Do you know?
Adolescent alcohol use and abuse has become a devastating epidemic.
According to the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, among adolescents and young adults (aged 10–24 years), alcohol-attributable burden is second highest among all risk factors contributing to disability-adjusted life years in this age group.
Alcohol consumption in adolescents results in a range of adverse outcomes across several domains and includes road traffic accidents and other non-intentional injuries, violence, mental health problems, intentional self-harm and suicide, and other infectious diseases, poor school performance and drop-out, and poor employment opportunities.
Though it all begins, of course, with experimentation. A preteen or teen discovers a bottle of wine in the refrigerator or is induced to sample beer at friend’s house. Many young people, after such experimentation, find their curiosity satisfied and thereafter abstain from alcohol. Others, However, continue to drink, sharing a six-pack of beer in a friend’s car or sneaking a few swigs from the bottle of champagne in the refrigerator. Some of those become problem drinkers, occasionally drinking to get drunk, perhaps even driving while intoxicated. Still others succumb to alcoholism.
Complex problems rarely have simple causes, and alcoholism is a complex problem. Mental health and health care professionals differ as to the primary causes of alcoholism, but the following are generally acknowledged as factors; physiology, background (parental models, parental attitudes and cultural expectations) and outside influences (dysfunctional family environment, peer pressure and stress from social problems)
Many people assume they know the effects of alcoholism: drunkenness and debauchery. Such an assumption, however, is not only incomplete, but also incorrect. A drunken young person is not always an alcoholic, and some alcoholics are seldom visibly drunk. There are, however, some effects of alcoholism that can be generally applied as anguish, confusion and disorientation, loss of control, depression, low self-esteem, arrested maturity, guilt, shame, remorse, alienation and isolation and despair.
A young person who is struggling with alcoholism is in acute and urgent need of help. Even if the youth has not progressed far into alcoholism, even if he or she does not perceive his or her own need of help, a parent, caring adult or the youth leader must wisely and diligently seek to bring help and healing. The following suggestions in this article will assist you.