Alcoholism in Teenagers: Signs, Support, Treatment
Category : Sober living
Changes to brain structures are the most difficult to treat; however, among adolescents who drink too much, damage to the endocrine system and the liver can lead to long-term, chronic health issues. Alcohol is known to damage the liver if a person consumes a lot of alcohol for months or years, so adolescents who abuse this substance are at much greater risk for liver-related problems, including alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Changes in how neurotransmitters are released, because of the presence of an intoxicating substance like alcohol, can lead to changes in the reward centers of the brain. Early in life, these changes can become permanent structural changes, leading to problems with mental health, addiction, or behavioral struggles throughout life. Teenagers are more likely to binge drink (consume more than four or five drinks in a two-hour span) compared to their adult counterparts. Adolescent girls were more likely to perform poorly on tests involving spatial functioning while boys struggled with tests involving attention.
Impact on your health
This is especially important in young people’s decisions regarding whether and how to drink—decisions that can have lifelong consequences. Research shows, however, that teens and young adults do believe their parents should have a say in whether they drink alcohol. Parenting styles are important—teens raised with a combination of encouragement, warmth, and appropriate discipline are more likely to respect their parents’ boundaries. Understanding parental influence on children through conscious and unconscious efforts, as well as when and how to talk with children about alcohol, can help parents have more influence than they might think on a child’s alcohol use.
Juvenile Alcohol Abuse Causes Severe Problems
Recognizing AUD in teenagers isn’t always easy, but it can be the first step in offering them the support they need. The 45-to-49 age group had the highest percent, 37%, of drunk motorcycle riders killed in 2022. In every state, it’s illegal to drive drunk, yet one person was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 39 minutes in the United States in 2022. If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse — be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death. In 2022, there were 2,337 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where a driver had a BAC of .01 to .07 g/dL. “If we suspect or we know a teen is using, say marijuana or alcohol, one of the first things we do is talk to families who come to us at Odyssey House.
Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility.
The types of confrontational interventions you see on TV can lead to shame and a refusal to get treatment. Know where and how to get treatment and other support services and resources, including counseling or therapy (in person or through telehealth understanding the dangers of alcohol overdose services). Doctors diagnose alcohol use disorder (AUD) when a person has two or more of the symptoms listed below. What tips the balance from drinking that causes impairment to drinking that jeopardizes your life varies among individuals.
Preventing Underage Drinking
The endocrine system in teenagers plays a very important role in physical development. Damaging this system means that a person can cause harm to their reproductive system, physical growth, and emotional wellbeing. If alcohol changes how the body releases estrogen or testosterone during puberty, then the child may stunt their growth; harm the development of bones, muscles, organs, and their immune system; and they may have problems with infertility later in life. Kids who abuse alcohol are at elevated risk for physical, behavioral, academic, legal, and social harm. At some point, many teens are pressured to drink alcohol by friends or peers.
- Substance abusers and those who aredependent on alcohol and other drugs are a significant burden to health care andlaw enforcement systems.
- “We now talk about marijuana addiction where a kid in this case feels the need to use daily and it impacts their social world.
- Teens who drink are at risk of a number of negative outcomes, ranging from brain damage to death.
- The teenage years are the period during whichyoung people gain autonomy.
- Mental-health professionals should not minimize the approach to those who have experimented with alcohol, since infrequent use can progress to the more serious stages of alcohol use if not addressed.
- Girls often use alcoholand drugs in part to self-medicate (Dakof, 2000), whereas boys oftenuse drugs as a means to enhance pleasure and excitement and as arite of passage.
Signs of Teenage Alcoholism
One (12-ounce) beer has about the same amount of alcohol as one (5-ounce) glass of wine or one “shot” (1.5 ounces) of liquor. After you drink an alcoholic beverage like beer or wine, the alcohol enters your bloodstream from adderall and cardiovascular risk your stomach and small intestine. There, it slows reaction time, makes you less coordinated, impairs your vision, and — even at relatively low doses — leads to unclear thinking and problems making good judgments.
