more than usual, the roads could potentially become a dangerous place on Wednesday night heading into Thursday morning.
Misty Otto, a spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said there were 137 drunk driving fatalities across the country during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2013, according to the most recent data culled from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Otto recommends planning ahead if you’re going to go out and throw a few back on Wednesday night.
“With so many options available to people today—taxis, ridesharing and technology services like Uber, Lyft and Luxe, public transportation—there’s no excuse for anyone to drink and drive,” she said. Law enforcement will be out and waiting if you choose to take that risk.
Chicago police issued a statement encouraging revelers to “consider appropriate plans for transportation.”
Sophia Ansari, press secretary for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, said the department will have a roadside safety checkpoint set up in suburban Schaumburg Wednesday night.
“Our officers patrolling the other parts of the county will be keeping a special eye out for impaired drivers as well,” she said.
Hospitals will be ready and waiting.
Rush University Medical Center spokesman Charles Jolie said the hospital does see an uptick in alcohol-related cases on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving each year, but not an anticipated spike that would warrant adding additional staff.
His advice if you don’t want to be seeing a nurse or a doctor on Thanksgiving? Don’t be stupid.
“The best way to stay safe is to not drink in excess and use common sense before decision making is altered,” he said. “A family praying together in an ER waiting room is not the family gathering anyone wants.”
Matt Lindner is a RedEye special contributor.
You can find our addiction coverage online and in print every Wednesday this year. As ever, we’d like to hear your feedback. If you want us to consider sharing your stories related to addiction in our publication, please send them to redeye@redeyechicago.com with “Addiction” in the subject line.
