College student alcoholism
The rates of college students binge drinking in the United States have fluctuated for the past years.[1] As high as 40% of college students could now be considered alcoholics as defined by the next edition psychiatry's diagnostic manual but many would have only a mild problem which is intentionally for early treatment. Most college binge drinkers and drug users don't develop lifelong problems.[2][3] Despite many people's opinions it can be agreed upon that alcohol itself is not the cause of college drinking problems, instead it is the student's inability to handle drinking responsbilly. Any many studys show that despite the stereotypes about college students being alcoholics, college students consume about 5 less alcoholic beverages then adults on an average monthly basis.
Social stigma
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reported in 2012, that more than 80% of college students drink alcohol, with estimated 40% report binge drinking in the past 2 weeks, and about 25% report having academic consequences because of their drinking.[4] In comparison, the comparable figure of alcoholism for American Indian and Alaskan Native youth ("Native youth" hereafter) is approximately 80 percent (Beauvais, Oetting, & Wolf, 1989).
Consequences
Underage drinking and binge drinking by college students has many dangerous and serious consequences. Just about every year
- 1,825 students die from alcohol poisoning or alcohol related injuries (including motor accidents)
- 690,000 students are assaulted by another student who had been drinking
- 97,000 students are victims of rape or sexual assault where alcohol is related
- 599,000 students get injured unintentionally while drinking
- 150,000 students develop alcohol related health problems due to alcohol and between 1.2 to 1.5 of students admit they contemplating suicide while drinking
- 3,360,000 students admit to drunk driving
- 110,000 students get arrested for a violation of the law while under the influence of alcohol [5]
Factors
Individual and environmental factors for experiencing alcohol-related consequences have been identified such as drinking during high-risk periods, such as spring break, or belonging to specific student subgroups (e.g., Greek organizations).[6] Peer pressure from other students is a large contributing factor to why students might drink more than they would normally. Many students believe that being able to drink more than their friends is a sign of dominance or strength. For this reason students will push themselves to the limits during drinking because at the time to them it is a competition to see who can drink the most. Another large factor in college alcohol consumption is drinking games. By incorporating drinking into games students consume alcohol almost without realizing it.
See also
- Alcohol use among college students
- Alcohol advertising on college campuses
- American Indian alcoholism
- Cigarette smoking among college students
- Pregaming
References
- ↑ "JAMA Network | JAMA | College Binge Drinking Still on the Rise". Jama.jamanetwork.com. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Szalavitz, Maia (2012-05-14). "DSM-5 Could Categorize 40% of College Students as Alcoholics | TIME.com". Healthland.time.com. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Sanderson, Megan (2012-05-22). "About 37 percent of college students could now be considered alcoholics | Emerald Media". Dailyemerald.com. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ↑ "College Drinking". Pubs.niaaa.nih.gov. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ↑ "A snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences". Collegedrinkingprevention.gov. 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
- ↑ "An update of research examining college... [Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2013-10-14.