Alcohol is legal for your parents or other adults to consume, sold widely and advertised heavily. So if it's not banned and allowed to be advertised, it can't be that bad, can it? Here are just some of the ways alcohol can cause harm.
Harm to your body
- Alcohol affects your brain - it impairs your judgement, co-ordination and balance.
- Doctors say people under 15 shouldn't drink alcohol at all, whilst 15 to 17 year olds should try to drink as little alcohol as possible. The brain is still growing at these ages and the damage caused by drinking even small amounts cannot be repaired.
- Alcohol dehydrates you (causing the nausea, headache and fatigue of a hangover), affects your appearance (makes you look sweaty and flushed), and makes you put on weight.
- Liver cirrhosis among people in their 20s, linked to alcohol use in their teenage years has increased dramatically. Add to that, the increased likelihood of developing stomach disorders, high blood pressure and cancer (especially of the mouth, liver, colon and breast).
- Alcohol temporarily numbs pain - you might be badly injured but not realise it.
- Over 10,000 young people are admitted to hospital every year because of their drinking.
- Mixing alcohol with drugs, especially cocaine can be especially dangerous. Cocaethylene (produced by the body when it has injested both alcohol and cocaine) greatly increases the chances of cardiac arrest and is 20 times more toxic to your liver than alcohol on it's own.
Harm to your emotions
- You may drink to 'forget problems'. Whilst it can make things seem better for a little while, the problem is often still there in the morning and looks worse with a hangover. Talking over worries with a friend, family, or a teacher is a much healthier and effective solution.
- Alcohol affects your judgement and makes it more difficult to put problems into perspective. Situations can seem much worse when you've been drinking and may make you say things you don’t mean to people you care about.
- Alcohol is a natural depressant linked to depression and anxiety. It messes with your sleep patterns, adds to stress and can interfere with any anti-depressants or medicine you're on. One study found 70 percent of suicide victims aged 12 -19 had a history of drug or alcohol use.
- Alcohol is highly addictive. People who are becoming dependent find they can't get through the day without a drink, need to drink more to get drunk and suffer symptoms such as shaking hands which only stops when they drink.
Taking risks
- If you've been drinking alcohol, you're more likely to be involved in an accident or get injured. Over 800,000 hospital admissions a year are due to alcohol related illness or injury. Accidents can be anything from being involved in a road traffic accident to falling over. Remember; getting into a car with someone who has been drinking is just as dangerous as drunk driving yourself.
- Alcohol stops you from noticing when something bad is developing around you and disrupts your brain's ability to find a way to get out of a difficult situation.
- Drinking can also make you take risks with sex; either not using a condom increasing the risk of an STI like Chlamydia, unwanted pregnancy, or having sex with someone you don't know and/or wouldn't have sex with when sober. Research suggests 16 – 20 year olds are 5 times less likely to use a condom when drunk than when they are sober.
- Remember; even drinking moderate amounts can make you more vulnerable you are less likely to notice your drinks have been spiked – either with drugs or with more alcohol in order to make you do something you ordinarily wouldn't do.
- Alcohol is a key factor linked to young people committing offences. A survey found 1 in 6 young people who have been drunk 3 or more times in the last month had been in trouble with the Police.
- The Police have the power to confiscate alcohol from young people they consider are creating a public disorder and to remove them from that area. It is now an offence for a young person under the age of 18 to be found persistently in possession of alcohol in a public place. Being convicted of any offence could make it harder or more complicated to visit countries such as the USA and Australia
- Even if you're not looking for trouble, trouble often find you if you've been drinking. Over ½ victims of violent crime believed their attacker had been drinking. Alcohol is a factor in 75 percent of stabbings and 70 percent of beatings.
- Often criminals will target people who have been drinking as they are a 'soft' target. If you're drunk it's less likely that you will realise what's happening until it's too late and avoid problems or be able to help the Police to identify the offender.
Staying Safe
- Eat something. Drinking on an empty stomach means the alcohol is absorbed quicker and your body has less time to process it, leaving you more at risk.
- Drink slowly. When you down your drinks you don't feel their effects for a while. By the time they kick in, if you’ve had another couple in between, you’ll be feeling much drunker than you expected.
- Try to think about units rather than the number of drinks you've had. Your body processes about 1 alcohol unit per hour. The size and strength of your drink will determine the number of units it contains and therefore how long it takes for your body to deal with the alcohol in it. Unfortunately it's not as simple as one drink = one unit. Click here for more info http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tips-and-tools/drink-diary
- Have some soft drinks or drink water in between. This will help to stop you getting dehydrated (which makes your hangover even worse...). You don't even have to tell anyone – coke looks just the same as a vodka and coke.
- Don't try and keep up with anyone drinking faster than you. It's their choice to drink at their pace and your choice to drink at yours.
- Do something else. Try something totally different. There are loads of good nights out that don't involve drinking.
- Take care of yourself and your mates. From when to cross the road to walking home alone, alcohol affects your judgement. If you decide to drink, make sure you've got a plan how to get home safely such as making sure you've got money for a cab or the bus. Stick together and never let a drunk friend go home alone or off with anybody they don't know that well or wouldn't go with if they were sober.
- Watch out for spiking – Keep your drinks with you and never accept drinks from anyone you don't know that you can trust. Agree to watch out for each other if one of you seems unusually drunk or starts acting strangely.
- If you do drink heavily one night, don't drink again for at least 48 hours. This gives your liver a chance to recover.
If you suspect someone is alcohol poisoned:
Do:
- Dial 999 and ask for an ambulance. Tell the operator what they have drunk and if they have taken any drugs – prescription or illegal – as these can react with alcohol.
- Try to keep them awake, talk to them.
- Turn them on their side. Putting them in the recovery position means there is less chance they will choke.
- Keep them warm. It’ll help keep the blood flowing freely, getting vital oxygen around their body. Try to keep them sitting up and awake.
- Give them water if they’re able to drink it
- Lie them on their side in the recovery position http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice/life-saving-procedures/the-recovery-position.aspx Check they’re breathing properly.
- Stay with them and monitor their symptoms.
Don't:
- Give them coffee – it will make them more dehydrated.
- Leave them alone to 'sleep it off'.
- Try to give them food.
- Laugh, make fun of or provoke them.
- Leave them alone, even if they’re asleep, or leave them lying on their back.
- Walk them around.
- Put them under a cold shower.
- Let them drink any more alcohol or give them drugs.
Other Useful websites
Useful contact
Compass – Coventry's Alcohol and Drug Treatment Service for Young People (under 18) 0800 121 4043 or 024 7625 1653. www.compasscoventry.org.uk
