Essays24.com - Term Papers and Free Essays
Search

Alcoholism

Essay by   •  December 8, 2010  •  1,383 Words (6 Pages)  •  1,102 Views

Essay Preview: Alcoholism

Report this essay
Page 1 of 6

Alcoholism is an important issue to teenagers because alcohol is a very powerful drug that is often misused by teenagers. In fact, teens consume alcohol more frequently and heavily than all other illicit drugs combined. Although most children under the age of fourteen have not yet begun to drink, early adolescence appears to be a time that is risky of teenagers beginning to experience with alcohol. While some parents and guardians may feel relieved that their teen is ÐŽ§onlyЎЁ drinking, it is important to note that alcohol can be an extremely powerful and mood-altering drug. Not only does alcohol affect the mind and body in often-unpredictable ways, but it also increases the risk of the teenagersÐŽ¦ lack of judgement and coping skills to handle alcohol wisely. By reading the research paper, people will know more about the facts of using alcohol. With the focus of underage drinking, teenagers will be especially beneficial. They are going to have more knowledge about alcohol and they will understand better about the risk they are taking by drinking. The parents and guardians will also be more aware of their kids drinking after they know the importance of helping their child avoid any alcohol use and will be able to give them appropriate education.

The use of alcohol has been an issue because it is acknowledged that there are many negative body effects arise from drinking. With more and more youth drinking uncontrollably, alcoholism is becoming a more serious problem since most of the drunken adolescences are not conscious enough to control themselves while they drink and after they drink. Over-consumption of alcohol could cause physical problems such as alcohol poisoning or medical illness. In fact, underage drinking would affect the development of the teenagersÐŽ¦ bodies instantly and later in life, since most of the teenagersÐŽ¦ bodies are still developing. Some of the critical signs for alcohol poisoning include vomiting, seizures, slow breathing, irregular breathing, hypothermia, bluish skin colour, and paleness. Using alcohol can affect the teenagersÐŽ¦ body both directly and indirectly. It has been proven that using high doses of alcohol can delay puberty in both male and female. Nevertheless, consuming large quantities of alcohol result in slower bone growth and therefore, weaker bones will occur in teenagers. The effects of alcohol on liver are also very common, such as elevated liver enzymes, weakened liver, dysfunctional liver or even cancer in a worse situation. On the other hand, alcohol also affects oneÐŽ¦s body in many indirect ways. The consequences of underage drinking include alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes; increased risk for suicide and homicide; assault and rapes on college campuses; unintentional injuries such as burns, falls, and drowning; unwanted, unintended and unprotected sexual activity. Not only will the over consumption of alcohol create negative impacts on the victims themselves, it will also causes mentality problem due to the long term and short term effects to the brain.

Drinking has been proven about its use of relieving stress and the fact that it can make life more enjoyable, but the uncontrolled amount of youth drinking is becoming a very serious problem. There are mental effects on individuals that drink and it can become severe if they are not taken care properly. The effect is not only unpredictable, but it is also hard to control for most of the time. Some minor effects include confusion, stupor, coma, or person cannot be roused, but it would be a serious issue if the drinkers ignore the problem. They might seek for increased amounts of alcohol to achieve the desired effect or a diminished effect from the same amount of alcohol. Whether anxiety and depression lead to or are consequences of alcohol abuses remain unresolved. In a study of college freshmen, a DSM-III diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence was twice as likely among those with anxiety disorder as those without this disorder in another case, college students diagnose with alcohol abuse were almost four times as likely as students without alcohol abuse to have a major depressive disorder. In most of these cases, depression preceded alcohol abuse. In a study of adolescents in residential treatment for AOD dependence, 25 percent met the DSM-III-R criteria for depression, three times the rate reported for controls. In 43 percent of these cases, the onset of AOD dependence preceded the depression; in 35 percent, the depression occurred first; and in 22 percent, the disorders occurred simultaneously. Although alcohol does help people to relax and let people enjoy life more, because youth are not mature or not highly educated enough to handle the use of alcohol resulting in mental problems which have been a serious problem with alcohol. Considering how much alcohol has done to teenagers, the behaviour of the teenagers is a bigger issue, because not only the people using alcohol themselves will be affected, but also the people around them.

Using alcohol can influence oneÐŽ¦s behaviour variously depend on the amount of alcohol taken and the person drinking. Alcohol can make everyone laugh for the jokes that were made, and also make everyone cries because of something that happened. Youth drinking has become a serious issue since related accidents have often occurred. Teenagers who report drinking prior to the age

...

...

Download as:   txt (8.5 Kb)   pdf (108.1 Kb)   docx (11.6 Kb)  
Continue for 5 more pages »
Only available on Essays24.com