On the average, girls first drink at 13 and boys at eleven; a study of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has shown that teens who begin drinking before they reach 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than those who start to drink at the legal age of twenty-one. A 1998 study further estimated the dollar cost of underage drinking to reach over $58 billion a year.

What are the psychological factors behind teenage alcohol abuse? An obvious one is peer pressure; drinking is essentially a social activity and teens very rarely drink alone. The influence of media images may also play a role. But a more important role may be played by the teenager’s personality profile. According to addiction experts, teenagers who have thrill-seeking or impulsive personalities are seen as being at risk for alcohol addiction. Adolescents who also reject authority figures or are in a hurry to grow up also drink excessively.

Of course, family and other problems can also be a cause of teenage alcohol abuse. Teenagers with parents who are facing relationship or financial problems often turn to alcohol to deal with, or seek escape from these dysfunctional family issues. Those who have one or more parents with alcohol dependencies are also seven times more likely to become alcoholics themselves compared to teens without alcoholic parents.

This number is only the tip of the iceberg of personal disaster that alcohol abuse causes. It doesn’t account for the people killed in alcohol-related car crashes and other accidents or the people killed in crimes related to alcohol. According to law enforcement sources, alcohol abuse is a factor in nearly half of all murders, suicides and automobile accidents.

Less deadly, but also detrimental to society as a whole, are the economic costs of alcoholism. Alcoholism results in lost worker productivity, more

Alcohol when consumed in moderation, can be relatively harmless and in some cases can be beneficial to health. Unfortunately, genetic and societal factors predispose many people to be extremely at risk for being unable to control their alcohol consumption. Genetic factors appear to be very influential regarding alcoholism — nearly four out of five children of alcoholics eventually become alcoholics themselves. According to government medical studies, nearly 14 million Americans abuse alcohol. To put that in perspective, the entire population of the state of Illinois is less than the number of alcoholics in the U.S.

Alcohol abuse results in impairment of judgment, and impairment of hearing, sight, comprehension and motor ability. Heavy drinkers can suffer from various emotional problems, including violent and quick mood swings. If denied alcohol, heavy drinkers can go through withdrawal, and become highly agitated and physically and emotionally abusive to others.

Chronic alcoholism is characterized by an increasing tolerance for alcohol, resulting in the alcoholic needing more and more alcohol to feel “normal.” The effect of these massive amounts of alcohol intake on the body are devastating, resulting in organ failure and, eventually death. Health problems associated with alcohol abuse include hypoglycemia, hypertension, brain damage, heart damage, terminal liver damage, swollen blood vessels, gastrointestinal problems and chronic pancreatitis. One out of five chronic alcoholics eventually develop cirrhosis of the liver.

Many alcoholics are unaware that they have a problem with alcohol abuse, employing a number of complex psychological maneuvers to convince others and themselves that they are in control of their drinking. Getting an alcoholic to admit that he or she has a problem with drinking is key to helping them overcome this potentially life-threatening disease.