Alcoholism in adolescence

• April 26, 2024

Phrases like "you do not trust me" or "you're spying on me" by daughters or teenagers, imply the need of mothers and fathers to recognize that there is a change in behavior, humor, relationships, school performance and habits of the youth in their progeny.
 

Questions and answers with excessive suspicion of the adolescent can be a wake-up call, if it is also combined with suspicions about alcohol abuse.
 

In Mexico, close to three million adolescents have problems of alcoholism or abuse in consumption and each time they start at younger ages.
 

Women consume increasing amounts of alcohol, particularly teenage girls.

First signs
 

The last years of primary school are a crucial moment in which children's decisions about alcohol consumption can be influenced. At that age, they often love to learn data, especially about unfamiliar topics and are anxious to understand how things work.
 

However, adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period for excessive consumption of alcohol, as it increases the independence of mothers and fathers and imitates attitudes and behaviors of adults around them.
 

Carlos Rodríguez Ajenjo, technical secretary of the National Council Against Addictions (Conadic), recognizes that the problem of alcohol abuse among young people is really worrying, not only because of the harmful effects, sometimes irreversible, that is caused by cerebral and hepatic system, but to the relation that has, like first cause of death, by automobile accidents, quarrels, suicides and homicides.
 

The adolescent also tends to try to "break the established rules" and go against the parents, sometimes he does it using excessive and dangerous alcohol.
 

Many times family problems affect the existence of alcoholism: (bad relationships within the family), social (need to belong to a peer group), school (problems at school that lead them to drink to escape reality) .
 

In adolescence, young people should already know the consequences of consuming alcohol and substance use. That's why it's important to be aware of it.
 

Risk factors in the family
 

-Teens are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, and their growing need for independence may make them want to challenge the wishes or instructions of their parents.
 

-The science has identified some risk criteria in alcoholism among young people, such as:
 

-Chaotic family environments or with alcohol or drug abuse in mothers or fathers, and / or with a psychiatric disorder
 

- Serious problems in the education of minors for presenting difficult temperaments or behavior problems
 

-Lack of affective bond between daughters / sons and mothers / fathers and lack of affection
 

-Faculty risk factors
 

-The curiosity or the need to belong to a group can lead the young person to initiate himself in the consumption of alcohol, as well as the failure in school and even the social pressure that they live after the advertising attacks.
 

- However, it is necessary to take into account other risk factors that arise in this stage:
 

-Excessively shy or aggressive behavior in class.
 

-Incapacity to handle adverse situations (not knowing how to say no).
 

-To have friendships with people of your age who have behavioral or legal problems.
 

- Implicit consent or tolerance to the use of alcohol at school, with friends, or the community.
 

-Availability and tolerance to the use of alcohol in the neighborhood, the belief that the use of alcohol is harmless, increases the number of young people who start using it.
 

-Causes of alcohol consumption:
 

-It's a way to "get cheerful"
 

-Form of affiliation search, with imitation of behaviors, with consumption that is sometimes imposed by the group of friends in which they participate.
 

-Disinhibition, overcoming shame
 

-The consumption would act as a model of imitation and expressiveness of adulthood

Be aware of the following signs:
 

-The smell of alcohol

- Sudden changes in mood or attitude
-Changes in school attendance or in grades
-Loss of interest in school, sports and other activities
-Problems of discipline in school
-Aparttar from family and friends
-Relation with a new group of friends and resistance to presenting them to parents
-Display of alcohol at home
-Depression and development difficulties
 

Video Medicine: Reasons Why Teenagers Drink Alcohol (April 2024).