Teenage binge drinking is one of the biggest banes of modern societies. Increased prosperity, easy access to alcohol, reduced price of alcohol and proliferation of pubs with licence to operate through the night are some of the key reasons for increased teenage drinking problems. Increased peer pressure and the need to look “cool” amongst a group of friends are other reasons of increased teenage alcohol abuse. Let us look at some symptoms to check if your teenager is addicted to drinking:

Disruptive Behaviour: Teenage binge drinking is often associated with disruptive behaviour. Binge drinking often happens outside the home at night clubs and often after having drunk several glasses or bottles of alcohol your teenager might lose control and enter into street fights, many vomit in public and others hurt themselves or others unknowingly. Police complaints or visits to accident and emergency section of hospitals could become a regular feature for you with teenage drinking problems. Teenage alcohol abuse can also lead to serious accidents if your teenager gets involved in fights with friends or other people at the night club.

Risk Taking: Teenage alcohol abuse is also associated with increased risk taking and teenagers are more prone to drinking and driving, stealing from home and taking loans from friends to fuel their addiction.

Increased Alcohol Tolerance: Teenage binge drinking also results in increased tolerance of alcohol. You will notice that in social gatherings and parties your teenager displays exceptional capacity to drink and remain sober. Teenage drinking problems are also associated more frequent outings and visits to nightclubs and bars.

Lack of Control: Another symptom of teenage binge drinking is your teenager’s inability to stop drinking once they have started. Teenage alcohol abuse is usually associated with regular vomiting after drinking and complete loss of control of body, thoughts, speech and actions. When this is pointed out, they may accept that they have a problem, but are unable to do anything to overcome it. 

Withdrawal Symptoms: Teenage binge drinking also results in several withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, sweating, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, depression and loss of appetite or fatigue. , Under advanced cases of teenage alcohol abuse your teenager may also get withdrawal symptoms such as hallucinations, confusion, seizures or fever. These are advanced cases and if you do notice these symptoms, you should talk to a doctor immediately.

In the book “Solving Teenage Problems” several tips to deal with alcohol abuse have been provided. Teenage binge drinking needs to be curbed else we will end up building a society of socially disruptive individuals with little sense of responsibility and accountability. Early education and open relationship are crucial to avoid teenage drinking problems.

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As a parent you may surprised to see your teen being pulled for drinking. But that is not much to be surprised considering that a reputed teen treatment center at Oklahoma has pointed out that teenage drinking cases are on a definite rise.  So how do you know if your teenage child is abusing alcohol?

Symptoms and signs of alcohol abuse:

 Smell of alcohol on the body and breath:  One of the evident signs is the smell of alcohol on the breath and body of your child. However, it goes without saying that teens today are more proficient in covering this up.
 Bunking school: If your teen is bunking school and is not at home, you can be sure that he or she is up to something. One of them could be joining a group of friends and drinking at his or her place. It has been seen that boys tend to drink at nights or at a time between 3 pm and 6pm well before the parents could reach home from work.
 Change in the behavior:  Teenagers tends to behave in a brash manner, they tend to rebel and become verbally and physically abuse. Complaints of your son getting into fights with local kids and other boys from the school become frequent.
Lying: When the teen lies and makes excuses, there are apprehensions that some of them are related to alcohol abuse on the sly.
Alcohol paraphernalia:  Presence of alcohol paraphernalia like bottle tops, bottles, bills from a beer or liquor shop etc can definitely rouse suspicions.
Stealing: This happens when the teenager is so addicted that he would do anything to get his finances in place to buy a bottle or two. He may even steal things from home or a friend’s place to get money.
Change in friends: The alcohol addict will move to another set of friends who entertain him and encourage his drinking habits.

The risk factors for a teenager to drink at such an early age are due to the following factors according to information given by various teenage rehab programs:

Low parental supervision:   The parents are way too lenient and do not monitor or supervise on the kid’s activity, due to which he or she takes undue advantage.
Broken family: If the teenager comes from a broken family where people are always bickering and fighting or when there are physical and emotional tirades between his parents, the teenager may resort to drinking as an escape from the troubles at home.
 Strict parental discipline: As much as leniency on the part of parent is to be faulted, so is the tendency of parents to be very strict with the children. If you are too strict, the teenager begins to feel subdued. When he gets his advantage, he exploits it to the maximum, drinks a lot and then finds ways and means to feed his interest.
 Peer pressure: Teenagers succumb to peer pressure easily. Though this is a general statement and does not apply to all, there are quite a few who give into drinks, smoking drugs with little coaxing and egging.
 Thrill seeking attitude: Teenagers take to drinking because they want to feel like adults as they have seen their fathers and other adults drinking and making merry.
Family history of alcohol abuse: If a teen comes from the family of alcohol abuse, it is possible that he or she may also drink easily as a way to ‘get back’ at the people who drank heavily.
 Girls watch their mothers who drink and follow suit: Girls tend to be influenced by their mother’s attitude toward drinking. If they see their moms drinking, the teenage daughter also finds it ‘cool’ to drink and soon the addiction develops.

As parents, you have to closely supervise your teenage son and daughter’s behavior. If found drinking, instead of being very angry and livid, be cool and explain to them firmly but lovingly about how alcohol can harm their health and reputation. If things are out of control, it is better to take these children to adolescent treatment centers where due counseling and treatment can be given to make them sober and healthier soon. 

