We Are Living Wild and Free

Teen drug and alcohol abuse is very common in today’s life. Teenagers and young adults become involved with alcohol for a lot of reasons. Some reasons might be for pleasure, or influence from family such as parents drinking and smoking in front of or with the teenager, friends, curiosity, acceptance, and pure pressure are just a few of the reasons teenager’s might began to drink or smoke at a young age.

Some teens think that if their parents smoke or drink, then it is alright to do the same on special occasions, which sometimes turn into smoking or drinking more frequently. Underage drinking can cause dangerous sexual behavior, such as unprotected sex, and sex with multiple partners. These actions can lead to unplanned pregnancy and for contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s, also infections with HIV, the virus that cause AIDS. Excessive drinking creates secondhand effects that can put other people in harm.

According to Steele (2012) alcohol can cause many physiological effects such as Sedation, muscle relaxation, drowsiness, and disinhibiting of impulses and emotion. Over a long period of use it can cause mood swings, make one have less patience, give one a false sense of confidence, make one more aggressive, delay the capability to make liable decisions, interfere with one’s alertness. Even though the NY state law is you have to be 21 years of age or older to purchase liquor, or be caught with it in public teens are still using.

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I’ve noticed nothing stops them from using, many turn to an older sibling to use their I. D to buy liquor or to go clubbing. Binge drinking (drinking of four or more drinks on a single occasion within two weeks) is a big problem on college campuses. It is binge drinking, different from drinking in general that causes most of the alcohol-connected harm that’s happening on campuses and in the students' lives. A lot of teens don't think that they will become addicted, and simply use drugs or alcohol to have a good time and to feel ike they fit in with their friends. When teens become addicted they start to lose friends, start to have health problems, and start to fail in school, they experience memory loss, and they lack motivation. Addicts tend to distance themselves from their family and friends with their negative acts, attitudes and unpredictable emotional swings. I personally know this from experience because my dad is an alcoholic. When I visit my dad we never seem to have father and daughter time, I always find him passed out or he’s just somewhere getting high.

I’ve seen him fall and pass out from being drunk, and I have seen him loose character from getting high. When he's drunk he often get into serious arguments and fights with people surrounding him. If you say the slightest wrong thing to him while he is intoxicated he reacts to it. I myself have had alcohol before, but because I witness so much abuse to liquor I know how to limit myself while drinking. While drinking there’s stages you will go through of alcohol intoxication. Stage one you nearly sober, just getting started.

Stage two your tipsy, usually signs of this is a blush face, stupid grin, loud voice and an aware love for mankind. The sufferer is incredibly deep, intelligent and insightful, but prone to giggles. Stage three you’re plastered.... really generous, loud, and self-confident. Starts suffering from long talkativeness and a belief that he or she can drink anyone under the table. Then you start to feel drunken usually suffering vision, hearing; speech weakening, with a greedy appetite for pizza.

Then one’s to get obsessed with anyone and everyone, having a specious faith that he or she is attractive regardless of drooling and slobbing. Stage five you’re wasted... suffering from dangerous loss of balance, co-ordination and sex appeal. Liable to sleep anywhere, chatting confusedly with loss of most body functions. Your final stage is a hang-over.... suffering from near death, always with a pounding headache, unbalanced with no sense of humor. Needs complete silence and another drink! All these harmful stages can be avoided by monitoring the amount you drink.

When you are in stage one you can give yourself some time to feel the drink, it may not affect you as soon as your finish but give it time. Most people get to stage three and don’t realize how much they are drinking, in this stage you usually don’t taste how strong a drink is so you continue to drink repeatedly to stage 5. The use of alcohol for a long length of time can cause many health problems. It can harm the liver, bones, endocrine system, and brain, and at the same time stunt ones growth. When a person drinks constantly, it has been known to deeply affect their liver.

Over a period of time this out of control drinking can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or even suicidal behavior. Using alcohol for a long period of time can cause damage to the brain, which can alter one’s mood. Developing a mood disorder from alcohol consumption can one to develop suicidal ideation. I personally feel that a person of any age, race, and background can become an alcoholic, or addicted to drugs. It all starts by socially drinking and smoking with friends who seem to be handling it all.

Eventually if there is a weakness in a person, they will breakdown and slowly began to show the signs of heavy drinking, falling out, disrupting other people, and using physical abuse. Since I have watched drinking destroy my father, I have learned the signs and symptoms of alcoholism and the effects it has on the family members. As a child I just thought he was a crazy person, who acted this way after drinking, I thought this is what he was supposed to do after drinking. This article gave information on many different psychological and physiological effects of alcohol.

The author explained how alcohol, classified as a depressant drug could have bad long-term effects as well as health benefits. This is all depending on the person, the consumed amount, and the length of time the person has spent drinking alcohol. The author included the risks that are associated with drinking that allows one to enjoy. It can turn out to be an embarrassing time, as drinking decreases one’s ability to make proper judgments, or alter one’s mood. The author wrapped everything up after explaining that although can be a deadly drug; there are also good things that alcohol does to benefit one’s health.

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