Everyday, people’s lives are impacted by problem drinking. But you can do something about it. 

If you have a family member whose drinking is problematic, reach out to a trusted adult. If you do not have such a support system (perhaps because your trusted adult is the one with a drinking problem) consider contacting Al-anon or Alateen:

“Al‑Anon is a mutual support program for people whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking. By sharing common experiences and applying the Al-Anon principles, families and friends of alcoholics can bring positive changes to their individual situations, whether or not the alcoholic admits the existence of a drinking problem or seeks help.” Alateen is the division of Al-Anon specifically geared for teens.

(Source: https://al-anon.org/newcomers/what-is-al-anon-and-alateen/)

If you have a drinking problem or want to direct a loved one, friend, or person in need to help, consider Alcoholics Anonymous, or “AA,” the sister organization to Al-anon:

“Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem.” https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/what-is-aa

Another source in finding treatment options is SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit their website: https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov 

This is what you will find:

“Welcome to the Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, a confidential and anonymous source of information for persons seeking treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for substance abuse/addiction and/or mental health problems.

PLEASE NOTE: Your personal information and the search criteria you enter into the Locator is secure and anonymous. SAMHSA does not collect or maintain any information you provide.”

All of these helplines are confidential.

If you or someone you know needs help, please take action.

In high school

High school parties turn it up a notch and often have some kind of alcohol on the scene. Not all of them for sure! But by age 18, about 60% of teens have had at least one drink (Ibid). That means if you are invited to a raging high school party, chances are, alcohol will be invited too. Just be sure you are prepared to manage the party scene: What will be your response if offered a drink? What if you are teased for not drinking? Thinking ahead to these potential scenes will help you manage a situation so you are more comfortable overall.

You would also do well to know the warning signs that someone is in trouble: if you are a buddy to someone, you need to know when your buddy might be in trouble! Some warning signs are: a person can’t account for time passing, he/she is knocking into things, his speech is off/slurred, she’s repeating stories and/or she can’t seem to think logically. Believe it or not, when a person is intoxicated he could miss his curfew, trip, fall into a puddle of vomit, get up and say, “Howdie mush kabobs” and still think that he is fine: people lose their ability to judge their well being when they are drunk. That’s why people need someone to step in and help them out because their self-awareness has gone down the toilet. (And that’s why drinking responsibly when you are of age is so important.) That’s why having a buddy is a great idea.

So, if you choose to drink someday, make a plan to stay safe ahead of time. Look, not everyone drinks to get drunk. Far from it. Many, many people enjoy a glass of… whatever they enjoy… with a meal or to toast an occasion. They are considered to be responsible drinkers. But they usually have made a commitment to be responsible. They often make good decisions because doing so is part of their lifestyle. 

But some people, including some teens who have decided to drink before they are of age, drink with the purpose getting drunk, aka “to party.” In such cases, having a plan about how you will get home safely and who will be looking out for you is important. In such cases, you can’t rely on your ability to make good decisions as both your ability to make good decisions and to pay attention to details might become impaired. That’s why many people who are otherwise super responsible have done dumb things when they are drunk. 

Bottom line, be aware that if you are drinking to “party” you should play it safe and have a plan in place.

Your brain deserves special attention here.

Drinking alcohol during the teen years can interfere with normal brain functioning both now in your teen years AND later as an adult. Yes, consuming alcohol now can cause permanent changes to your brain. And, yes, we get it, being an adult feels SO far away from now, but trust us, when you are an adult, you’ll be grateful for every working brain cell!

Here is what happens:

1. Alcohol has a greater effect on the teen brain than on an adult brain. Because your brains are developing, everything that happens in your brain (good, bad and ugly) happens more intensely. This is because during this time of growth you actually have MORE synapses in your brains than adults do. This means you have more places where alcohol can have an impact. 
2. Because your brains are developing, that also means that your brains aren’t as fully functioning as an adult’s. So your control center doesn’t have full control. Alcohol then takes away even more control. You can translate that into making really poor decisions that can be life threatening when you drink alcohol, especially because your brains are primed to take risks. As a teen, you are supposed to take risks to learn how to venture out on your own away from your family. So the formula looks like this: half working control center plus an increased desire to take risk plus alcohol = DUMB AND POSSIBLY DEADLY DECISIONS.
3. Because your brains are developing, your brains are RIPE (totally ready!!) to absorb new habits. If you drink, you are more at risk than an adult for developing addiction because your brain is saying, “Oh, here’s something I can learn how to do for the rest of my life! Let’s wire in the desire to drink!” When you learn how to play the flute or kick a soccer ball or code a computer, your brain is forming synapses to perform those things. When you drink alcohol regularly, your brain is forming synapses that create a heightened response to alcohol. 

