Alcohol Refusal Skills Choose positive friends who don’t need alcohol to have fun. Be assertive in turning down the opportunity to drink. Make eye contact when turning down an opportunity to drink.

People who are dependent on alcohol, or have other medical or mental health problems, should stop drinking completely….

• Put it in writing.
• Set a drinking goal.
• Keep a diary of your drinking.
• Don’t keep alcohol in your house.
• Drink slowly.
• Choose alcohol-free days.
• Watch for peer pressure.
• Keep busy.

Why is avoiding gatherings where alcohol is present the best way to stay alcohol-free? Avoiding gatherings where alcohol is present is the best way to stay alcohol-free because you will be able to prevent encountering a situation where someone is pressuring you to drink alcohol.

Terms in this set (37)

• A depressant is a drug that speeds brain and body reactions.
• The three major factors that influence underage drinking are.
• The use, purchase, and possession of alcohol are legal only for people aged 18 and over.

Both internal and external factors contribute to the development of alcoholism. Internal factors include genetics, psychological conditions, personality, personal choice, and drinking history. External factors include family, environment, religion, social and cultural norms, age, education, and job status.

A teenager’s decision to drink alcohol can be influenced by:

• early introduction to alcohol.
• exposure to adult binge drinking or alcohol dependence.
• access to alcohol from parents and others.
• friends who drink heavily.
• New Zealand’s drinking culture.
• access to cheap alcohol.
• alcohol marketing.

Research has consistently shown that indirect parental influences (e.g., permissiveness of drinking) are associated with increased drinking, heavy episodic drinking, and negative alcohol-related consequences for young people.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drinking is considered to be in the moderate or low-risk range for women at no more than three drinks in any one day and no more than seven drinks per week. For men, it is no more than four drinks a day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Excessive alcohol consumption often causes malnourishment (not enough nutrients for the body to function well). People who drink large quantities of alcohol may not eat regularly. They may also vomit as a result of drinking too much. Not eating enough or vomiting can lead to periods of starvation.

Symptoms of alcohol overdose include mental confusion, difficulty remaining conscious, vomiting, seizure, trouble breathing, slow heart rate, clammy skin, dulled responses such as no gag reflex (which prevents choking), and extremely low body temperature. Alcohol overdose can lead to permanent brain damage or death.

Moderate alcohol use for healthy adults generally means up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men.

“While there are a number of variables, typically having a drink every night does not necessarily equate to alcohol use disorder, but it can increase the risk of developing alcohol-related health problems,” Lawrence Weinstein, MD, Chief Medical Officer at American Addiction Centers tells WebMD Connect to Care.

There’s no level of alcohol consumption that’s completely safe. If you don’t want any increased risk of developing cancer (above what you might have already from genetics or the environment you live in), you’d have to stop drinking altogether.

Drinking alcohol can affect many parts of your body, including your kidneys. A little alcohol—one or two drinks now and then—usually has no serious effects. But drinking too much can harm your health. It can also worsen kidney disease.

Drinking alcoholic beverages, including beer, by healthy people seems to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. Moderate alcohol use (one to two drinks per day) reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, and heart attack by approximately 30% to 50% when compared with nondrinkers.

There’s some evidence that drinking the occasional glass of red wine may be good for your heart either by preventing heart disease or lowering your risk of heart disease.

Drinking too much beer, or any other type of alcohol, is bad for you. “Heavy alcohol consumption wipes out any health benefit and increases risk of liver cancer, cirrhosis, alcoholism, and obesity,” Rimm says.

Drinking higher amounts of beer can cause many side effects including flushing, confusion, trouble controlling emotions, blackouts, loss of coordination, seizures, drowsiness, trouble breathing, hypothermia, low blood sugar, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, irregular heartbeat, and others.