Archive for the ‘Underage Drinking’ Category

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Do Family Feuds Also Lead to Drunk Driving?

Posted on Jul 28, 2011

There is a commonly perceived connection between drunk driving and family feuds between spouses, siblings, or parents. Sometimes they happen together. However, do family feuds lead to drunk driving? This is the focus of current research but experts warn not to jump to any conclusions. Whether drinking and driving has a cause-and-effect relationship with family feuds or the other way around is uncertain.

Perceived Link between Family Feuds and Drunk Driving

It is easy to conclude that these feuds cause drunk driving. For instance, many conclusions can be made from the common perception of events that seemed linked however, the connection is only superficial.

Researchers Use Care When Linking Relationship and Cause

For example,using statistics to find a connection between driver’s license, and drinking and driving can be misleading. Numbers can be used as strong evidence that there is a link between the two. Ninety percent of all people convicted of DUI had driver’s licenses. Does this mean having a driver’s licenses leads to drunk driving?

Correlation between Domestic Disputes and Drunk Drinking

Specialists point out that there is no investigated substantiation that links domestic disputes with drunk driving. Alcohol is easily accessible and vigorously promoted in the media. Drinking also continues to be a big part of people’s lives these days. Domestic disputes are also increasing due to the financial issues faced by a number of people. If someone drinks and drives after a family feud,the possibility exists that there is a correlation.

Tiny Percentage of Drunk Driving Cases Caused by Domestic Disputes

Research also confirms that the majority of drunk driving incidents are not caused by domestic disputes and they make up a tiny percentage when compared to other correlating incidents, for example, coming from a bar at 2am. Many DWI arrest come right after this. Yet, no researcher will go out on a limb and says that going to a bar leads to drunk driving. There are many variables that come between them.

Family Feuds Do Not Always Lead To Drunk Driving

Family feuds and drunk driving should not be associated every time. These are two separate social problems that sometime overlap but saying one leads to the other is a huge leap and it would take lots of research and study for anyone to link the two. There is no reason to believe that family feuds lead to dunk driving.

Drunk Driving, Teenage Drunk Drivers, Underage DrinkingNo Comments »Drinking and Driving Drunk Driving DUI

Do Teenagers Drink for Pleasure or Peer Pressure?

Posted on Jul 25, 2011

Teenagers spend much of their time with their friends. This means that their friends have a big influence over them. This peer pressure can be a negative or positive influence on teens. The type of friends they have could lead them to drinking and many other bad habits,because most teenagers do not drink for pleasure; they do it due to peer pressure.

Teenage Risk Taking and Peer Pressure Leads to Drinking

Teenagers partake in many risky behaviors when they are trying to discover themselves and find an identity of their own. This sometimes leaves them very susceptible to testing substances that can be harmful to them. Peer pressure can add negative consequences to this situation. Underage drinking is predisposed to other unsafe practices and conditions like:

• Unprotected earlier sex
• Lower self-esteem
• Behavior issues
• School performance issues
• Depression

Communication is the Key to Prevent Drinking in Teens

Parents that are successful in steering their teenagers away from these and other harms communicate with their teens. Communication minimizes the chances of teens being vulnerable to harmful peer pressures. This can stop them from picking up bad habits like drinking. Teens that have parents and close relatives who communicate with them frequently are less likely to try smoking, drinking and drugs.

Steer Teens Away from Drinking and Other Harmful Behaviors

Parents must instruct them on how to stay away from circumstances where alcohol is around and how to handle the situation positively. This will counter act the negative influences of peer pressure.

Parental Influence over Teenagers and Drinking

Parents can also assist them with choosing friends that are not into bad habits. Parents have a lot more positive influence over their teenagers than they realize even when they are not physically around. However, this is only possible if they take the time to exercise the natural authority and influence they have.

Speak with Teenagers and Get Help with Drinking Behaviors

Moms and Dads must speak with their teenagers if they suspect that they are being negatively influenced by their peers to drink or to take part in anything negative. For severe problems,take an appointment with a medical professional that knows how to deal with teenagers. Take advantage of psychologist, counselors, or anyone that your teenager can build a relationship with to work out their problems.

Alcohol Abuse, Teenage Drunk Drivers, Underage Drinking1 Comment »Alcohol Abuse Peer Pressure Underage Drinking

Confession of an Alcoholic Mom – How I Finally Became Sober!

Posted on Jul 18, 2011

Every afternoon it was the same story. While the kids are taking their afternoon nap I would take a box of wine, and sip while watching Oprah and vegetate until the echoes came from the rooms down the hall letting me know that relaxing time was over. Yes, I was an alcoholic mom! This is the story of how I finally became sober.

Alcoholic Enabling Support System

I was like many mothers in my neighborhood. We all used drinking to help us cope with what we considered a mundane, angst-filled existence that was motherhood. We had built a form of a support system centered on our use of alcohol to self medicate ourselves.

Alcoholic’s Little Secret: Drinking

I look on those days with a kind of nostalgia. The sips of wine gave me the little push I needed to make it through the days of stroller pushing, boring conversations, daytime television, and temper tantrums. The alcohol was my little secret, my little indiscretion that helped me keep one foot in the outside adult-world.

Alcoholic Mantra: “I Drink In Moderation”

I justified everything by making myself the victim. So what if I drank a little to ease me through the day? “I am an oppressed stay-at-home mom. I drink in moderation.” My circle of friend felt the same way; we were our own pro-drinking support group.

Alcoholic Denial: “Don’t Judge Me”

There is nothing wrong with a little nip now and then, right? And if my “now and then” means ‘daily’ then what’s the big deal? I could stop at anytime. Besides, I was not dependent or anything like that. I wasn’t drunk driving or wallowing in the gutter. In my own mind, I used the popular catch phrase of the day: “don’t judge me” when talking to my own conscious. I am not an alcoholic!

Drinking and Driving – Not Me!

Then my little nips in the afternoon became nightcaps but I was still in control I could stop at anytime…until I could not. I began letting the nanny take the kids on outings because I couldn’t drive due to my drinking. I would stay home and sip homemade cocktails. When I saw myself missing parts of my children’s lives for drinking, I knew I had a problem.

Finally, I Sobered Up

Finally, I decided to go to a 12-step meeting. I found the support I needed to validate myself, and “my suburban stay-at-home lifestyle” that I had belittled so much in my own mind that I needed alcohol to cope with it. My family and my children are now my priority and I am not shamed about it. I am sober!

Alcohol Abuse, Teenage Drunk Drivers, Underage Drinking, Women HealthNo Comments »Alcohol Abuse Women Health