Alcohol’s Effects on the Underage Mind
It’s Friday afternoon and everyone on campus is done with classes. Everyone is now deciding what to do tonight; whether it be the keg party at some fraternity, trying to sneak into a bar, or just drinking in someone’s dorm. For college students, this is a normal weekend. Underage binge drinking can be a common part of a college student’s weekend plans. Underage drinking is a serious problem for high school and college students. Alcohol can be addictive and excessive consumption could be extremely harmful to an underage person’s brain development.
In order to fully understand what alcohol does to an underdeveloped mind, you must first understand what alcohol is. Alcohol (ethanol or ethyl alcohol) is the ingredient found in beer, wine and liquor that causes drunkenness. Alcohol is classed as a ‘sedative hypnotic’ drug, which means it acts to depress the central nervous system at high doses. At lower doses, alcohol can act as a stimulant, inducing feelings of euphoria and talkativeness, but drinking too much alcohol at one session can lead to drowsiness, respiratory depression (where breathing becomes slow or stops entirely), coma or even death. As well as its acute and potentially lethal sedative effect at high doses, alcohol has effects on every organ in the body and these effects depend on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over time.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) alcohol is the most commonly misused drug by young people in the United States. In 2015 the CDC conducted a “Youth Risk Behavior Study” in which they surveyed high school students about the alcohol use within the last 30 days. The results were shocking to say the least. 33%, that is a third of all high school students have had alcohol in the previous 30 days, 18% reported binge drinking and 8% said they got behind the wheel of a car after drinking. These numbers clearly show that we have an underage drinking problem in our society. What may be the worst part about the US’s underage drinking problem is that it’s widely accepted by most people.
The major problem with underge drinking is young people’s tendency to binge drink. Binge drinking is defined as drinking four or five servings of alcohol in a two-hour period. This is extremely dangerous because it increases the risk of problems, like blackouts, physical injury from accidents or falls, and alcohol poisoning. Regular binge drinking can also cause chronic health problems, like liver failure and an increased risk for cancer. An underage person cannot handle alcohol like an adult can. Drinking is severely more harmful to teenagers because their brains are still developing. Drinking during this growth period can lead to lifelong damage in brain function, particularly as it relates to memory, motor skills (ability to move) and coordination. Young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.
Many young adults don’t really think about all of the negative side effects of drinking. Sometimes young people will be concerned about a hangover but don’t really think about the other consequences that could happen. Excessive drinking can lead to difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, mood swings, and other problems that could affect your everyday life. But binge drinking carries more serious and long lasting risks as well, such as alcohol poisoning. Alcohol poisoning can be considered one of, if not the most, life-threatening consequences of binge drinking. When someone gets alcohol poisoning, it affects the body’s involuntary reflexes; such as, breathing and the gag reflex. If your gag reflex is not working properly, there is a chance you could choke to death on your own vomit. Some of the tell tale signs of alcohol poisoning are low body temperature, pale/lifeless skin tone, slowed breathing, vomiting, and deep sleep.
Brain development doesn’t finish until around age 25 but the most brain growth occurs between ages 12 and 17. Drinking during this time is extremely dangerous because it can lead to permanent changes within the brain. A study conducted at the University of Massachusetts and published in the Journal of Neuroscience in 2014 found that physical damage to neurons and brain structures caused by binge drinking in adolescence still were there during adulthood. The study found that changes to the prefrontal cortex, one of the last brain regions to completely mature, caused lasting harm.
The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain located at the front of the frontal lobe. It is implicated in a variety of complex behaviors, including planning, and greatly contributes to personality development. The prefrontal cortex helps people set and achieve goals; as well as, receiving input from other regions of the brain to process information. The prefrontal cortex has many varying functions, such as: focusing one’s attention, predicting the consequences of one’s actions, anticipating events in the environment, impulse control; and managing emotional reactions.
Alcohol impairs your ability to walk, speak, react, and remember events. It also lowers inhibition, hinders impulse control, and affects decision-making. The reward pathway in the brain regulates these activities. Although this part of the brain can build up long-term tolerance to alcohol, this isn’t true of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is found deep within the brain. It’s critical to forming memories. The hippocampus can’t develop long-term alcohol toleration. This means it can’t create memories when a blackout occurs. It's important to remember that a blackout isn’t the same as passing out. Someone who passes out has either fallen asleep or become unconscious because they consumed too much alcohol. During a blackout, an intoxicated person can still function as normal. They may seem articulate because most parts of the brain are alcohol-tolerant. They just can't record any of the memories. This seemingly aware state can make it difficult for other people to recognize if a person is in a blackout.
Another region of the brain that alcohol can affect is the hippocampus. In fact, alcohol could potentially destroy the cells that make up the hippocampus. This can be particularly dangerous for the adolescent brain because, as previously stated, it is not fully developed. Young adults who drink heavily and often can permanently damage their hippocampus and in extreme cases sometimes have a smaller hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a vital role in brain function, not just during your youth, but during your entire life. A damaged hippocampus can lead to problems in short term memory and the ability to learn new things.
Alcohol is not only dangerous for brain development; its misuse can lead to injuries, hospital visits, and sadly even death. According to the CDC, drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths of underage people and in 2013 over 113,000 people under the age of 21 were hospitalized due to alcohol related events. Not only can alcohol ruin families, it also carries a massive economic burden. In 2010 alone drinking cost the US taxpayers about $24 billion dollars. Even though you must be 21 to purchase or consume alcohol, underage drinkers consume around 11% of all alcohol in the United States and almost 90% underage drinkers are binge drinking.
