Drinking makes you feel together even when you are totally out of control. That's why you're more likely to fall or have some other kind of accident when you are drunk.
Drinking makes you feel cool when you're really acting like a jerk. Next time your friends get together to drink, stay sober and just WATCH. Chances are you will see how silly and idiotic they look.
Drinking can make you lose your memory. It can be very embarrassing to have someone else tell you how funny you were last night, especially if you don't remember what you did or said.
Drinking takes away inhibitions. You may get relaxed enough to do or say things you'll later regret. Sometimes this can result in an unwanted pregnancy or an STD or insulting a friend.
Hangovers. If you really want to spend a day throwing up with a throbbing headache, here is your chance -- get really drunk.
Drinking makes you feel "grown-up". What is so great about this? Very often adults are drinking to forget that they are adults, with all the responsibilities that they have. In other words, they are trying to feel like children again! Imitating childish adults shouldn't make you feel like an adult.
Drinking to forget your problems. Trust me, your problems will still be there when you sober up, so what's the point?
Drinking to be accepted by friends. You have heard it called "peer pressure". Friendships that are based on drinking don't last too long. These friendships fall apart for the same reason that drinking gets boring... it is just the same thing over and over again. Those are not true friends and those relationships have nowhere to go. When you build friendships around common interests, sports, or another activity, your relationships can grow. This is a much stronger basis for friendship than sharing a six-pack.
Drinking because you're curious about alcohol. There really is no great mystery to it. After a while drinking will lose its thrill. That is why so many teenagers develop drinking problems. When drinking starts to lose its thrill they need more alcohol to enjoy themselves and they often lose their ability to find pleasure in other ways. Before long they have lost the chance to do well in school, lost their health, and the trust of friends and family.
One last thing to keep in mind. Teenagers are the largest source of transplant organs in the United States. That means more teens die suddenly in accidents than any other members of the population. Why is that? Think about it.
Maybe because they enjoy wine, beer, whiskey, or whatever.
The bigger question is why anyone would feel the need to pose such a question. People have enjoyed alcoholic drinks for thousands of years. If someone doesn't enjoy alcoholic drinks, or feels some need to abstain, that's certainly a personal decision, but it's their loss.
Jim, I agree with your statement right up until the words "it's their loss." Maybe, "thats their choice" would be more apropos??? Drinking is a personal choice, so long as it's done with the knowledge that overindulgence leads to a host of tragedies...and that moderation is key.
The post surprised me since we're an adult audience and these are the usual reasons not to drink offered up to teens.
When I talk to teens I like to remind them that all use of chemicals inherently carries a potential for addiction. If you don't look squarely at the addictive potential, you don't really see the issue.
I also feel that young teens should be aware that using chemicals young seems to be an extra risky thing to do. the NIAAA did a study and they found (sorry for those of you who have heard me say this before) that people who drink before the age of 15 increase their risk of drinking addictively in their life by a factor of 4 and they increase their risk of drinking abusively by a factor of 2. Young brains seem to be extra vulnerable to the addictive affects of alcohol (and other drugs I would wager).
I have Madeleine Nagle's excellent new text on addictions, but unfortunately I don't have it at hand. In that text the author of reminds people that we all suffer times in our lives when we are vulnerable to addiction. I like this perspective because it causes people to constantly examine the underlying choice to use alcohol or other chemicals. She points out that people are vulnerable to addiction during the teen years, during transitions, aftermath of loss and a few other times.
The risk for teens and adults alike is when we use chemicals as a way to cope. I talk with my teens about how if you are in a difficult life circumstance (addicted or mentally ill parent, divorce of parents, adolescent [temporary insanity by some definitions]) and you start to use alcohol or other drugs to cope, you run the risk of it BECOMING your ONLY coping method. Peeps' post reflects that. Some feel that drinking during adolescence per se is risky because it is a time when we face so many challenges and optimumly acquire so many new skills, that if we drink, we risk making alcohol our #1 coping skill. A significant feature of teen addicts is that they have failed to acquire so many life skills (communication, disagreeing, holding down a job skills, money management --the chemical was the #1 financial priority, the ability to have fun without a chemcal on board).
This is true for adults in transitions such as divorce, a move to a new city with loss of previous support system, significant deaths, injuries that result in loss of function, mental health problems prominently including depression.
when I talk with students I try to acknowledge that their are positives or up-sides to using alcohol and other drug. If I don't do that then I'm not seeing the whole issue. Do teens and adult "self-medicate" with alcohol and other drugs? Absolutely. But alcohol has a strong cultural tradition in our lives and is unlikely to go away.
I feel that all use of alcohol is risky BUT I think that alcohol use that occurs in a context (communion, Christmas dinner, other religious ritual, a special event) can be less risky. I feel I benefitted from my parents role-modeling of responsible and very rare use of alcohol. As nurses, we accept the risks of Morphine but we've seen good things come of it, so we balance the view and take precautions to make sure it is only used in a clinical context.
posters, be extra careful about using alcohol to boost mood. Don't forget the natural highs of laughter, physical exercise and doing for others. again, a drink now and then to change mood? well, let's say it's hardly uncommon. But it can easily become the person's preferred method of changing mood and that is a reflection of alcohol's addictive potential.
MAMA is a web site that advocates teaching teens about chemical use including how to manage it. Especially those of you who assume that teens MUST use chemicals should visit this informative site. It's a Least Harm intervention site and well put-together. Underlying least harm interventions is the assumption that the target audience will implicitly engage in the behavior. Be careful about using this with kids who aren't using yet. They need messages that it is normative or logical to not use; they need support to continue abstinence which I think is clearly the best choice for teens.
This is a web site I think put up by the Boston U School of Public Health and it has a confidential online alcohol screen based on the AUDIT, a tested screening device.
It never fails to amaze me at the response that any mention of drugs or alcohol gets on this bb. Good post.
Thank you very much for your kind words......................Such observations from others is very gratifying but I can't soak up all the credit though. I won't preach to anyone, I don't attend a church,but I did call out to God for strength in the desperation of my moment and I believe that believing God's hand was with me to guide me through my darkest hour is the reason I am here to write this. If you pray, give praise to God then because he is greater than me. If you don't belive in God then I will pass it along........anyway,thank you.
Molly,
I would agree with the observation that the younger the brain, the greater the addiction. A young mind is looking for an identity and alcohol is prevalent as an identity in our society. Social identity is VERY additctive. As a few examples that young minds gravitate towards would be gangs,sports teams,the new fad,entertainers.....ETC. I think I could come up with many more examples if I had children I'm sure. The point is that alcohol is an identity that is acceptable to a point in our society and it is easy to see how it would allow an adult the luxury of medicating themselves into a societal fantasy, just as a teenager would.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. I would have to agree that if someone is responsible, than they should not feel guilt for having a drink.
Now, one must decide what degree of fantasy they consider responsible and not cross that line into unreality.
I have long since quit trying to detox anyone. I love a cold beer after work or a Jack on the rocks. I rarely drink to excess and have teens at home too as well as younger ones. It is good for them to see an adult drinking responsiblility.
I tell you folks on the wagon....If you are against drinking..then don't do it. But don't get up on the alter to "inform" the rest of us on the evils of the bottle.
Again, this thread ISN'T about 'Responsible Adults' but is about Adults that feel Responsible in educating their offspring with a 'Tool'(coolnurse.com) in talking with them or them talking with their peers.
Fgr8Out
283 Posts
Jim, I agree with your statement right up until the words "it's their loss." Maybe, "thats their choice" would be more apropos??? Drinking is a personal choice, so long as it's done with the knowledge that overindulgence leads to a host of tragedies...and that moderation is key.