Archive for August, 2009



Teenage Alcohol Abuse: A Precarious Problem

Posted By stevenlocke on August 20, 2009 @ 8:11 am

Alcohol abuse statistics show that alcohol abuse among teens is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Numerous alcohol addiction specialists argue that beer, liquor, and wine advertisements generated by the media are a primary reason for the spread of teen alcohol abuse.

Other chemical dependency authorities declare that the increase in teen alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and convenience of beer, liquor, and wine in our society.

Still other substance abuse authorities stress the point that numerous teens get involved in destructive drinking due to the increased fretfulness that they go through.

From a somewhat different viewpoint, since both parents in more than a few families are employed, the lack of parental guidance definitely has to play a primary part in the rise in teen alcohol abuse. And lastly, different alcoholism experts argue that the spread of adolescent alcohol abuse is due, to some extent, to our permissive society.

Abusive Drinking and Coping Skills

One element of youth alcohol abuse that looks as if it deficient in the substance abuse research results, in contrast, is the insufficiency of educational courses that teach teens how to upgrade their coping skills so that their risky drinking behavior is significantly diminished or eradicated.

Stated more precisely, scientific research has illustrated the fact that there is an indirect connection between poor coping skills and alcohol abuse. In essence, this means that the worse the coping skills, the greater the occurrence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is a truthful line of reasoning, why isn’t coping skills training a key part of the educational prospectus in all of our elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools?

A Society That Accentuates Youth Coping Skills

Let us create a scenario for for the purpose of illumination. Let us imagine a society in which all people are trained how to develop superior coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including the twelfth grade.

In such a society, when life gets difficult, people who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a healthier and more successful way, as opposed to others who fail to apply their coping skills.

More precisely, students who display solid coping skills will be more able to think logically and engage in first-class decision making as opposed to teens who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to implement first-rate coping skills, gravitate to the “quick fix” of abusive drinking.

What would happen in the above “ideal” society, what’s more, if young people not only received first class coping skills education but also obtained an outstanding education that stressed the short term and long term injurious costs associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Such an emphasis on drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills training, it is asserted, would help teens steer clear of the obvious appeal related to underage drinking and, accordingly, would substantially decrease the injurious drinking behavior demonstrated by teenagers in our country.

Adolescent Risky Drinking: Conclusion

There are certainly quite a few sound reasons why so many of our teens drink in an excessive manner. Such a thorny problem demands a thorough and more applicable educational and preventative response by our politicians, parents, educators, and students so that our adolescents can learn how to cope with life’s predicaments in a more productive and accountable manner rather than gravitating to hazardous drinking behavior to solve their difficulties.




A Reckless High School Student Exhibits Numerous Alcohol-Related Issues, Gets Suspended From School, and Has to See the School Therapist

Posted By stevenlocke on August 19, 2009 @ 6:41 pm

Larry was a seventeen year old high school junior who was manifesting quite a few alcohol-related issues at school. Therefore, the principal told him that he had to see Miss Johns, the school psychologist, before he would be permitted to come back to class.

Later that day when Larry went home after school, he had to clarify his school discharge to his parents. His Mom and Dad were “old school” and explained to Larry that getting removed from school was not a possible educational plan of action. They informed Larry that failing to graduate from high school would most probably be like a lead weight around his legs that may impede his educational attainment for the rest of his adult life. Not only this, but Larry’s parents were extremely discontented that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his pals in the second.

His parents informed Larry that although he may be a teenager, he needs to comprehend fairly rapidly that drinking is the road to pain, failure, ill health, and financial problems.

It was evident that his Mom and Dad were out-and-out in full agreement with Larry’s principal and explained to Larry that he had better make plans to see Miss Johns, the school counselor. After his chat with his parents, Larry at last agreed to see Miss Johns the next day. So Larry called the school and scheduled an appointment to see Miss Johns the next day during his third period class.

The Counselor Asks Larry if He Comprehends Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Behavior Signaled Such Alarm By the School Administrators

When Larry went to see Miss Johns, she instantly surveyed all of the alcohol-related issues Larry had gotten into and asked him if he knew why his recent alcohol-related behavior was such a cause for concern.

