Alcohol and Adolescents

These days you will find that many young people who are right in their early teens have taken up to drinking alcohol and for some it may be due to keeping company with peers for others it has become a serious drinking problem.

Many adolescents are quite unaware of the risks involved in consuming alcohol and this is the main reason why many have become vulnerable to this drinking habit. it is believed that the adolescent brain is very plastic in nature and this is a main factor which helps in neuromaturation which is one of the main reasons why many adolescents are addicted to alcohol.

When adolescents consume too much of alcohol especially in their growing years when the brain is developing leads to brain damage.

When an adolescent or teenager drinks he or she begins to show a marked difference in the way they behave. This change in their behavioural pattern leads to plenty of problems where they begin to take up risks which involve them to do things which may end up causing not only hurt to themselves but also to others.

Take for instance you will find that there are many adolescents especially boys who after a bout of heavy drinking tend to challenge each other to perform dare devil stunts like driving a car at high speed or to car races with each other.

Driving under the influence of alcohol itself can be very dangerous even for adults and for adolescents it is a very serious matter s it can cost them their lives what to talk of the lives of others when they meet with accidents.

When adolescents take to drink especially like binge drinking it has been found that their brains tend to become more vulnerable to becoming destroyed than when an adult does binge drinking.

This is due to the structure of the brain which is still in the developing stages. That’s why an adolescent who has taken to drinking on a regular basis would be prone to having a brain which has had excessive damage because of this drinking.

An adolescent who has been consuming alcohol on a regular basis or who has become a habitual drinker will suffer from a disorder known as Alcohol Use Disorder or AUD. When an adolescent suffers from this disorder he or she will exhibit many symptoms like reduced memory, they would have trouble when it comes to solving problems, their visual skills will decrease and their speech also becomes incoherent and slurred.

This is also because as they begin to consume drink after drink the damage to the neurons also increases and this is because the brain is unable to cope with damage which the alcohol is causing.

Adolescents do not realise the effects that alcohol can have on the development of their brain and what consuming too much of alcohol can do to the growth of their brains over a period of time. If this drinking disorder is not tackled at the appropriate time then it could lead to serious implications in later life as they turn into adults. It is important that such AUD’s are recognised in adolescents as early as possible and the necessary steps are taken to bring them out of this problem.

Alcohol has been found to the main cause of learning and memory impairments in adolescents. Studies have found that as the amount of alcohol consumption increase the impairment to the brain also increases.

Alcohol has been found to interfere with retaining new memories than the recollection of old ones. Like for instance when an adolescent takes to drinking heavily, he or she would find that they would not be able to learn the name of a person who has just been introduced to them and after a continuous round of drinks they will find that they would have totally even forgotten that the person was introduced to them in the first place leave alone remembering their name.

Many adolescents after having continuous rounds of drinks have known to have blackouts where they face the eventuality of having forgotten the entire events that have taken place while they were drinking.

Many adolescents take to anti social behaviour because of their excessive drinking. This has been found from many studies among adolescents who have been drinking heavily and who have indulged in anti social activities. Drinking among adolescents can lead them to disorders like antisocial personality disorders.

When adolescents are faced with this type of disorder they exhibit a number of signs like they would resort to telling lies on a regular basis to cover up for what they are doing. They would run into problems with the law like rash driving or causing an accident under the influence of alcohol.

Other characteristics which adolescents would exhibit due to their persistent drinking habits would be their aggressive and often violent behaviour which would often lead them to having fights with others for even small reasons. They could also go into depressions or mood changes when they would always exhibit a feeling of being agitated all the time.

They would not care for the feelings of others and would certainly not exhibit any signs of repentance. They would also not be able to make friends that easily and certainly would not be able to keep their friends for long too.

Research studies have found that anti social behaviour due to consumption of alcohol has been known among adolescents of the age group of 19 to 20 years. Along with alcohol, most adolescents also consume drugs and in the United States of America it has been found that the number of junior high school and senior high school students who consume alcohol due it regularly on a monthly basis and adolescents are known to drink at least more than five drinks at a stretch.

Drinking more than 2 drinks continuously is called binge drinking ad this is very much prevalent among most students in the United States and elsewhere in the world. There are many dangerous side effects that all adolescents will face due to consumption of alcohol especially as a result of binge drinking.