(Source: from an interview with Dr. Frances E. Jensen, chair of the neurology department at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and co-author of The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults, written and posted on the blog: https://grownandflown.com/binge-drinking-danger-teen-brains/)

So the summary is this: Drinking alcohol now is risky because alcohol affects the teen brain more than an adult’s, your brain already doesn’t have full control and that can set you up for addiction.  

So let’s summarize this: Your brain does not stop developing new cellular connections and making important changes and advances until you are in your mid-twenties (even then it keeps developing new cellular connections but not at the rate it is growing and changing now). Because of this “developing stage,” alcohol has a greater impact on the brain both because more synapses exist and because your brain isn’t fully in control. Thus, when people choose to start drinking at a young age, they are priming their brain for potential long-term addiction to alcohol.

Some young adults report that they drink for social reasons: to increase the amount of fun they have with their friends. They view it as a social bonding experience.

Others report that they drink to feel more socially accepted. With this mindset, people are drinking to fit in, not just to have a nice time with their friends. They wouldn’t normally drink, but may have a glass of wine or sip a bit for a toast to celebrate a special occasion. 

However, some young adults do drink specifically to feel the effects of alcohol. They want to escape or they like the feeling of being “high” so they drink with the intent to experience being intoxicated. A lot of college students could be classified with this motivation and it does put someone at risk for binge drinking.

Additionally, many people use alcohol to relieve stress, deal with anxiety or manage depression. Alcohol can make you feel more relaxed and it can also numb out painful feelings. While this may be effective in the short term, it is a dangerous reason to drink and is associated with problem drinking.

 (The above information was inspired by: https://theconversation.com/there-are-four-types-of-drinker-which-one-are-you-89377)

Thinking about what motivates people and how you, yourself, will approach alcohol one day is proactive and sets up good choices in the long run. Because one of the points here on the YSS sub-posts is for you to consider who you choose to be, especially BEFORE the choice is in front of you. Think about it now, so you are prepared when the day comes;-).

If your life is affected by someone who is an alcoholic, seek help from one of the sources in the Bonus YSS post or from a trusted adult.

Remember: The younger you start to drink, the HIGHER your risk of becoming an alcoholic!!!! And that has implications for your brain….

Have you ever heard of a designated driver? Designated drivers (DD’s) are people who have chosen NOT to drink and be the driver to get everyone home safely. Thankfully, this concept has grown in popularity over the decades. People still drink and drive but today, people are far more aware of the concept of a DD, and they stick with it, or they call an Uber;-). 

If you know teens who are experimenting with alcohol, make sure they have a designated driver. You will be saving their lives and possibly your own. Don’t forget that drunk drivers often kill innocent people who are not in their cars when they drive drunk, innocent people like you and your family.

What is BAC and why are we talking in code? BAC stands for Blood Alcohol Content and it’s not a code. It is something every person needs to know about the effects of alcohol because your blood alcohol content is literally a matter of life or death. BAC is a way to measure a person’s state of intoxication (how drunk he/she is) without having to know which type of drink was consumed or when.

BAC is basically a measurement of the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream. It can be determined by blowing into a special machine (that policemen have, for example) or it can be determined by drawing blood and measuring that sample. When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed into your body and actually enters your bloodstream. Therefore, a blood alcohol content of .2 means that you .2% of your bloodstream is alcohol. Yikes, yes, while your cells need blood to function, they are actually getting some alcohol instead. This is why alcohol poisoning can occur (when your BAC gets high enough, your organs can stop functioning because your cells need the content of blood, but the are getting blood that is poisoned with alcohol).

At what BAC is someone in trouble and at what point are they not okay? 

.02 would represent a low BAC but one where you might begin to feel some effects (relaxation, a little loss of coordination and balance, etc.). 

.06 is when judgement is definitely impaired and at .08 in most states one is considered legally intoxicated and not capable of driving: by .10 a person is legally intoxicated in all states, with significant impairment to his or her functioning: speech, memory, attention and coordination are all impaired. 

At .12 vomiting is likely to occur.  At .20 a person is likely to blackout. 

At .3 a person will likely lose consciousness. 

.45 is considered a lethal level for all individuals. Most people die as breathing stops and vital life functions are not possible.

(Source: http://awareawakealive.org/educate/blood-alcohol-content)

Yes, a person can die from drinking too much alcohol, although remember many people die from alcohol related accidents as well. They might not have had a BAC of  .45 but they had a high enough BAC to impair their abilities, causing a fatal accident that would not have happened if they had not been drinking.