Quite sincerely, Larry was not sure why the principal suggested that he see a school psychologist. As he stated to Miss Johns, why should he see a professional therapist about his drinking circumstances? Since virtually all of his buddies drink as much if not more than he does, primarily, drinking is no big issue. Stated more forcefully, if just about everybody is drinking, why is this such a major concern?

Miss Johns asked Larry when he started to drink. He said that some of his older pals introduced him to drinking wine when he was twelve or thirteen years old and between the sixth and seventh grades.

Miss Johns informed Larry that while his peers may indeed drink as much as he does and that they may be a bad influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting expelled from school due to alcohol-related delinquency, absenteeism, and fighting, not his peers. Furthermore, Miss Johns also underscored the fact that Larry, and not his classmates, is the one who is failing and who is missing almost two days of school per week due to his alcohol related problems. Finally, Miss Johns underlined the fact that because of his drinking situation, Larry is getting into a harmful cycle of alcohol abuse that can eventually ruin his hopes, dreams and aspirations.

In short, Larry’s involvement with teen alcohol abuse was starting to foil his ability to behave like a responsible young man. As verbalized by Miss Johns, “Just because most of your friends drink beer, hard liquor, wine coolers, or wine does not mean that it is the appropriate behavior for you.”

Larry Learns That In Due Course He Must Be Responsible For Himself In Order to Keep Away From Destructive, Unhealthy, Damaging, and Dangerous Circumstances In the Foreseeable Future

Miss Johns explained to Larry that others can undoubtedly influence an individual in an unhealthy manner, but that the individual himself or herself has to eventually be accountable for herself or himself in order to keep away from destructive, damaging, dangerous, and unhealthy outcomes in the foreseeable future.

Fortunately, Miss Johns was very well prepared for her scheduled appointment with Larry. She showed him research studies and reports she had underlined that outlined various drinking statistics and facts that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Larry a lot of data that applied particularly to underage drinkers.

For instance, Miss Johns emphasized the difference between alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse and told Larry that people who continue to abuse alcohol commonly become addicted to alcohol.

Miss Johns also went over the concept of binge drinking which she defined as follows: ingesting five or more drinks in one sitting for males and consuming four or more drinks in one sitting for females.

The Counselor Articulates Several Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency Facts and Statistics

Then Miss Johns verbalized the following eight alcoholism facts and alcohol abuse statistics:

1. As demonstrated in one study, roughly 11% of 8th-graders, 22% of 10th-graders, and 27% of 12th-graders articulated that they involved themselves in excessive drinking.

2. Between 48% and 64% of the individuals who pass away in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating inebriation.

3. Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior, substance abuse, and academic problems in both high school and junior high school.

4. In the United States, more than 50% of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol-related.

5. In the United States among drivers between the ages of 15 and 20, deadly crashes involving a single vehicle at night are three times more probable to be related to alcohol than to other fatal crashes.

6. In the United States, more than 40 percent of the people who begin drinking before the age of 13 will develop alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some point in their lives.

7. In the United States, by the time they are seniors in high school, 80% of teenagers have tried alcohol and 62% have been intoxicated.

8. Treatment for alcoholism has been shown to reduce criminal activity up to 80% among long-term offenders, has reduced their health care costs, decreased their homelessness, and increased their rate of employment.

Larry Gets A Much Needed Primer on the Facts Regarding the Short Term and the Long Term Consequences of Adolescent Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency

After Miss Johns articulated the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction statistics and facts, it was clear that what Miss Johns revealed to Larry was a real source of discovery for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only took the time to put in plain words the long term and the short term results of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency, but she also made the effort to demonstrate what she was saying with alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency statistics and facts that related to people in general, and especially to teenagers.

In actual fact, it was almost as if a light went on and Larry immediately comprehended why he should not be engaging in abusive and hazardous drinking with or without his classmates anymore. Larry thanked Miss Johns for her concern and for the information she discussed.

Miss Johns then asked Larry how he felt about getting a physical examination and an alcohol evaluation for the alcohol treatment he would probably need.

