Binge drinker

In addressing the moral consequences of classification, Bowker and Star have remarked that "each category valorizes some point of view and silences another".1 Unusually in medicine, such valorisation has silently entered the Read Codes with the announcement by the NHS Centre for Coding and Classification in January 2004 of the addition of "136R. Binge drinker". Medical terms usually qualify a condition or disease rather than label the person who has it. The reason is that personal labels may carry negative connotations, arousing resistance or defensiveness, whereas terms for behaviours (such as "high risk drinking", "alcohol dependence", and even "binge drinking") are more likely to be seen as a necessary and acceptable part of therapeutic discourse. The World Health Organisation’s lexicon of alcohol terms includes "binge drinking" ("a pattern of heavy drinking that occurs in an extended period set aside for the purpose") and also offers "bout drinking" and "spree . . .