There are a lot of other problems that are associated with drinking alcohol at a young age. The CDC put out a list of problems that correlate with underage drinking. Many young people who drink face problems in school; such as, higher rate of absence and poor grade or even failing out. Many social problems stem from drinking too like getting into fights and not participating in many youth activities or organized groups. There are more physical problems than just hangovers that come along with alcohol. Physical and sexual assault are more likely to occur when alcohol is involved. There’s also a higher risk for suicide and homimcide.
Teenage drunk driving is a major problem in America. It’s an unfortunate but sadly a reality in our society today. The CDC states that just about every 15 minutes a teenager will die due to drunk driving. 60% of all teen deaths in car accidents involve alcohol and in 2011 the CDC conducted a survey in which they found that 24% of teenagers reported that in the past month they have ridden in a car with the driver having alcohol in their system. Drinking and driving is a horrible problem that stems from the misuse of alcohol and teenagers not fully understanding the magnitude of their actions. One thing I would hope that if teenagers are going to drink they are at least smart enough to stay out of the driver’s seat.
In conclusion, the dangers of alcohol to the adolescent mind are insurmountable. The cons of underage drinking heavily outway the pros. One of the biggest problems with underage drinking is that it is so prevalent within our society today. People today don’t fully understand the risks associated with constant binge drinking and the harm that they are doing to their bodies and mind. If you go to any college campus it will be extremely easy to find a party where the majority of the guests are unsupervised, not careful, and drunk. This leads to countless injuries and can cost universities a lot of money that could’ve been put towards something more useful. It’s not just at college either, highschoolers are also binge drinking at high rates. People as young as 14-15 years old are going out on the weekends and doing damage to their still developing brains. Hopefully someday young adults will fully understand the risks that come along with drinking alcohol.
Opinion
My opinion on underage drinking has changed drastically. I used to not really see a problem with it as long as you were responsible but now I understand that isn’t the case. In today’s society underage drinking, especially binge drinking, is way too common. In my opinion we need to make it harder for underage kids to get alcohol. I’m only 18 years old and I have no problem getting alcohol. The amount of beer distributors and bars that are lackadaisical when it comes to checking IDs is absolutely ridiculous. We need to stop the idea that its ok for teenagers to be constantly drinking. One thing that I believe could help tackle this problem would be to increase the legal punishments. Kids are getting a small fine or some light amount of community service and getting it expunged from the records soon after. I feel as if stronger punishments for breaking the law would be a better deterrent for underage drinking.
One thing that I believe is contributing to the underage drinking problem we have today is they way our society glorifies drinking, drugs and partying. We somehow need to make celebrities and musicians realize that when the party lifestyle they show on TV or on social media are detrimental to the development of our youth. Celebrities us music, TV, social medial all glorify drinking, drugs, smoking, partying and don’t really care about the repercussions as long as they’re making money. Very few celebrities really care about their fans and as soon as we, as a society, realize that this party lifestyle that is glorified in Hollywood isn’t a healthy path to go down.
Reaction
I have to say that I am honestly shocked about the amount of damage alcohol does to the underage mind. Before doing any research for this paper, I knew that alcohol wasn’t healthy for brain development but I didn’t know how dangerous it really is. The amount of long term damage underage drinking can have came as a complete surprise to me. Binge drinking is a big problem within our society, especially on college campuses. I think we as a society need to do a better job of informing our youth about the dangers of binge drinking. Not only the short term effects like blackouts or hangovers, but the long term effects it can have on your brain and its development. I believe that in either high school or in college, there should be some sort of alcohol safety class to inform underage people about the risks of constant binge drinking.
Another thing that really shocked me were the statistics that the CDC put out about drinking and driving. 24% of teens said they have driven with a driver who had alcohol in his or her system and that 60% of teenage deaths from motor accidents involved alcohol. These numbers are ridiculously high, every 15 minutes a teenager will die because of a drunk driving accident and that is completely unacceptable. We need to do a better job of teaching our youth that it is under no circumstances is it ok to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking any amount of alcohol. Especially in a society where we have Uber and other ways to get around without driving.
Experiences
After doing extensive research about underage drinking, my whole outlook on alcohol has changed. I am currently only 18 years old which means my brain won’t be fully developed for another 7 years. To me that is a scary thought because I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with alcohol. I’m not the type of drinker who is belligerently drunk stumbling around being irresponsible but still drinking, to any degree, when your mind isn’t fully developed is dangerous. I have had to deal with and take care of friends who drank too much too fast. They are usually unable to walk straight, if they are able to walk at all, can’t really talk coherently and tend to crash hard. I always try to tell people that if you are going to drink try to be somewhat responsible and not drink too much; but if you are going to drink too much, make sure that it is in a controlled environment with someone who is sober enough to help keep you from doing stuff that could harm you or others.
Everyone has had different experiences with alcohol. In order to get a better understanding of how alcohol has affected other people’s lives I took a survey. I surveyed 25 LaSalle students who are under the age of 21 and the answers I got from some of these students were absolutely mind blowing. I asked 25 students five different questions: 1.Have you ever had alcohol in your life? 2. Have you ever gotten in trouble because of alcohol (with parents and/or police)? 3. Have you ever done something while under the influence of alcohol that you either regretted or wouldn’t have done if you were sober? 4. Have you ever felt or gotten sick because of overconsumption of alcohol? And finally, 5. have you ever woken up after a night of drinking with a hangover or symptoms similar to a hangover? I have attached a chart that shows their answers.