Larry thought about this for a minute and then agreed to get a complete physical and to go through an extensive appraisal of his drinking situation so that he could start an alcohol rehabilitation program right away.




A Teenager Makes an Appointment to See His Family Physician About His Alcoholism Symptoms and His Depression

Posted By stevenlocke on August 16, 2009 @ 5:07 am

Larry is a fifteen-year-old teenager who has finally made up his mind that he needs to go and see his family healthcare practitioner about his drinking behavior.  At first, Larry thought he would be able to simply go online, look for some essential alcohol info, and make up his mind whether or not he was dependent on alcohol.

Not unexpectedly, he discovered scores of websites that specified some of the typical alcoholism symptoms.  That’s the encouraging news.  The less than positive news, sorry to say, was that Larry exhibited several of these alcoholism symptoms.

Symptoms of Alcoholism: Some Illustrations

As an illustration, Larry has been drinking quite a bit more than usual and he has begun to have more heated quarrels with his girlfriend.  In the same way, for the first time in his young life he has been having sleeping problems.  Similarly, Larry time and again has felt depressed and on a growing basis he has been manifesting poor attentiveness in the classroom.  In addition, he has felt highly stressed and more nervous on a regular basis and for the past five or six months he has shown evidence of murky thinking in the classroom.  Seeing as Larry has been exhibiting all of these symptoms, he was understandably uncomfortable about his excessive drinking.

So Larry finally decided to call his family physician and make an appointment.  In point of fact, this was hard for Larry because his doctor was also his parents’ family healthcare practitioner.  The source of his anxiety was this: at the risk of embarrassing his family, he had to go and make known his excessive and abusive drinking behavior to his healthcare practitioner.

When Larry arrived at the physician’s office, he plainly notified the family doctor about the anxiety he has about his hazardous drinking behavior.  When the family doctor asked what was setting off this worry, Larry acknowledged that he had gone online and read about dependency on alcohol and especially about alcohol addiction symptoms.  He then listed all of the alcohol addiction symptoms that he evidently thought he has.

A Complete Physical Exam and Outpatient Alcohol Rehab

The physician informed Larry that it was smart of him to tackle his drinking problems, he gave Larry a comprehensive physical appraisal, and suggested that he talk to his Mother and Father about going into an out-patient alcohol rehab center that was run by Doctor Rudnick, one of his doctor co-workers who is a chemical dependency and substance abuse specialist.

In much the same way, when Larry expressed the fact that he has been feeling a sense of gloom to a greater extent, the healthcare professional informed Larry that alcoholism and depression on a fairly regular basis happen in the same person.  For that reason, the family healthcare practitioner also suggested that Larry talk to his parents about seeking therapy in order to concentrate on his depression.  In fact, Larry can go to the local mental health center and make an appointment with Doctor Johnson, a distinguished counseling psychologist who specializes in treating adolescents.

The Significance of Coping With Your Drinking Problems

The physician made it a point to notify Larry that he might not necessarily be dependent on alcohol, but that he was obviously drinking in an abusive manner.  The healthcare professional then told Larry that the reason he suggested alcohol treatment in the first place was because he wanted him to confront his drinking difficulties, make sure that he stopped them from escalating, and start to live in a more healthy manner, even if it meant that he had to absolutely quit drinking.

To be brief, by effectively treating his problem drinking, Larry would be able to get his drinking issues under control and quit the negative cycle of events that could most likely lead to alcohol dependency.

Larry undoubtedly did not look forward to facing his Mom and Dad about his depression and his excessive drinking.  And he surely did not want to face the thought of getting admitted into an alcohol rehabilitation program.  And last but not least, he was not overjoyed about going to a clinical psychologist about his excessive sadness.  Notwithstanding these fears, nonetheless, Larry in actual fact felt some emotional relief for the first time in quite a few months because in the end he quit making excuses for himself and finally made up his mind that he needed to do something constructive about his careless and excessive drinking.




