Transcript Drinking & The Brain

Teen Drinking & The Brain
Monday’s Lesson: Understanding how alcohol affects the teen brain
How quickly do you think it reaches
the brain?
• Almost immediately (within
30 seconds)
• When people drink, alcohol
quickly gets absorbed into the
bloodstream…
• From there, it affects the
central nervous system (CNS)
– The brain and spinal cord
– Controls virtually all body
functions.
Pathway on Page 6
What’s the big deal?
Experts now know that drinking as a teen:
causes the greatest damage
to the development of the brain
KEEP IN MIND THE FRONTAL LOBE
OF THE BRAIN IS NOT FULLY
DEVELOPED UNTIL YOUR MID-20’S
The Effect of Alcohol on the
Teenage Brain
 Alcohol affects a teen brain
differently than it affects a mature
adult brain.
 The brain goes through rapid
development and “wiring” changes
during ages 12 through 21.
 Once we reach adulthood, the
window of opportunity for major
remodeling of the brain closes and
we are essentially stuck with the
brains we have, for better or
worse.
Initial Affects…
• Small amounts LOWER a person’s Inhibitions:
– Definition: Their conscious or unconscious ability
to hold back certain behaviors, impulses, or
desires
– At first it makes the person feel relaxed & more
social
Often leading people to drink more, and more, and
more before they realize the real affects…so why
does this matter?
What kind of DRUG is alcohol?
• Alcohol is a
DEPRESSANT
It slows the function of the brain
& blocks some of the messages
trying to get to the brain
FUN FACT:
If you remove the ingredients that give the drink taste
and color, you will have ethanol (the active ingredient
in alcoholic drinks). Remove the water and you will
have ether, which dulls the senses and puts the brain
to sleep.
How does it affect the
Limbic System?
•
Emotions:
– Feeling depressed
• 300 suicides per year associated with drinking alcohol (people under 21)
– Oversensitive
• Crying
• Angry
• Saying things you wouldn’t normally say
• Starting fights for no reason
•
Memory:
– Blacking out and not knowing what you did while you were drinking
– Affects long-term memory & process of learning
•
Learning:
– Rewires brain’s network
– Kills brain cells
– overall ability to learn and retain information
– Suffers the worst alcohol-related brain damage in teens
(can be 10% smaller in underage drinkers)
How does it affect the
Brain Stem?
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Breathing rate is slowed
Body temperature decreases
Can lead to unconsciousness & coma
Alcohol poisoning- vomiting
Death
How does it affect the
Cerebellum?
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Balance is off
Can’t stand up straight
Falling and staggering
Loss of coordination
Slowed reaction time (can’t move as quickly)
How does it affect the
cerebral cortex?
•
Lowers inhibitions: conscious or unconscious ability to hold back certain behaviors,
impulses, or desires
•
Poor judgment/ decision-making:
– Thinking you can drive a car (1,900 deaths per year from drinking and driving for
people under 21 years old)
– Taking part in risky behaviors: falls, starting a fight, feeling invincible, unintended
sexual activity (leading to unintended pregnancy), using other drugs while under
the influence, etc.
– Continuously drinking even after you’ve had too much (nothing telling you to stop
or that you’ve had too much)
•
Slows ability to process and can affect reasoning
•
Affects senses:
– Poor vision (think back to drunk goggles)
– Slurred speech
If we take good care of our brains
during adolescence, we will reap the
benefits for life.
Unfortunately, the opposite is also
true.
So take good care of your brain! It’s
the only one you will ever have!
Get the Facts… About Alcohol
What is alcohol?
Alcohol (also known as ethanol) is psychoactive drug
created by a chemical reaction when grains, fruits, or
vegetables are fermented. (Fermentation= process that
uses yeast to change the sugars in the food into alcohol.)
Different amount of liquid,
Same amount of alcohol (1/2 ounce)
3-6% alcohol
9-14% alcohol
40-50% alcohol
Even after a couple drinks
someone can become….
• Intoxicated or drunk
How alcohol affects a person
depends on…
• Worksheet on p. 5 in packet
What helps someone sober up after
they’ve been drinking?
TODAY’S TOPICS:
1. BAC (blood alcohol concentration)
2. Binge drinking
3. Video about the danger of binge drinking &
alcohol games
4. Group Topic to present: 10 minutes to look up
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What happens when the BAC goes up
Signs of alcohol poisoning
What to do if someone gets alcohol poisoning
Affects of drinking on the liver
S.T.O.P- getting out of a situation where someone is offering you a
drink
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
*Amount of alcohol in the blood
– BAC .1= 1 part alcohol per 1,000
parts blood
– Depends on…gender, weight, food
in stomach, how much you drink,
how quickly you drink
• What is the legal limit for driving
for someone over 21?
• What BAC becomes lethal?
BINGE DRINKING!!!
Approximately 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by youth younger than age 21
in the U.S. is in the form of binge drinking, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Although many teenagers indulge in binge drinking to have fun, they may not
understand that it can turn dangerous quickly. Injuries, accidents, violence,
alcohol poisoning and even death are just a few things that may result from binge
drinking. Although teenagers often feel invincible and don't believe these things
would happen to them, proper education about binge drinking can help teens
realize the consequences to such actions.
What is binge drinking?
Binge drinking can
lead to alcohol
poisoning.
• DON’T… be afraid to call 911 because you think you or
the victim will get in trouble for drinking. If you don’t act, the
victim could die.
• DON’T… give the victim food, coffee, or a cold shower.
None of these will help sober her up.
• DON’T… tell the victim to sleep it off.
• DON’T… leave the victim alone.
Overview of Consequences that can
happen when the brain is affected
ONE LAST CONCERN…
Someone who starts drinking by age 15
is 4 times more likely to become addicted than
someone who starts after 21
How does it get started??
” It starts with experimentation and occasional use
[to] the actual loss of control of use.”
Imagine a person that "wants to stop doing something and
they cannot, despite catastrophic consequences,"
1. A chronic, but treatable, brain disorder.
2. It physically changes the brain by taking over the “pleasure center” of
the brain and acting as the chemical dopamine (which naturally leads
to feelings of pleasure).
3. The drug becomes necessary for survival, it’s as powerful as that. The
body cannot function without it. Living without the drug is like living
without food.
4. Alcoholics cannot control their need for alcohol, even in the face of:
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negative health
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social or
•
legal consequences
Diseases associated with drinking alcohol:
• Stroke
• Heart disease & High blood pressure
• Stomach ulcers
• Cirrhosis of the liver
• Cancer (liver, stomach, etc)
• Depression
• Kidney failure
• Alcoholism
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• Osteoporosis
THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK
It’s up to you