Now, you might be asking, how many drinks cause a BAC of .02 or .08 or .45? That’s a question that is very hard to answer. How much alcohol is in the blood stream depends on many factors: gender (females don’t metabolize alcohol in the same way as males), weight, how much food is in the body, how many drinks, the type of drinks and how quickly they were consumed, are all some of the factors that will affect a person’s BAC. And, as you read in a previous sub-post, tolerance is a factor as well.

But a person always knows he has a BAC of .00 when he doesn’t drink. And that’s a great number to have so that he won’t be at risk for a DUI.

As discussed above, alcoholic beverages are  created by fermenting fruits and grains. Depending on the grain fermented and if the alcohol is distilled (meaning if it is made more concentrated), different types of alcohol are created. These different categories of alcohol are generally classified as: 

hard liquor (also called “spirits”—they are created by distillation) 

beer 

wine  

Hard liquors have a higher alcohol content due to the distillation process.

As a general rule of thumb, one shot of liquor (1.5 oz) is equal in alcohol content to one 6 oz. glass of wine or one 12 oz. mug of beer.

However, that is a very rough rule of thumb. Why? Because not all beers, wine and spirits have the same alcohol content. There is a range. Here is a breakdown of the general ranges of alcohol content (from http://www.alcoholcontents.com)

Beer:   3–10% alcohol

Wine:  8–22% alcohol

Whiskey, Tequila, Rum or Vodka : 40% alcohol

Spirits in general: 20-70%

Absolute alcohol (ethanol): 96-98%

These varying alcohol contents is why noting that the above visual is just a general rule of thumb and not 100% accurate. Here’s an example to explain how the alcohol content matters: let’s say your mom drinks three glasses of red wine while your dad has three glasses of beer, according to the visual chart, they likely had the same amount. EXCEPT that your dad’s beers actually had a low alcohol content—5% each. But your mom’s red wine was on the higher side, 20% for each glass. When you calculate how much alcohol they each had, your mom actually had double the alcohol content (6oz wine x 3glasses x 20%= 3.6  while 12oz beer x 3glasses x 5%= 1.8). 

So if that was confusing or if you just hate math, don’t worry. Here’s the main point: the alcohol content of a drink is important to consider, not just the ounces consumed.  Safe drinking takes these factors into account. The more a person is aware of all these factors, the better she can gauge her alcohol consumption.

People’s ability to handle alcohol will depend on the type of alcohol they drink and many other factors, such as their body type, gender, health, age, experience with alcohol and amount of food consumption. Knowing what a person can handle comes from experience and self-awareness. Managing alcohol is a complicated process—which is one of the many reasons why alcohol consumption is illegal for minors.

Read the next sub-post to understand how the alcohol content of these drinks affects your blood alcohol content…

 

In sum, alcohol is hard on the body. Besides the effects mentioned above, here is a more complete list of the short and long term consequences of alcohol:

(Source: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/how-alcohol-affects-your-health) 

Short term:

• Nausea
• impaired judgement
• memory impairment
• slurred speech
• vomiting (puking, barfing, upchucking, spilling your cookies, wretching)
• loss of physical co-ordination (bump into walls, spill drinks, slobber, and fall over in front of cute hottie, or your parents)
• headaches (massive)
• black outs (as in you have NO recollection of what you did OR what was done to you)
• death  (by poisoning, suffocating on your own vomit, accidents or drunk driving)

Long term: (the list is so long, we’ve spared you the commentary)

• Memory loss
• brain damage
• addiction
• mouth and throat cancer
• cirrhosis of the liver
• liver cancer
• high blood pressure
• increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• heart complications
• lung infections
• alcohol hepatitis
• stomach ulcers
• internal bleeding
• inflammation of the pancreas
• ulcers and cancers of the colon
• less nutrient and vitamin absorption
• chronic kidney disease
• weak bones (alcohol interferes with your body’s ability to absorb calcium)
• weight gain
• dehydration
• depression
• anxiety
• personality disorders and schizophrenia.
• In men: impotence and infertility
• In women: infertility and birth defects to unborn baby if you drink alcohol while pregnant

Almost every organ in the body is affected by alcohol, either directly or indirectly. Each year, thousands of people develop liver disease, respiratory problems, anemia, obesity and malnutrition due to abusive drinking. You will also have a greater chance of other serious diseases because alcohol weakens your immune system. Here’s its slogan: Alcohol it DOESN’T do a body good.