Teenage Alcohol Abuse: A Critical Problem

Posted By stevenlocke on August 15, 2009 @ 1:37 pm

Alcohol abuse statistics demonstrate the fact that alcohol abuse among teens is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Numerous alcohol abuse professionals emphasize the point that liquor, wine, and beer ads constructed by the media are a significant reason for the spread of teen alcohol abuse.

Other chemical dependency professionals stress the point that the increase in adolescent alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and convenience of wine,liquor, and beer in our society.

Still other alcohol addiction experts assert that many of our teenagers involve themselves in hazardous drinking due to the increased tension that they are subjected to.

From a somewhat different perspective, due to the fact that both parents in a number of families work, the lack of parental supervision evidently has to play a primary role in the escalation of teenage alcohol abuse. And finally, a variety of substance abuse professionals affirm that the escalation of youth alcohol abuse is due, at some level, to our permissive society.

Abusive Drinking and Coping Skills

One element of adolescent alcohol abuse that appears to be poorly reported in the substance abuse research results, then again, is the scarcity of educational courses that teach teenagers how to upgrade their coping skills so that their destructive drinking behavior is fundamentally decreased or eliminated.

More to the point, science has displayed the fact that there is an indirect relationship between poor coping skills and hazardous drinking. In essence, this means that the poorer the coping skills, the greater the prevalence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is an accurate declaration, why isn’t coping skills education an essential part of the educational prospectus in all of our junior high schools, elementary schools, and high schools?

A Society That Accentuates Adolescent Coping Skills

Let us construct a scenario for for the purpose of illumination. Let us imagine a society in which students are trained how to develop excellent coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their senior year in high school.

In such a society, when life gets difficult, students who are ”coping skills experts” will be able to respond in a more healthy and more creative way, as opposed to others who fail to put their coping skills into practice.

More precisely, students who exhibit sound coping skills will be more able to think logically and display quality decision making as opposed to students who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to develop outstanding coping skills, gravitate to the “quick fix” of hazardous drinking.

What would happen in the above “ideal” society, what’s more, if teens not only obtained exclusive coping skills instruction but also got a top shelf education that outlined the short term and long term injurious costs associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these kinds of drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills training, it is asserted, would help teens steer clear of the noticeable appeal related to teen drinking and, consequently, would fundamentally lessen the abusive drinking behavior displayed by the youth in our country.

Teen Hazardous Drinking: Conclusion

There are positively a number of valid reasons why so many of our adolescents drink in a harmful manner. Such a complicated subject demands a thorough and more applicable educational and preventative response by our students, politicians, parents, and educators so that our youth can learn how to cope with life’s predicaments in a more productive and responsible manner instead of gravitating to abusive drinking behavior to solve their problems.




An Alcohol Overdose Serves as a Wakeup Call for a High School Student

Posted By stevenlocke on August 14, 2009 @ 8:08 am

Jeffrey was a ninth grader who regularly seemed to be living on the edge. Jeffrey had an adventurous personality and generally wanted to do what his older brothers were doing for fun. The core glitch with this was that all three of his brothers were at least 21 years old and were for than reason within their legal rights to operate a truck or car and to ingest alcohol.

Jeffrey, nevertheless, had a hard time accepting the reality that as a fifteen-year-old teen he should not be drinking alcoholic beverages. In fact, on the other hand, Jeffrey normally drank with his cronies after school, largely on the weekends.

One weekend, Jeffrey made up his mind to drive around with some of his older pals. One of his guy friends was old enough to purchase alcohol. After buying some wine coolers, wine, and beer, Jeffrey and his pals went to a public park and drank for just about two or three hours.

A Young Man Loses Consciousness

After drinking around ten alcoholic benerages, Jeffrey started to feel queasy and then threw up. When he passed out on the baseball field, one of his guy friends called 911 for assistance. It was fortunate that the call for medical assistance was made because when his pals went to the hospital to see Jeffrey, they learned that Jeffrey had been suffering from alcohol poisoning symptoms. In a word, That is, Jeffrey had experienced an alcohol overdose.

When Your Pals Drink Excessively

Jeffrey had heard that drinking a great deal can result in alcohol poisoning but he never thought that this would happen to him. After all, some of his buddies time and again boasted that they could drink an entire case of beer in a couple of hours without feeling any major difficulties.

