Alcoholic Abuse - More Social Initiatives Needed

Today one of the headlines in an Indian news paper Times of India that caught my attention is ‘Drunk man slips and fall into well, dies’. 

Death due to binge drinking is not an isolated event even in a country where alcohol sales and consumption is highly regulated by the government.  Accidents and death due to alcohol consumption is an everyday occurrence and though shocking gets scant attention. 

People generally shrug off such events.  So what has gone wrong in a society where drinking is taboo?

Various government organizations enforcing prohibition are riddled with inefficient and corrupt officials who simply look the other way to get their own pound of the flesh.  However the major problem lies in the attitudinal, cultural and behavioral areas of alcohol consumption.

Instead of prohibition, the governments need to educate and mobilize public opinion on moderate social drinking.  Free availability with a proper attitude towards drinking can curb the problem to a great extent.

Schools and collages should have special sessions to educate the young people who are more impressionistic on the ill effects of drinking.  Above all glorifying drinking in advertisements and the entertainment mediums must be stopped.  Parental vigilance on children staying out over night or in hostels and proper counseling in time can help curb alcoholic abuse and binge drinking.

Though it is a long drawn out process, such social initiatives alone can help curb the alcoholic menace.  Regulatory measures may prove to be counterproductive.  

   

Binge Drinking Leads to Alcohol Poisoning

Binge drinking can lead to very serious consequences, the least of which is alcohol poisoning

How does binge drinking happen?  Why does a fun evening get together turn into a long evening of downing drink after drink?

The hidden frustrations, the upbeat mood of the evening, freedom from any restrictions, the macho challenges all add up to binging.  When a person has more than 5 drinks then it is considered as binge drinking.

Physiology and the rate of metabolizing vary from person to person.  Not all can have the same metabolic rate there by processing the amount of alcohol also varies.  When the body cannot process the large quantities of alcohol being poured in it results in alcohol poisoning.

The major symptoms of alcohol posing are loss of consciousness, slurred speech, seizures, erratic behavior, slow reflexes, no response to painful stimuli, pale skin, feeling very ill, protracted vomiting, slurred speech, difficulty awakening the person and irregular breathing.

Immediate medical attention is needed when a person is down with alcohol poisoning.  Failing to attend to alcohol poisoning may result in liver damage, cardio-vascular problems, neurological problems and even death.

An hour of fun can turning to serious life threatening problems.  It is always best to mix with people or groups who behave responsibly so that one is not drawn into a binge drinking and negative consequences for life. 

Srinivasan Gopal

Binge Drinking - Disastrous Consequences

If you have more than five drinks within short period of hours you are on binge drinking.

Binge drinking among youngsters especially those who are just entering collage is becoming cause of worry for the parents as well as the teaching community.  Bing drinking and alcohol related statistics related to students are staggering. 599000 collage students suffer alcohol related injuries.  1700 of those are fatal.  

The consequences of alcoholism and binge drinking among students include impaired mental abilities, unwanted sexual encounters, rape and sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea.

Women are more at risk of sexual exploitation after a binge drink session than men.  Women also suffer more as they end up with higher concentration of alcohol in the blood due to their smaller body mass.

While binge drinking is accepted practice in collages and among the youth, nevertheless society must sit up and take note of the ill effects of such drinking and strive for balance and dissemination of knowledge to the youth on the future consequences.

Underage drinking must be watched, discouraged and legal age must be raised to act as a deterrent.  Only then can we hope to seriously tackle alcohol abuse.

Srinivasan Gopal