Alcohol Abuse

I thought I would write about a topic that potentially would matter to some of the other bloggers around here. I know that some of you couldn't be bothered to here me ranting about anything and everything that comes to mind.
I thought about it, and it's a topic that affects me deeply, because I have experience in dealing with these...people.

I am talking about alcoholics.

More importantly, I am talking about young people, families and who is affected most by alcohol and alcohol related issues.

Young People and Alcohol

UNDERAGE DRINKING IS WIDESPREAD IN THE U.S...


More than 10 million current drinkers in the United States are between the ages of 12-20. Of these young drinkers, 20% engage in binge drinking and 6% are heavy drinkers.[1]

On average, young people begin drinking at 13.1 years of age.[2]

By the time they are high school seniors, more than 80% have used alcohol and approximately 62% have been drunk.[3]

Girls are beginning to drink at younger ages. In the 1960s, 7% of 10- to 14-year-old females used alcohol; by the early 1990's, that figure had risen to 31%.[4]

Due to heavy or binge drinking, nearly one out of every five teenagers (16%) has experienced "black outs," after which they could not remember what happened the previous evening. [5]

Young people have easy access to alcohol. In alcohol purchase attempts made by researchers across the U.S., buyers who appeared to be underage were able to purchase alcohol with no questions asked at least 50% of the time. [6]

AND THE CONSEQUENCES ARE DEVASTATING...

Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death among persons ages 10 to 24: (1) motor-vehicle crashes, (2) unintentional injuries, (3) homicide, and (4) suicide. [7]

Young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. [8]

More than 67% of young people who start drinking before the age of 15 will try an illicit drug. Children who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use any illicit drug, more than 22 times more likely to use marijuana, and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than children who never drank. [91

Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals. [10]

Underage drinking costs Americans nearly $53 billion annually. If this cost were shared equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more than $120 million per district. [11]

Researchers estimate that alcohol use is implicated in one to two-thirds of sexual assault and acquaintance or "date" rape cases among teens and college students. [12]
In 1999, 21% of 15- to 20-year-old drivers who were killed in crashes were intoxicated. [13]



Here's an article that I found on the internet about how alcohol abuse affects the family.

Link: http://addictionrecoverybasics.com/how-alcohol-abuse-affects-family/

How Alcohol Abuse Affects Family


by Bill Urell on

The effects of alcohol abuse roll over the family like waves crashing on the shore.

When someone experiences alcohol problems, the negative effects of drinking cost dearly, not only the drinker, but also on their partner and other family members.



Often alcohol abusers have a blind spot when it comes to the ravaging effects it can have on loved ones. Recent data suggest that approximately one child in every four (28.6%) in the United States is exposed to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence in the family.



One of the clearest demonstrations of how alcohol use negatively impacts the family is the widely documented association between alcohol use and interpersonal violence. Family problems that are likely to co-occur with alcohol problems include:



1.Violence – slapping, hitting, smashing and throwing objects.



2. Marital conflict – arguments, the silent treatment, growing apart.



3. Infidelity - finding someone who ‘understands’, prostitution, internet sex.



4. Jealousy - of friends, your partner or the



5. Economic insecurity – loss of job, poor financial decisions, easting money



6. Divorce – isolation



7. Fetal alcohol effect – drinking when pregnant, brain damage to the baby.



Drinking problems may negatively alter marital and family functioning, but there also is evidence that they can increase as a consequence of marital and family problems. Therefore drinking and family functioning are strongly and reciprocally linked. Drinking increases family problems, as family problems increase, drinking increases.



A vicious cycle is formed. It is no surprise that alcohol problems are very common in couples that seek out marital therapy. And, relationship problems are common in drinkers who present for alcohol treatment



Here some more articles about alcohol abuse from around the web.



Prenatal Drinking, Environmental Enrichment: Effects On … – Prenatal alcohol exposure may be particularly destructive for neurotrophins, a family of peptides that influence the growth, development and functional plasticity of the fetal brain. A new rodent study of alcohol’s effects on three key …



Growing Up Alcoholic: The Effects of Alcohol Abuse on Children – Alcohol addiction is a very dangerous disease that not only affects the individual, but also has a direct affect on those family members who are around the addict. A great deal of parents who are dealing with stressors such as their …



The Effects Of Alcohol Consumption On Our Society (mens health care) – Alcohol is metabolized in the liver by enzymes, however, the liver can only metabolize a small amount of alcohol at a time, leaving the excess alcohol to circulate throughout the body. The intensity of the effect of alcohol on the body …



The Effects Of Alcohol In The Body – Don’t let alcoholism get to this point. Ethyl alcohol has industrial properties. The ethyl alcohol which is used in alcoholic beverages is heavily taxed. Ethyl alcohol is one of a family of alcohols, which include methyl alcohol, …