Armed with this information, Jeffrey was frankly flabbergasted to gather that he had overdosed on alcohol because he “only” had more or less ten alcoholic beverages. When he told this to the attending healthcare practitioner at the hospital, conversely, the doctor informed Jeffrey that drinking ten alcoholic beverages over a two or three hour period of time could certainly be significantly more alcohol than can be processed by the body. The healthcare practitioner further conveyed how too much alcohol can cause the brain to shut down a person’s breathing and that when this transpires, a person can die.

The First Symptom of Abusive Drinking

This was the first sign to Jeffrey that he was drinking in a dangerous fashion and that there are consequences for such actions. The doctor told Jeffrey that he was a lucky individual because he almost perished from an alcohol overdose the previous night.

The healthcare practitioner also talked to Jeffrey’s parents and suggested that they get alcohol therapy for Jeffrey. His parents were delighted that Jeffrey was all right and told the healthcare practitioner that they would follow through on getting Jeffrey alcohol therapy.

While talking to his parents, Jeffrey told them that there must be a special reason why he did not pass away and that he felt grateful that he was still alive. He also told his parents that the most ironic part about the entire drinking occurrence was that he had learned about alcohol poisoning the previous six week grading period in Mr. Franklin’s health class.

When Listening in Class Can Change Your Life

At the time, what his health instructor, Mr. Franklin, was articulating didn’t seem to make too much sense to Jeffrey. Due to the fact that he almost died, in spite of this, he felt that he should have listened more conscientiously in class and applied what he had learned to his personal life.

Jeffrey informed his parents that he couldn’t wait to go to Mr. Franklin’s classroom and make an apology to Mr. Franklin for not displaying more attention to a topic that was as significant as learning about alcohol abuse and how to stay away from an alcohol overdose.

His parents smiled at Jeffrey and said that they were proud of the way he was being responsible for his unhealthy drinking behavior. All he had to do now was to let this almost deadly experience make an impact his life in a useful way so that he would never again experience a case of alcohol poisoning.




How to avail of a free XBOX online

Posted By stevenlocke on August 12, 2009 @ 9:07 am

Have you heard about people getting items for free?  It is very easy!  Free XBox 360 Elite from Microsoft! This is NOT a joke. And this is commendable by the News Center like the CNN and other magazines, for these sites are operating legitimately. There are many companies offering a great deal to get you a free Xbox 360 Elite

You should follow simple yet specific steps to get a free Xbox 360 Elite.  There are only three easy steps to follow.

The first thing you do is to sign up at a company site which gives out free Xbox 360 Elite. Start by entering your email address and any other information that is asked by the website. You have to type valid information and complete it in order to get free XBOX 360.

Then, complete only one offer.  This is the most important step of all. Why? Even if you had more than the required referrals, you will not receive your free XBOX 360 Elite if you didn’t complete one offer. Therefore, it is advisable if you do this one first and make sure you are credited before trying to find referrals. You only need to do 1 easy offer. There are many interesting offers that you could give a try.

You're free to choose whatever offer interests you most. Feel free to try any of the offers to get a free Xbox 360 Elite. Remember to delete your cookies and to use only Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox before logging in to your account to complete the offer. This will help the company to track your offer completion better.

Next, refer your friends.The last step in acquiring a free Xbox 360 Elite is that you have to refer a few people using your referral link and they have to complete an offer too. This way, you will get referrals to get the console for free and you will be able to help your friends to get free XBOX 360 elite console for themselves too! The number of friends you need to refer depends on the prize that you choose. If you choose to get XBOX 360 Elite system, you only need to refer 9 friends.

Once you have completed all the simple steps above, it will be confirmed by the company site if you do it honestly and faithfully and did not defraud them. If you legitimately tried to complete the site and did not scam them in any way, you will be guaranteed a Free XBox 360 Elite.

Once your account is accepted in their system, the totally free XBOX 360 Elite will be shipped to your home with no cost at all! That is covered in your Free XBox 360 deal too!




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