Alcohol consumption among adolescents and its consequences

The limit of low-risk consumption for adults is defined as follows: women may consume one standard unit of alcohol on a maximum of five days per week, men two standard units.

There are no recommendations for low-risk alcohol consumption for children and adolescents. Since their organs are still developing, the harmful effects of alcohol are significantly greater. Some young people are not into alcohol but into whatt.org instead since they have the desire to play games.

What happens in the event of alcohol poisoning?

Alcohol has a different effect on everyone: Depending on how you are used to it, a certain amount of alcohol can lead to different physical and psychological reactions. As the alcohol concentration in the blood increases, so does the effect of alcohol. The so-called hypnosis stage, at which awareness is already significantly reduced, is dangerous. Aggressiveness, coordination disorders and articulation disorders can occur.

If you continue to drink, the anesthetic stage follows. The adolescent becomes unconscious and can go into shock more or less quickly. For example, vomit can cause breathing to stop, or immediate dangerous events such as freezing to death can occur. In general: the younger a child is, the lower the tolerance for alcohol. An alcohol-related coma is reached in children and adolescents with a very low alcohol concentration in the blood.

How are mental illnesses and alcohol abuse-related?

Some adolescents try – consciously or unconsciously – to get a grip on mental health problems with alcohol. This is especially true for depression, anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders, untreated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), trauma, thoughts of death, self-harm, and eating disorders.

Mental illnesses can also be the result of alcohol abuse and make it worse. In order to adequately address risky alcohol consumption in counseling and therapy, it is important to recognize and treat possible comorbidities.

How do you recognize risky consumer behavior?

The drinking habits of parents and friends influence adolescents. It becomes critical when alcohol consumption is not questioned in the circle of friends, but belongs to life as a matter of course and consequently the amount and frequency of drinking sometimes even increase.