Alcohol Intoxication in Teenagers

Recently a 14-year old male was brought to the emergency room unconscious. He had been at a party with rum and tequila present, so he tried them both. Unfortunately this boy had never had alcohol before and did not know his limitations. Several hours later he was in an ambulance heading to the hospital with a tube in his trachea and a paramedic squeezing a bag to help him breathe. He was in a coma due to excessive alcohol intake and without medical attention he could have died.

Adolescents drink alcohol for a variety of reasons including a desire to get drunk, experimentation, to defy adults and societal rules, to fit in with the crowd, or in response to a bad social situation (such as a breakup with a partner). The fact that teenagers are well below the legal drinking age is rarely a deterrent and may even be an enticement for them to drink alcohol whenever they can get a hold of it. The boy described above may seem like an extreme example of drunkenness, but at the Telluride Medical Center we have seen several similar cases this year. The intent of this article education about the consequences of drinking and to motivate teens to think twice before indulging in alcohol.

Alcohol intoxication occurs in stages based on the blood alcohol level, or how much and how quickly a person drinks. The earliest sign may be a sense of euphoria , decreased inhibitions, or relaxation. With slightly higher levels of intoxication a person may develop slurred speech, loss of coordination, and decreased judgment and self-control, all of which become more impaired with increasing levels of intoxication. At even higher levels the relaxed or euphoric sensations may change to feelings of dysphoria, depression, anxiety or aggressiveness. At this point the person may also feel nauseous, have severe difficulty walking, and become very confused. At the highest levels there is loss of consciousness, vomiting, coma, and possibly death due to respiratory arrest. Coma is more common in adolescents at a lower alcohol level than in adults.

All of these symptoms occur along a continuum with gradually higher levels of drunkenness. The problem is that they do not occur in everyone with the same amount of alcohol ingested. This is especially true of first-time drinkers who do not recognize the effect that the alcohol is having and do not know when to stop. The outcome may be a bad hangover, a car accident, hypothermia or other injury. There may be psychological ramifications such as remorse, guilt, and shame over things the person said or did while intoxicated. The scariest scenario could be a trip to the emergency room, the intensive care unit, or death.

Think seriously about the consequences before you drink. Teens should have the courage to say no and avoid alcohol until they reach the legal drinking age. Many teens will still try to get drunk and if you are going to, please use some common sense:
* Moderation, moderation, moderation
* Don't pound, chug, or shot-gun drinks
* Don't pressure anyone to drink, to drink more or to drink faster
* Don't play drinking games to drink more faster § Don't do shots
* Avoid punches or drinks with unknown quantities of alcohol
* Don't drink and drive, ski or snowboard
* Know when to stop
* If you or a friend are in trouble call 911 immediately