Adolescence, addiction, alcohol and prevention

A time of change

A boy who is twelve is different from the same boy at seventeen. His body grows fast, his ideas change, and he wants to decide for himself. This period is adolescence. The word comes from a Latin word that means to grow to maturity. It is a bridge between childhood and adulthood.

The WHO defines adolescence as the years from 10 to 19. NCERT and many textbooks give the age as 12 to 18. The exact limits do not matter. What matters is that the body and the mind change fast.

Why do some young people try drugs and alcohol?

Several things push them.

• Curiosity, a need for adventure and excitement, and a wish to experiment.
• Peer pressure: friends who want them to join.
• Stress, anxiety, and problems at home or at school.
• Family history, or a home where drugs and alcohol are used.
• Wrong ideas from films, the internet and other media.

Most young people who try a drug do not mean to become addicts. A few trials can lead to a habit before they know it.

You should find that the largest bar shows the main reason. A school can plan a talk on that reason first.

Addiction and dependence

• Addiction is a psychological attachment to the euphoric effects of drugs or alcohol. Euphoria is a feeling of great happiness. The user feels that he must have the drug again.
• The body may need more and more of the drug to get the same effect. This is tolerance, a word from standard books.
• Dependence is the tendency of the body to show an unpleasant set of signs if the regular dose is stopped suddenly. The signs are the withdrawal syndrome. They can be severe, and they may even be fatal. A person must stop with a doctor's help.

What drug and alcohol abuse do

• At once: reckless behaviour, vandalism and violence. Alcohol makes judgement poor, and driving after drinking puts lives at risk.
• An overdose may lead to coma and death, because of failure of breathing, failure of the heart or bleeding in the brain.
• Mixing drugs, or taking them with alcohol, makes the danger greater.
• Sharing needles for injection can spread infections such as AIDS and hepatitis B.
• Over a long time: alcohol damages the nervous system and the liver. It can cause cirrhosis, a scarring of the liver. A mother who drinks while pregnant can harm her unborn child.
• Life: studies suffer, friends are lost, money is wasted, and the family is in pain.

Prevention and control

NCERT groups the steps into five ideas.

1. Avoid undue peer pressure. Every child is different. A child should not be pushed into doing what his friends do.
2. Education and counselling. A young person needs correct information, and a safe place to talk about his fears and his wishes.
3. Seeking help from parents and peers. A friend or a parent who listens is the best help. A child should talk to someone he trusts.
4. Looking for danger signs. Changes in sleep, in appetite, in mood or in marks, a drop in interest, and secretive behaviour are signs that must be taken seriously.
5. Seeking professional and medical help. Counsellors, doctors, and the de-addiction and rehabilitation programmes can help a person to recover.

Parents and teachers can also help a young person to use his energy in sport, music, art and hobbies. Addiction is a health problem, and a person who has it needs help, not blame.

Try it in Python

The program turns the counts of a survey into per cents.

Practise with new numbers

Common mistakes

• Saying that addiction is only a bodily need. It begins as a psychological attachment.
• Mixing up dependence and addiction. Dependence means that the body shows withdrawal signs if the dose is stopped.
• Thinking that withdrawal signs are a reason to carry on. They are a reason to seek medical help.
• Saying that only illegal drugs can be abused. Alcohol and tobacco are also abused, and they do harm.
• Blaming the addict. Addiction is a health problem, and the person needs help.

Remember these

• Adolescence is the bridge between childhood and adulthood.
• Reasons for starting: curiosity, adventure, peer pressure, stress, family history and the media.
• Addiction is a psychological attachment. Dependence brings the withdrawal syndrome when the dose is stopped.
• Alcohol damages the nervous system and the liver. An overdose may cause coma and death. Shared needles spread AIDS and hepatitis B.
• Prevention: avoid peer pressure, education and counselling, help from parents and peers, danger signs, professional help.

Check yourself

Try each one on your own first. If you are stuck, open a hint. Then check with Show the answer.

1. Why are adolescents at greater risk of trying drugs and alcohol?

2. What is the difference between addiction and dependence?

3. Name two effects of long term alcohol abuse.

4. Why can sharing a needle be dangerous?

5. Give three steps that help to prevent drug and alcohol abuse.

References

• World Health Organization (2023). Fact sheets: Adolescent health; Alcohol.
• Sawyer S. M. et al. (2018). The age of adolescence. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 2, 223 to 228.
• NCERT (2023). Biology, Textbook for Class XII, chapter 7.