Alcohol in adolescence

A conversation more than educational! Dedicated to teenagers...

Why do young people often "get drunk"?

For some adolescents, consumption may represent the inclusion in a group of friends, in other cases it may symbolize a ritual of transition to adulthood, or an attitude of defiance in the face of a discordant reality/conflict of autonomy.

Alcohol consumption starts as a way to young people to reaffirm their independence, freedom in decision making, and/or imitation of habits that they see in adults. It can also be an easy way to release their inhibitions and emotional blockages that stifle and catch live a healthy social and emotional involvement of sharing. However, alcohol is just an illusion.

Currently, early age of onset of drinking is a troubling reality, evolving from 18 years in the early 70s, to a current average of around 13/14 years.

A study of 13,000 students aged between 13 and 18 years, reveals that 37.3% of students aged 13 experienced drinking alcohol, a number that rises to 90.8% in youths aged 18. 8% of students with 13 years shows it has picked up a "drunk", a situation experienced by more than half (53.9%) of young people aged 18.

"The intervention has to be made to try to reduce, delay the onset of consumption, the amount consumed, because younger people are not biologically prepared to be able to consume." To aggravate the situation, "those who consume, consume more often".

2011 data. Source: http://www.jn.pt/PaginaInicial/Sociedade/Saude/Interior.aspx?content_id=2127512&page=2