ALCOHOL’S EFFECTS ON YOUNG PEOPLE

So, what's the big deal about getting drunk?

Well, alcohol is an ADDICTIVE TOXIN (poison) which permanently damages the body in excess quantities, more so if you're young. Because it is addictive some young people once they start cannot control their drinking and end up as alcoholics. Many more end up with an unhealthy relationship with alcohol – they would like to give it up or reduce but they can’t – because it is addictive.

Extent of drinking among 15-16 year old schoolchildren (ESPAD study 2007)
More girls than boys drunk in last 30 days 28% versus 24%
More girls binge drank in last 30 days than boys 44% versus 42%
This places Ireland 5th of 35 countries surveyed

Teenage death

Teenagers coping with Alcohol and Depression

Many young people suffer depression in their teens. A lot of depressed people, especially teenagers, also have problems with alcohol or other drugs. Sometimes the depression comes first and people try drugs as a way to escape it. In the long run, drugs or alcohol just make things worse.
Other times, the alcohol or other drug use comes first, and depression is caused by:

Children of Alcoholics

Are your parents drinking too much? Do you worry about them? Most children love their parents and want them to be well but many children live in alcoholic homes. They feel they must protect their parents and keep their parents drinking a secret. Yet life is miserable and a childhood lost to worrying, the child must grow up fast. If it’s the father who drinks, sometimes he is kind and loving “But other times he wasn’t that way. Those were the times he was drunk. When he didn’t come home at all, you worried and waited. At home, he passed out, got into big fights with your mother, even came at you, which was really scary. Sometimes you got in the middle, trying to keep the peace. Never knowing what was going to happen, you always felt somewhat desperate” (Adult children of Alcoholics) Janet Geringer Woititz.

Adolescent Addiction Treatment

Adolescent Addiction Treatment Centre.( www.aislinn.ie)

Aislinn Adolescent Addiction Centre in Ballyragget Co Kilkenny is a drug free rehabilitation treatment centre for persons between the ages of 15 and up to 21years for male and female .Aislinn was founded in 1997. It has an open referral policy. Aislinn receives its funding from a number of statutory agencies namely the Health Service Executive and Probation Service. They also receive clients who have Private Health Insurance i.e. V.H.I., Quinn Healthcare, Hibernian Aviva Health. Fundraising events are organised annually to help maintain young people in the recovery programme and the Family Support Programme.Consultations and assessment are by appointment only.
The word Aislinn is an old Irish word for vision and dream and the centre’s intent is to help adolescents re-discover their dream for the future, which they have lost while coping with the severe consequences of chemical abuse.