Pushed by her classmates, she hesitated and closed her eyes to blot out the warnings of her parents who told her that alcohol was not good for the body.
Jen (real name withheld) took a tentative sip from the bottle her friends handed her, and spat it out. It tasted awful but her friends were persistent, so she took another one — this time successfully swallowing it. Another sip and yet another sip and before she knew it, she had emptied the whole bottle. She began to get warm behind the ears and her face started turning red but that was when she began to enjoy the party. Suddenly, she became lighthearted and bubbly and outspoken — able to say what she wanted to anybody.
Jen had been living a sheltered life and grew up with constant reminders that smoking, drugs and alcohol didn’t mix if one wanted to succeed in life. Oh okay, curiosity got her that time, she reasoned. Besides, she was about to enter college life, a new phase of life and she wanted to be “in.”
Little did Jen know that one sip could lead her to more problems than she could handle, and even to total destruction had she not “woken up” on time.
Passing college subjects became a gigantic problem for Jen who used to be an honor student since elementary school. She found more time to party and binge drink and learned to reason that “this is just for now and I won’t become an alcoholic.”
Jen’s dosage for alcohol went up as her grades in school crawled behind. She flunked so many subjects and had to lie to her parents several times to ask for more money for “projects” in school, money which actually went to buy alcohol.
Lucky for Jen, she experienced the most severe, non-stop one-week headache from a hangover which frightened her enough to stop drinking. She also managed to finish college albeit with barely passing grades.
What is binge drinking?
The kidshealth.org Web site defines binge drinking in the U.S. as “the consumption of five or more drinks in a row by men — or four or more drinks in a row by women — at least once in the previous two weeks, and heavy binge drinking includes three or more such episodes in 2 weeks.”
The Web site sites some reasons for binge drinking including curiosity on what and how it feels to be drunk, and peer pressure. Some also believe that drinking makes them feel good and forget their problems. Others look at alcohol as a stress reliever, while others drink “to be in” with the crowd. Whatever reasons you may have for drinking, nobody planned to be addicted to alcohol when they started out.
Risks of binge drinking
People who are drinking and getting drunk do not usually think about the negative side of drinking.
Have you tried getting yourself so drunk that you just wake up in the morning to discover you have slept on a dirty roadside? Excessive drinking can lead to memory lapses and difficulty in concentrating. You may also experience mood changes and other problems that could affect your daily life.
Drinking can impair one’s judgment. This is why drunk people are more daring. They may drive at excessive speeds, go for unprotected sex, start fights in the public, and do other things they would not normally do when they are sober.
Drinking also pose as mental health risks. People who have drinking problems have a harder time in school and lead to poor academic performance. It also disrupts one’s social life because you will be much harder to deal with than somebody who does not drink.
Getting help
Recognizing that you have a drinking problem is one of the first steps toward healing, said addiction services technician Henry Cabrera of the CNMI Community Guidance Center Substance Abuse and Recovery Program.
Less than 10 individuals come in for classes each day, mostly males but Cabrera said that there are a lot of people on island who do not even know that they have a drinking problem.
“Most of the people with drinking problems are in denial. They won’t admit that they have a problem and that makes it harder to solve,” Cabrera said.
Drinking problems are usually associated with drug problems, so that they alternate the classes between alcohol, narcotics and meth or “ice.”
Cabrera said that it helps to meet and interact with other people who shares your problems and who can relate to what you are going through.
“If you think you or a friend is having a drinking problem, get help as soon as possible. Come to us and you can be assured that we will help you,” he said.
The CGC Substance Abuse and Recovery Program offer continuous classes for individuals who need help.
Clients are either referred to them, or are “walk-ins.” The support group schedule for Alcoholics Anonymous is from 9-10 a.m. on Mondays, Narcotics Anonymous from 9 to 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, CMA (for “ice” users) from 9 to 10 a.m. on Wednesdays, and Alcoholics Anonymous at the same time on Thursdays.
Beginning November 1, Cabrera said that they will be opening a new schedule and these are the six-week Group Drug Counseling set for 10 a.m. to 12 noon every Monday beginning on November 1; the 12-week course on Relapse Prevention class scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Tuesdays beginning November 2, and the 12-week Anger Management class from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Wednesdays beginning November 3.
To attend these sessions, visit the Substance Abuse and Recovery Program office at Building N5 near the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation on Navy Hill, or call 323-6589/323-7867 for more information. Alcoholics Anonymous keeps your identity confidential.