One of the biggest problems faced by most western societies is increasing teenage alcohol abuse. Teenage alcoholism has its roots in increased stress, peer group pressure, family stress and overall teenage depression. Most teenagers feel that by drinking they can show that they have grown-up and slowly one to two drinks turn into several drinks and before you know your teenager is facing alcohol abuse problem. Below are some of the key symptoms that can help you ascertain if your teenager is suffering from teenage alcohol abuse:

Lower Personal Effectiveness: The first signs of teenage alcohol abuse can be seen in decline in effectiveness at school and home. You will start seeing your teenager dropping grades or you might get complaints of absenteeism from school. Teenage alcoholism also results in them breaking all the house rules. When you see these changes more often than you expect (at least one to two times a month) you need to understand that your teenager is suffering from alcohol abuse problem.

Health Issues: Teenage alcoholism when it takes serious proportions can lead to your child having headaches, memory lapses, blackouts, dizziness, nausea, paranoia or other physical problems. These problems come at a very late stage of alcohol abuse problem. However, most parents miss these signs as most teenagers try and hide these symptoms and avoid too much communication with parents. They also try and avoid family get together as they don’t want to be caught. Teenage alcohol abuse can have serious health problems if not spotted at the right time.

Risk Taking: Teenage alcoholism can also lead teenagers to taking more risks to fuel their addiction. Alcohol abuse problem can cause teenagers to risk drinking and driving or get involved in disruptive behaviour like street fights, eves teasing etc. Teenage alcohol abuse might also result in you getting police complaints or having to visit the police station. If you notice any of the above signs you need to be take external help to ensure that your teenager gets rid of their addiction.

Increased Alcohol Tolerance: Early signs of teenage alcoholism could be displayed through an increased tolerance of alcohol. During social events and family get-togethers, if you find your kid having exceptional capacity to drink and remain sober, it is first warning of expected teenage alcohol abuse. If your teenager suddenly disappears from the social get-together and is found in the corner or bar table drinking alone, then it implies alcohol abuse problem.

In the book “Solving Teenage Problems” several other symptoms of alcohol abuse problem have been discussed along with certain effective tips that can help you support your teenager to get over the problem. However under extreme cases it is always important to get professional help rather than trying to fight it out alone. Various specific instances when you should get external help have also been described in the book. Teenage alcohol abuse is one of the burning issues of today’s society and parents have to take every step to curb teenage alcoholism.

It’s no secret that alcohol abuse is alive and well in high schools and college campuses across America. New research studies seek to investigate the root causes of teen alcohol abuse: the relationship between heavy drinking and social anxiety.

According to a recent report by the National Institute of Health (NIH), anxiety is a psychological risk factor associated with heavy or problem drinking among teenagers.

Along with anxiety and other psychological factors, the NIH report suggests that an impulsive personality and a family history of alcohol abuse may be additional risk factors for problem drinking.

People with social anxiety, both teenagers and adults alike, can benefit from these findings by taking action to eliminate risk factors for alcohol abuse and address their anxiety. Social anxiety is the most common type of anxiety disorder, affecting 15% of all Americans. Social anxiety, also known as social phobia, is diagnosed as overwhelming anxiety, fear, and self-consciousness in everyday social situations.

It triggers a host of physical symptoms, anxious thoughts, and avoidance behaviors. Often involved is a strong feeling of anxiety that others are looking at or judging them. The stress from this anxiety is often most pronounced during teen years and is often negated by alcohol abuse.

What You Can Do As A Parent?

Ask your teen why he or she drinks. Is it to help alleviate social fears and anxieties? To fit in, and not be judged? If so, explain to them the reality of the situation. They may be using alcohol in a vain attempt to cope with the root cause: social anxiety.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol may mask the problem for a few brief hours. However, once the mask comes off, the anxiety returns as strong as ever. Teen alcohol abuse does not cure social anxiety.

In fact, instead of curing one problem, teen alcohol abuse creates another. Instead of one problem to overcome, there are now two problems, social anxiety AND alcohol abuse.

Here are several ways you can empower your teenager to address the root causes of social anxiety, instead of masking the problem with heavy drinking.

1. Change their expectations about what alcohol can do for their stress level. National Institute of Health research indicates that when a teen EXPECTS that alcohol will relieve stress and lead to higher levels of social acceptance, it leads to increased drinking.

Problem drinkers tend to believe these two thoughts. In fact, there is much debate as to whether this assumption is actually true.

While some studies suggest that low levels of alcohol temporarily reduce the stress response (also known as the fight or flight response), other studies now indicate that alcohol actually INDUCES the stress response by stimulating the release of stress hormones such as corticosterone and adrenaline.

2. Encourage them to build a social support system. Many teens rely on drinking for social support. Instead of using drinking to connect with others, seek social support outside of the drinking environment. This is easier said than done, since it is a catch-22: the social anxiety is what hinders these types of connections in the first place.

Remember, the longest journey is accomplished one step at a time. Start with safe people like a trusted family member, a best friend, counselor, or pastor, and build from there.

Some colleges offer group therapy for people with social anxiety, which gives your teen an opportunity to learn how to overcome her fears in a safe environment with people who understand what she is going through.

3. Encourage your teen to increase his sense of control over social anxiety by learning anxiety reduction techniques. Nutritional strategies for reducing anxiety, deep breathing, guided imagery, and cognitive-behavioral strategies are just a few examples of anxiety reduction techniques that can bring about positive results.

Anxiety reduction techniques can be highly effective tools in helping conquer anxiety. For example, NIH findings indicate that cognitive-behavioral therapy can be as effective as medication in treating anxiety, and even more effective than medication at preventing long-term recurrence of anxiety.

Teen alcohol abuse will likely never be totally eradicated as long as there are both teens and alcohol. By far, the largest factor in preventing teen alcohol abuse is active, positive involvement by the parents in the lives of the teenager.