Explore other topics in Risky Driving
As alcohol levels rise in a person’s system, the negative effects on the central nervous system increase. Alcohol is absorbed directly through the walls of the stomach and small intestine. Then it passes into the bloodstream where it accumulates until it is metabolized by the liver. A person’s alcohol level is measured by the weight of the alcohol in a certain volume of blood. At a BAC of .08 grams of alcohol per deciliter (g/dL) of blood, crash risk increases exponentially.
Whatever the reason, the potential risks and negative consequences are the same. In 2022, among adolescents ages 12 to 14 who reported drinking alcohol in the past month, 97.7% reported getting it for free the last time they drank.14 In many cases, adolescents have access to alcohol through family members or find it at home. Adolescents who abuse alcohol may develop an alcohol use disorder and require teen alcohol treatment.
A national survey of teens from 2022 found those who experienced a major depressive episode were more likely to have used drugs, smoked marijuana or engaged in binge drinking. Children and adolescents often feel competing urges to comply with and resist parental influences. During childhood, the balance usually tilts toward compliance, but during adolescence, the balance often shifts toward resistance as teens prepare for the autonomy of adulthood. With open, respectful communication and explanations of boundaries and expectations, parents can continue to influence their children’s decisions well into adolescence and beyond.
For more information about alcohol’s effects on the body, please see the NIAAA Interactive Body. Adolescents typically have an increased desire to experience new things, but experimenting with alcohol is not a good idea. Windle, Michael, et al. “Transitions into underage and problem[…] and 15 years of age.” Pediatrics, April 2008.
Researchefforts on the importance of the therapeutic relationship shouldcontinue, and the findings should be disseminated widely totreatment providers. It is important to understand the potential of a program to produceresults. Most treatment programs keep track of outcome data and areable to provide statistics, which suggest the effectiveness of thetreatment and recovery strategies (Pickens and Fletcher, 1991; Bergmann et al.,1995; Jainchill et al., 1995; Werner, 1995). Evaluation iscostly and difficult (Drug Strategies, 2003; Milby, 1981). However, evaluationnot only validates effective approaches, it also providesinformation that is essential for improving or enhancing treatmentstrategies (Muck etal., 2001).
If you suspect that you or a friend has an alcohol problem, there are many treatment options available, and the earlier you get help, the better. Talk with a trusted adult, such as a parent, family member, coach, school counselor, doctor, certified substance use counselor, or a leader in your faith community. When someone you love is struggling with clinical experience of baclofen in alcohol dependence alcohol addiction, like your teen, it can be scary, lonely and overwhelming as you try to understand this chronic disease and find ways to help them seek recovery. For parents, finding out that they have a teen with alcohol use disorder can be devastating. In addition, some adolescents resort to stealing alcohol, either from parents or from stores.
Furthermore, while boys and girlsare both at risk for sexual abuse in interpersonal relationships aschildren, boys move out of risk in adolescence but girls continue tobe at risk for sexual abuse (Covington and Surrey, 1997). In 2019, approximately 414,000 teens aged qualified as having an alcohol use disorder (AUD); of this number, 2.1% were females and and 1.3% were males. In the same year, nearly 2 of every 100 young people between the ages of 12 and 13 had reported drinking alcohol in the past month. 24.6% of American teens reported drinking at least one alcoholic beverage in 2019 as well.
Manystudies have been completed to evaluate the outcomes of the TwelveStep Facilitation method, yet few have been geared specifically toadolescents. One study found that adolescents who are motivated toattend Twelve Step meetings have improved treatment outcomes (Kelly, Myers, and Brown,2002). However, more research is needed to assess theeffectiveness of the Twelve Step approach and how these programsmeet the developmental needs of teens (Kassel and Jackson, 2001). Many teens may struggle with mental health problems, or they may have parents, guardians, or siblings who also struggle with addiction or mental illness.
