I don’t drink much alcohol anymore – and haven’t for many years. In November, however, a close friend of mine introduced me to some blueberry wine which I absolutely fell for. Just prior to the holiday season, I purchased the only two bottles of the wine a local liquor store had left. I shared it with family and friends over the holidays and they fell for it, too. Just today, I discovered that the store has finally restocked the wine, and there are 18 bottles waiting for me! (Well, I think I’ll just buy a couple…that should do me for at least a few weeks at the rate I imbibe.)
Anyhow, I have a very soon-to-be 17-year-old son. When I talk to him about drinking alcohol, I tell him:
- to always keep his long term life goals in mind;
- that for the academic and professional career he intends to pursue, he requires all of his brain power;
- that even mild to moderate drinking weakens connections between neurons, adversely affects cognitive processing, and negatively interferes with the ongoing development of his teenage brain and that excessive drinking destroys white matter* in the brain which may or may not be able to re-grow;
- that he must stay in control of any open beverage at all times – even if it’s just soda - we know what strangers can do, but friends can add things to drinks as a joke while underestimating the negative consequences that may result;
- to never accept a drive home from someone who has been drinking (and to never drive after drinking);
- that if he wishes not to drink, to stand firm and not let anyone persuade him otherwise through ridicule, jest, or dare; and
- that even a couple of drinks can impair his judgment, reduce his impulse control, and lower his inhibitions so that he may do something he later regrets;
- that I’m always just a phone call away, no matter the time of day or night and to never worry about ‘bothering’ me.
I expect him to drink alcohol at some point - he hasn’t reached that point yet.
I also tell him that I used to drink and party a lot during high school and throughout university and that in my early twenties, an attractive, seemingly nice, young man put a drug in the one and only beer I was drinking – which he brought over to me from the bar shortly after my arrival at a party at a fitness club - and I completely blacked out as a result. (To make a long story short, another person intervened and I was saved from further harm. Up to that point, the early eighties, I hadn’t even heard of any of the ‘date-rape’ drugs.)
I know that when discussing things with a teenager, I may be up against a formidable opponent, namely, the immaturity of the teenage brain. The immature brain (it matures at around age 25) has a frontal lobe which is not yet fully wired. Logical consequences of actions cannot always be seen by teens and young adults due to fact that the brain is still a work in progress. Teens and young adults also tend to have lower impulse control for the same reason. Combine this with alcohol and impulse control may go completely out the window. Alcohol affects GABA, dopamine, glutamate, and raises endorphin levels**. The pleasant sensations produced by drinking cause a person to desire more drink in order to maintain the pleasant, relaxed, open
feeling. Speaking and actions become less inhibited. Individuals unwind and let’s face it, drinking can be loads of fun – a way to blow off steam after times of intense work or study.
We have less control over the emotional centres of our brain when we drink and our feelings may become more intense. We may become more expressive with our feelings, our desires. We are more likely to say or do something that we normally wouldn’t had we not been drinking. (I also can’t write this without thinking of the inevitability of one teenage girl or another crying in the washroom at every high school dance I attended as the drama and intensity of teenage dating unfolded.)
Friends may become more influential than parents, especially during the second-half of the teenage years.
According to Robert Aitken of the Centre for Instructional Development, Vancouver Community College, the younger a person is when he or she starts to drink, the more likely he or she will become an alcoholic. Forty percent of drinkers who started prior to age 15 became alcoholics compared with only ten percent of those who began drinking in their early twenties.
You may have heard many reports in the news last year about binge drinking on university campuses in the United States and Canada. Bouts of excessive drinking cause damage to the brain – neurological damage and memory loss. Some of this damage can repair itself, but some can become permanent. Excessive drinking can lead to alcohol poisoning, too, which can result in death. Young binge drinkers appear to be more susceptible to damage in the hippocampi (one hippocampus is located on each side of the head and is where learning and long-term memory functions occur). The more young people drink and the longer they drink, the smaller the hippocampi. The prefrontal cortex – the anterior or front portion of the frontal lobe, behind the forehead - where the chief decision-making centre is located along with the voice of reason, moral decision-making powers, and control also sustains damage.
Which of the neurotransmitters and regions of the brain are affected the most when an individual drinks varies depending on the genetic makeup of the person, the source of the alcohol ingested (for example, red wine may make an individual sleepy whereas beer may stimulate him), and the pre-existing mood and energy level of the person.
*White matter is the portion of the brain which contains the nerve fibres. These areas appear white due to the fact that the fibres are insulated by a protective substance called myelin – which is white.
**GABA stands for gamma-Aminobutyric acid and is actually an amino acid. It acts as the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in our nervous system whereby it helps induce relaxation and sleep. Dopamine is a excitatory neurotransmitter which is increased by the ingestion of alcohol. An increased level of dopamine leads to feelings of excitement and stimulation. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s uptake of glutamate – an amino acid. This causes relaxation of muscles, slurred speech, slower reaction times, lack of physical coordination, and memory decline. Alcohol raises the level of available endorphins – our body’s own natural painkiller - as well as giving us a natural ‘high’ (like after strenuous, sustained exercise). The more you drink over time, the more alcohol it will likely take to achieve this endorphin high.
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