Alcohol consumption is widely accepted in our society and associated with social gatherings and leisure in general. Alcoholism is a disease that can have serious consequences on the physical and mental health of the consumer and on their social relationships. In this Psychology-Online article we are going to tell you how to prevent alcoholism in young people, since it is the best solution to avoid falling into addiction. You will find arguments against alcohol for young people and the negative effects and consequences of excessive alcohol consumption.
Consequences of alcoholism in young people
First of all, it is necessary to know the effects of alcohol. Alcohol consumption has consequences at any age, whether it is consumed punctually (social drinker) or continued. In the case of young people, these are some of the consequences of occasional alcohol consumption:
- To lose control.
- Respond violently.
- Forgetting what was done or said while drunk.
- Lose consciousness.
- Cause traffic accidents.
- Put your health and physical and moral integrity at risk.
- Decreased performance in school.
- Have problems with the law.
- and STDs.
- High risk of becoming addicted.
- Later regretting the way you acted, feeling embarrassed or ridiculous.
- Facilitate the consumption of other drugs.
The general consequences of continued consumption They range from specific problems to the development of diseases and even death. Let’s see some of those consequences:
- .
- Depression, insecurity and low self-esteem.
- Decreased cognitive abilities.
- Delirium tremens as a consequence of withdrawal: visual hallucinations, delusions, emotional lability and stupor. Tremors and seizures may also appear.
- Hepatic cirrhosis.
- Increased probability of suffering from some types of cancer.
- Gastritis.
- Ulcers.
- Heart diseases.
- Family and work problems.
- Physical dependence with the corresponding withdrawal symptoms when consumption stops.
- Traffic accidents.
- such as decreased desire or impotence.
- Changes in the menstrual cycle.
- Increase of the
- Economic problems.
According to WHO data Alcohol consumption kills 3 million people a year.
If you wonder why teenagers start consuming alcohol, here you can see the .
Measures to prevent alcoholism in young people
How to avoid alcoholism in young people? Some of the strategies to control, prevent and reduce alcohol consumption are the following:
- Regulation of alcohol sales through taxes. In most countries there are already high taxes on alcoholic beverages.
- Make access to alcohol difficult. Increasing the age at which it is allowed to buy or consume alcohol, as other countries already do, can help prevent people from starting to consume alcohol at an early age. Reducing businesses that are allowed to sell alcohol, as has happened with tobacco, would also make it difficult for young people to have access to this substance.
- Awareness programs at school. Apply a prevention and awareness program regularly in courses from the beginning of adolescence.
- Establish more alcohol-free leisure spaces. Prohibit the consumption of alcohol in certain leisure spaces such as those related to sports. In addition, encourage the organization of alcohol-free activities such as alcohol-free discos for young people, alcohol-free concerts, etc.
- Prevention through education and example. How to reduce alcohol consumption in young people? Teach your sons and daughters values incompatible with alcohol and other drugs. But remember to be an example, it is useless to talk to a teenager about alcohol consumption with a beer in hand.
- Inform them of the consequences. Explain carefully the seriousness of both the short and long term. They always understand it better using examples or telling them close cases.
- Reduce risk factors by strengthening some skills. Many young people and many people in general drink because they feel safer under the influence of alcohol. Strengthening your social skills and self-esteem will prevent this from happening.
- Teach them alternatives to alcohol. The more alternatives to alcohol your sons or daughters know about, the further away they will be from consuming it. Reading, cinema, dancing, music, video games, sports, hobbies… Encourage these activities as much as possible to reduce the likelihood of consuming alcohol.
- Healthy habits. To ensure that young people consume fewer alcoholic beverages, measures can be applied such as establishing healthy habits. It is one of the most effective strategies against alcohol consumption. Healthy foods are in fashion, as are exercise routines.
- Dynamics to work on drugs with teenagers. Workshops and activities can be held from educational centers to expose and sensitize young people to the consequences of alcoholism. You can also do role-playing exercises to learn how to manage risky situations such as peer pressure to consume alcohol.
Activities to prevent alcoholism in young people
Starting to drink as a teenager is one of the risk factors for becoming addicted to alcohol. Alcoholism is a disease with serious health consequences. That is why it is important to establish activities incompatible with consumption of alcohol in the routine of young people.
- Sport. Sport and alcohol are incompatible, at least in their implementation. Encouraging sports can be essential for preventing alcohol consumption. Organize leagues, competitions and sports days They can encourage sports and meetings and reduce the leisure-alcohol relationship.
- Leisure without alcohol. As we have already seen in the case of sport, with other forms of leisure the fun-alcohol association can be reduced. For example, with events related to music, video games, dance, etc. Establishing a lower price for young people in some places such as the cinema makes it easier for them to access. To prevent alcoholism in adolescents, it is important to promote alcohol-free leisure.
- Meeting spaces. Whether in public spaces or giving the house to your children so that they can meet with their friends to watch a movie, play board games or talk about their things. All without alcohol.
- Competitions. You can have contests about almost anything. If we encourage the organization of competitions we will keep young people away from alcohol and thus reduce adolescent alcoholism.
Here you can see others.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Dollon, P. (2001). Adolescents, alcohol and drugs. Barcelona: Medici.