Teenage alcoholism - how can you protect your child?

Alcohol is one of the most common stress relievers for teenagers. Quick, easy, and inexpensive are the main reasons why teens may reach for a drink. Teenage alcoholism... Research shows that about half of elementary and high school students drink alcohol every month, and 14% of teens get drunk at least once a month. Almost 8% of teens who drink alcohol say they can drink five or more alcoholic drinks in a row.

What is alcohol poisoning?

Alcohol poisoning is the fatal result of drinking too much alcohol in a short period of time. Alcohol poisoning slows many body functions (such as breathing, heart rate, and gag reflex), potentially leading to breath holding, coma, respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, and death. Treatment for alcohol poisoning includes calling an ambulance immediately, pumping oxygen into the lungs, and drinking large amounts of warm fluids. These and other measures can be taken to prevent suffocation, as well as respiratory and cardiac arrest.

What are the symptoms of alcohol abuse in teens?

Some of the most common symptoms of alcohol abuse in teenagers are lying, excuses, and breaking parental rules when noticed by parents. When in their room, the child wants to be left alone. They become verbally or physically aggressive, tend to be abusive towards others, may smell of alcohol, have greyish skin, red eyes, slow reactions, mood swings from joy to aggression and unjustified bouts of anger, resentment, and tearfulness.

What are the dangerous effects of drinking alcohol during adolescence?

Here are just some of the dangerous consequences of drinking alcohol during adolescence:

• Alcohol reduces teenagers' ability to concentrate.
• Teens who have experienced alcohol withdrawal often have difficulty with memory.
• Unlike adults, teenagers tend to abuse alcohol with other substances, often soft drugs.
• Teenage boys who drink heavily tend to perform worse in school within a year than teens who don't.
• The younger teens are when they start drinking, the more likely they are to develop drinking problems.

Every year, about 2,000 people aged 21 and over die in drunk-driving car crashes. Alcohol is the culprit in nearly half of all violent deaths involving teenagers.

More than a third of eighth-grade girls who frequently drank alcohol said they had attempted suicide compared with girls in the same class who did not drink, according to research.

Intoxication is the result of elevated blood alcohol levels, which is often found in teenagers who abuse alcohol.

Teens who drink are more likely to be sexually active, have unprotected sex, have sex with strangers, or be victims or perpetrators of sexual violence.

Excessive alcohol consumption can cause or mask many emotional problems, such as anxiety or depression.

The first use of alcohol usually begins around age 13. According to research, teens aged 12 to 17 say they think they are heavy drinkers (having five or more drinks at a time and repeating these “feats” within a month), 77 percent of teens have voiced at least one serious problem related to alcohol use in the past year. According to surveys, 63 percent of teens have experienced negative effects of alcohol, 20 percent reported having psychological problems related to drinking, and 12 percent reported having health problems related to alcohol.

Teens who binge drink are more likely to miss school, perform poorly in school, be at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, being sexually abused, or committing suicide. Binge drinking increases the likelihood of delinquency and aggressive behavior, including running away from home, fighting, vandalism, property damage, and theft.

What should be the treatment for alcohol intoxication?

First of all, in case of alcohol intoxication, the child should receive as much fluid as possible, which the body has lost as a result of frequent urination. Doctors often use glucose drinks for this purpose, such as hot tea.

The teenager may be given an IV drip to relieve signs of intoxication.

How can parents prevent their teens from drinking alcohol?

Parents' conversations with their children about the negative impact of alcohol, as well as their expectations regarding the child's position on this issue, can significantly reduce alcohol consumption in adolescence. Adequate parental supervision is a good deterrent to alcohol consumption among young people. Sociological studies have found that alcohol and other substances harmful to adolescents are consumed between 15:00 and 19:00, immediately after school and before parents come home from work.

It is very important for a teenager to participate in different activities after school to occupy their time and not waste it on drinking. Parents can also help their teenager by suggesting ways to cope with stress and depression. After all, most often children drink for these reasons, and when they learn about other methods of stress relief, alcohol is no longer needed.

For example, 15- to 16-year-olds who play sports and travel to cope with stress tend to drink significantly less and have fewer problems than their sedentary peers.

Teenage alcoholism is a real but undesirable phenomenon. Therefore, parents need to spend more time with their children at this age. Parents' understanding and love will reduce or completely eliminate teenagers' need for alcohol.