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captionT he margaritas were what did it. Brooke*, 28, was with her colleagues, downing cocktails as if they were cordial after an epic deadline, when she spied some hot tradies at the bar. As she slurped her fifth happy-hour fish bowl, the Melbourne legal secretary sauntered over, forgetting her boss was there. Within minutes she was pashing one of them, before stumbling into a cab with him. Rocking up to the office on Monday, she laughed along with everyone as they recalled the antics of Friday night – and took it as a compliment when her workmates called her “crazy”. “I prided myself on being really social,” says Brooke. “I was always the ringleader who got everyone to go out together.” As work pressures mounted, so too did the drinking. One night she passed out in the pub toilets with a spray of vomit down her top, and then there was the day she napped at her desk after partying ’til 6.30am. “I always figured it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, so I never declined an invite to go out with people from work,” Brooke admits. “Plus, it was a high-pressure job and sometimes you just needed a drink.” 64cleo.com.au Having a bevvie or three at the end of a big week is part of Aussie workplace culture, but what happens when it goes too far? alcoholic?Are you an after cl0413FE-BingedrinkingP64.pdf Page 64 4/03/2013, 10:59:38 AM

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captioncleo.com.au 65 the key to drinking with colleagues is staying on the right side of the line between social and raucous. After -Work Brooke’s hardly the fi rst to clink glasses with colleagues. “One thing we do to celebrate, commiserate or wind down is to have a drink, and work is a place where people tend to do that collectively,” says Caterina Giorgi, policy and research manager at the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education. “But if you drink too much, too often, it can be dangerous.” According to recent studies, people who regularly drink above the recommended levels are 13 times more likely to have a stroke, eight times more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver and three times more likely to get liver cancer. “Between 1993 and 2005, we saw a 10-fold increase in the number of liver conditions in people aged 20 to 29,” Giorgi points out. “When it comes to liver disease, people often think of a middle-aged man who has been drinking six beers every day, but the dangers aren’t just in the longer term.” DrInkInG uP tHe LADDer The key to drinking with colleagues is staying on the right side of the line between social and raucous. “Drinking with your workmates is about having a good time and taking the opportunity to have a few drinks and a conversation,” says psychologist and career expert Suzie Plush (suzieplush.com.au). “Go along to build a relationship with your colleagues. Your boss will be unconsciously evaluating how you interact with others, and if you draw quieter people out, your leadership ability will be shown.” Alex*, 27, credits nights out for her promotion. “Most of our team went out two nights a week,” she says. “It gave me a chance to get to know my managers on a more personal basis. When I applied for a more senior role, they knew me well and that I got along with the team, so I got the job.” Lucy’s friends were too distracted by the bubbly

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caption66cleo.com.au We need to remember that while it’s fi ne to socialise with colleagues, these are work functions – a lesson Brooke learned the hard way. When her colleagues started leapfrogging her for promotions, she realised that rather than enhancing her career, her wild-girl image was probably holding her back. “I got a new job and approached it diff erently,” she says. “I still socialise with the girls on Friday nights, but if I feel I’m getting a bit loose-lipped, I’ll do a Houdini and slip away.” As Brooke found out, it’s important to know your limits. “Be aware if you are someone who has a couple of drinks and starts blurting things out and becoming touchy-feely,” advises career blogger and coach Kate Southam (katesoutham.com). One in seven Australians in their twenties binge drink at least once a week, but career experts agree that if you’re going to get loose, you should limit it to nights with your out-of-offi ce mates. Duty to DrInk While the Mad Men era of lunchtime martinis might be long gone, networking with clients in industries such as PR and advertising invariably involves bubbly. “There is an expectation that if you’re entertaining a client you’ll have a drink with them,” explains Rachel*, 30, who works in events. “It was very easy to get sucked into the glamour early in my career, but after waking with a few sore heads and memories of oversharing, I’ve learnt to stay in control around clients. I sit on a glass of wine and keep up the mineral water. If it’s a long lunch, I might even have a glass of wine sitting there and not touch it because once you have one or two, it’s easy to keep drinking.” The pressure can be worse in male-dominated industries, but Giorgi says that trying to keep up with the boys is always a bad idea. “Women tend to weigh less than men and have less water in their bodies to dilute the alcohol consumed,” she points out. “That means wo