In the world today, alcohol is one of the most vastly used addicting substances. While it is rapidly becoming a problem with adults today, it is growing at a greater rate with our nation’s youth. Many people first experience alcohol during their teenage years. Since 1988, the legal drinking age is 21 in the United States, but that seems to be just a number with teens today, as they are disregarding the law and consuming alcohol at younger and younger ages. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost 80% of high school students have tried alcohol or witnessed the use of alcohol. Across the nation in all 50 states, there is a zero tolerance law making it completely illegal for youth under the age of 21 to drive with any amount of alcohol in their system. Why is this still a rapidly growing problem in our American youth?
The Risk Factors of Teen Alcoholism
When discussing risk factors involved in underage drinking, there are many factors that play in. One of the major factors in drinking amongst American teens is the family. Here is a list of issues that may lead to underage drinking:
• Lack of parental supervision
• Lack of communication among the family
• Family conflicts
• Inconsistent or severe discipline
• Family history of alcohol abuse
Individual risk factors involved in alcohol abuse among teens include:
• Impulsiveness and the lack of ability to control impulses
• Emotional instability
• Thrill-seeking behaviors
• The risk of alcohol is perceived as being low
While family issues are a major cause of alcohol abuse in our youth, peer pressure plays a substantial role as well. But while many parents like to blame peer pressure, a large amount of underage youth say that they drink because they like the way it makes them feel. Self-esteem is a great factor in the use of alcohol. Some teens deal with the feeling of not being accepted and they feel inferior to others around them. For these types of people, alcohol may make them feel strong and the life of the party. In circumstances that alcohol is not a factor, these teens feel unnoticed and like a by-stander, but with alcohol, they feel they become noticed and the center of attention to their peers.
How Does Alcohol Affect My Body?
Alcohol is a depressant, meaning it slows down the functions of the central nervous system, blocking some of the messages that are trying to get to the brain. When these messages are blocked from reaching their destination, it alters an individual’s perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. A larger amount of alcohol consumption changes the brain, causing intoxication. Use of alcohol in smaller amounts, can help an individual feel more relaxed or less anxious. It is this calmness feeling that often times encourages the person to consume more and more alcohol because they want that feeling to last. Overuse of alcohol can cause a person to begin to stagger, lose control to coordinate, slur their words, and at times become confused and disoriented. Depending on the individual, alcohol can make them either friendly or aggressive.
Alcohol can affect a person’s reaction time dramatically. While being intoxicated, they may think they are moving normally when they are not. This plays a major role in automobile accidents as the person thinks they are okay to drive but when they cross the yellow line, they are unable to react as a sober person would. When large amounts of alcohol are consumed over a short amount of time, a person can experience alcohol poisoning. This is when the body becomes poisoned by large amounts of alcohol. This result in violent vomiting, extreme sleepiness, unconsciousness, suppressed breathing patterns, a drop in blood sugar, seizures, and possibly fatality.
Effects of Alcohol Use in Teens
According to Area Substance Abuse Council, the brain does not completely develop until a person is around 21 years of age. With this being said, the effects on the brain with alcohol abuse under 21 can cause brain damage that is permanent. Studies have discovered that the part of the brain that assists in memory and learning may be about 10% smaller and less effective in teens that were heavy drinkers, as well as, showing significant problems in verbal skills.
Each year, there are five times as many teens that die from overdosing with alcohol. Signs and symptoms of overdose include:
• Unconsciousness
• Depressed breathing
• Cardiac arrest
• Irregular heartbeat
• Low Body Temperature
• Vomiting
• Seizure
The damage to a person’s organs is affected more quickly in teens than in adults. The damage is most commonly seen in the liver, brain, pancreas, gastrointestinal system, and reproductive system. Use of alcohol in teens can put them at significant risk for many cancers, including stomach, breast, laryngeal, oral and esophageal cancers.
Why Teens Shouldn’t Drink
While all of the harmful effects that alcohol causes on the body and mind should be the number one reason, it often doesn’t scare people enough to stay away from alcohol. People often have the concept that it isn’t going to happen to me and think they are invincible. This is often the mind frame of a teenager because they haven’t experienced enough of the real world to see what substances can do to a person. But for all of the teens out there that think that it can’t happen to them, here are some other reason to not participate in the illegal consumption of alcohol.
• The repercussions of drinking underage - Teens who drink are putting themselves at a higher risk of facing the law. If they are caught drinking underage, they will be punished and put in jail.
• Health risks - Teens are more likely to participate in unprotected sexual activity which can then lead to lifelong consequences such as sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. Terminal effects to your body's organs like cirrhosis of the liver. Teens, though young, are not too young to have any of the complications associated with alcohol abuse.
If you are the parent or a friend of a teen that is participating in illegal consumption of alcohol, it is time to get them help. Alcohol abuse can be a fatal addiction to young people as their bodies and mind are not fully developed. At Narconon Freedom Center, we can provide a safe detoxification program and recovery process to help them become responsible and successful members of society before the problem gets out of hand. For more information, contact us at 1-877-394-1828 to speak with a trained professional.
