Alcohol Awareness Month
April is Alcohol Awareness Month. Many individuals with mood disorders self-medicate with alcohol and drinking itself can lead to depression. A central nervous system depressant, alcohol can create serious complications for depressed individuals who use it to alter their moods. Alcohol should be avoided during treatment for depression and anxiety, especially by those taking medication as it can make antidepressants less effective and worsen their potential side effects. Drinking also can cause a depressed mood that lasts for weeks, even after the consumption of alcohol has stopped.
According to Alcoholics Anonymous, whether or not you are an alcoholic is not determined by how long you have been drinking, the age at which you started or even where, with whom or how much and what you consume. Rather it depends on what alcohol has done to you. If you are preoccupied with it or it has affected your health and/or your relationships with family and friends, influenced the way you spend your day or determines your mood when you are not drinking, it is likely that you have a problem with alcohol.
Youth who use alcohol before age 15 are significantly more likely to become addicted. Warning signs for parents include carelessness with grooming; deteriorating relationships with family members and friends; chronic fatigue; having too much or too little money; increased truancy; seeming dizzy, uncoordinated or silly and/or giggly for no reason; and using incense and other deodorizers. Parents should not try to talk to their children while they appear to be under the influence. Instead, during a calm moment the following day, explain that you are worried and give them a chance to explain. Listen, speak frankly and share your values. Rather than asking where the alcohol came from, question why your child is drinking.
Give clear no-use messages about alcohol for underage drinkers. Monitor your child’s whereabouts and get to know his or her friends and their parents. Supervise teen activities and encourage and support adolescents’ involvement in positive, pro-social interests, like sports, school clubs, the arts, community service and anything else that provides a sense of belonging. #AlcoholAwarenessMonth