Binge drinking makes adolescents lose their ability to pay attention while they engaged in an activity after a couple of drinks. It is common to find that there are many adolescents who take to driving vehicles at high speeds and losing control over their vehicles which leads to car crashes and gruesome deaths. Research has shown that the rate of death among adolescents who have been involved in car crashes is much higher.

Binging on alcohol also causes many adolescents to go into deep depression and this coupled with stress lead to many deaths at an early age. Studies among adolescents have found that those attempting suicide have been those who were on hooked binge drinking.

It has been found that parties which encouraged binge drinking among adolescents were places where many young females faced sexual assaults and were raped by male adolescents under the influence of alcohol. Also after a couple of drinks many young adolescents were found to indulge in sexual activities and the sex was always of high risk category which resulted in unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases like Aids.

To find out if your adolescent is a binge drinker or is abusing alcohol it is advisable to look out for clear symptoms which include telling lies, becoming abusive both verbally and physically towards other people, smell of alcohol on their person and breath, mood swings, going into depressions, changing their friends circle etc. if any of these symptoms are found in any adolescent by a parent it is better that the parent seeks medical help at once.

Some cases many adolescents die due to excessive drinking and this is known as alcohol poisoning. This happens when they resort to drinking an excessive amount of alcohol within a short time. What happens in alcohol poisoning is that the alcohol consumed causes the functions of the various organs in the body to slow down.

When the bodily functions slow down it leads to choking, stoppage of breathing and heart failure resulting in death. These adolescents who fall prey to alcohol poisoning should be immediately taken to hospital at the earliest. At the hospital doctors would give them emergency treatment like oxygen and fluids etc.

It is parents who should look out for symptoms in their teenagers when they take to drinking, smoking, and experimenting with drugs, sex etc. Most parents when they face such problems are at a loss as to what they should do to help their teenagers come out such problems.

Parents are unable to digest the fact that their children who have now stepped into adolescence have begun to indulge in binge drinking, drugs smoking etc. Because of this many parents refuse to accept the problems engulfing their children and turn a blind eye to them which actually is detrimental to the adolescents themselves.

Parents should begin to take responsibility and do all that is possible to help their adolescents to overcome this habit of binge drinking. There are many reasons why most adolescents take to alcohol and drugs. Most of the teenagers try it out as an experiment only to fall prey to the bad habits as they try to into peer groups.

Many adolescents are of the opinion that it is only drugs and alcohol which is the sure success to be socially acceptable without realising the repercussions that alcohol and drugs can have on their lives later in life as they turn into adults.

There are still other children who in order to escape the problems in family life and the stress they are put into to perform well in their academic life that makes them take to drinking alcohol, initially in small amounts which later leads them into binge drinking.

As responsible parents who want to see their adolescents grow up into responsible adults the first thing parents should do is to make sure that their children are imbibed with good values as they grow up. Adolescents have to be taught to be self confident and to trust their own judgment and to stand up for their right behaviour which will go a long way to help them stand up to peer pressure when it comes to drinking and smoking. Children as they grow up into young adults should be taught that they should not be afraid to say No when it is needed.

It is the responsibility of parents to make sure that they themselves do not drink or smoke heavily in front of their children and certainly not encourage their children to take sips of alcohol. Parents should feel free to broach the subject of alcohol and drugs with their teenagers or if they find that their adolescents are prone to binge drinking to immediately seek professional help.

Most of the adolescents will have the “I know it all “attitude and they would resist any advice and help from parents. Professionals who have been dealing with adolescents who have such problems will be better able to handle the situation and that is why it is important to seek professional help as soon as the problem of drinking or smoking is detected in an adolescent.

Parents should follow the same rules which they set for their children. If adolescents are banned from drinking or smoking it is also right that parents should also avoid these themselves. Studies have shown that when parents take to alcohol, their children will also drink themselves.

Parents as responsible adults should build healthy relationships with their adolescents and should never support teen drinking. Parents can join community support programs and school programs where adolescents are discouraged from drinking alcohol. Make sure that alcohol is not made available to these adolescents when they party.

Get to know who their friends are on a regular basis. If your adolescent has recently changed his or her set of friends then it is time you did look into their activities. Many adolescents who take up drinking alcohol are known to change their friends circle.

Another way that parents can resort to, to help their adolescents to keep away from alcohol is to encourage them to take up activities which are challenging and fun to keep their interests kindled.