What's in your Coping Tool Box

Life consistently presents us with challenges and changes and at times this can lead to us feeling stressed. Planning how to manage and cope in various life situations, and finding out which coping skills work best for you, is the key to succeeding with stress rather then experiencing distress. When clients come to see me for NLP and CBT therapy in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, it is a big part of therapy that they develop and become confident in employing coping skills. This article contains ideas for coping with stress and also acute emotional crises. If you are experiencing stress or emotional imbalance, CBT and NLP is available in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

Here are some ideas for coping with stress:

1. Understand more about stress – this involves recognising your sources of stress and how stress affects you personally. Plan for stressful periods.

2. Problem-solve – what is the problem, be specific and break it down into realistic achievable components. Then set goals on how to deal with each problem. Make sure you include how to begin your plan of action.

3. Develop new behaviour – if you take on too much or have problems saying no, learn to be assertive. There are plenty of courses at local colleges or you may prefer to see a therapist 1:1. Learn to manage your time more effectively and delegate wherever possible! Avoid procrastination; whilst you are not doing it, you’ll only be spending energy worrying about it.

4. Make sure you develop a support network – deliberately develop good supportive relationships. Ask for help when needed and accept it when offered. You must also be prepared to do the same for others.

5. Make time to relax and enjoy yourself – how many of us know we should do more of this but don’t make the time? Set aside time each day to relax and build this into your routine. Develop hobbies and leisure activities that help you too switch off.

Can you imagine yourself doing any of these activities when you need to cope?

Asserting yourself - Contacting one of your supports - Listening to music
Exercising- Taking a break - Going to a movie -Reading a book -Laughing/crying - Taking a walk - Taking a nice long bath - Writing a letter or a journal - Learning something new - Eating something healthy – Helping someone else.

It is important to identify and practice using coping tools if you want to be able to deal with your stress successfully. Obviously, it is not always possible to plan for stress as situations can happen that we do not expect. If you find yourself experiencing a period of crises, or intense painful emotions there are still coping strategies that you can employ in that moment.

Ideas For Coping with Acute Emotional Distress

1. Use of distraction – the aim of this is to limit the time you spend in contact with the emotional stimuli, the things that are causing you to feel emotional. The stimuli could be anything from another person to the thoughts that you are having. Distraction involves doing something else to absorb your attention.

2. Imagery – think of safe and soothing images. This involves imagining images that make you feel good, it may be a favourite place, person, pet or scenes from nature.

3. Relaxation – learn a simple technique like using peripheral vision to induce relaxation. Peripheral vision is effective at switching on the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of the nervous system responsible for making us feel calm. It’s not possible to feel anxious or distressed whilst fully relaxed in peripheral vision.

4. One thing in the moment – as adults we tend to spend much of our time stuck contemplating what went wrong in the past or what may go wrong in the future. Try and just focus on the ‘moment’. Perhaps this may involve thinking something like ‘I’m in my house in my favourite chair, I’m warm and comfortable and I have a good book to read’.

5. Exercise – physical activity can help to disperse the chemicals released in your body by the stress response. It also releases feel good chemicals known as endorphins.

6. Sooth yourself - do something to nurture your 5 senses. Be kind and gentle to yourself.
Retrieved November 16, 2007 from http://www.enhancedhealing.com/

Sobering Stats

Background

Alcoholism is common, serious, and expensive. Physicians encounter alcohol-related cirrhosis, cardiomyopathy, pancreatitis, and gastrointestinal bleeding, as well as intoxication and alcohol addiction, on a daily basis. Alcoholism is also associated with many cancers. Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff psychosis are also important causes of chronic disability as well as dementia. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a leading cause of mental retardation. In addition, accidents (especially automobile), depression, dementia, suicide, and homicide are important consequences of alcoholism.

Alcohol-related diseases are discussed in separate articles. The focus of this article is screening, diagnosis, treatment, and new research findings on the natural history and heritability of alcoholism.

Pathophysiology

Alcohol affects virtually every organ system in the body and, in high doses, can cause coma and death. It affects several neurotransmitter systems in the brain, including opiates, GABA, glutamate, serotonin, and dopamine. Increased opiate levels help explain the euphoric effect of alcohol, while its effects on GABA cause anxiolytic and sedative effects.

Alcohol inhibits the receptor for glutamate. Long-term ingestion results in the synthesis of more glutamate receptors. When alcohol is withdrawn, the central nervous system experiences increased excitability. Persons who abuse alcohol over the long term are more prone to alcohol withdrawal syndrome than persons who have been drinking for only short periods. Brain excitability caused by long-term alcohol ingestion can lead to cell death and cerebellar degeneration, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, tremors, alcoholic hallucinosis, delirium tremens, and withdrawal seizures. Opiate receptors are increased in the brains of recently abstinent alcoholic patients, and the number of receptors correlates with cravings for alcohol.

Frequency

United States

These statistics are based on the US National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study. Alcoholism is prevalent in 20% of adult hospital inpatients. One in 6 patients in community-based primary care practices had problem drinking. The following apply to the US adult population:

• Current drinkers - 44%
• 
  
• Former drinkers - 22%
• 
  
• Lifetime abstainers - 34%
• 
  
• Abuse and dependency in the past year - 7.5-9.5%
• 
  
• Lifetime prevalence - 13.5-23.5%

Alcoholism is slightly more common in lower income and less educated groups. Vaillant studied the natural history of alcoholism and the differences between college-educated and inner-city alcoholic persons. He followed 2 cohorts (over 400 patients) of alcoholic patients over many years.¹

According to Vaillant's research, inner-city men began problem drinking approximately 10 years earlier than college graduates (age 25-30 y vs age 40-45 y). Inner-city men were more likely to be abstinent from alcohol consumption than college graduates (30% vs 10%) but more likely to die from drinking (30% vs 15%). A large percentage of college graduates alternated between controlled drinking and alcohol abuse for many years. Returning to controlled drinking from alcohol abuse is uncommon, no more than 10%; however, this figure is likely to be high because it was obtained from self-reported data. Mortality in both groups was related strongly to smoking. Abstinence for less than 5-6 years did not predict continued abstinence (41% of men abstinent for 2 y relapsed).

International

The World Health Organization examined mental disorders in primary care offices and found that alcohol dependence or harmful use was present in 6% of patients. In Britain, 1 in 3 patients in community-based primary care practices had at-risk drinking behavior. Alcoholism is more common in France than it is in Italy, despite virtually identical per capita alcohol consumption.

Mortality/Morbidity

Alcohol use is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States (after smoking and obesity). Annually, 85,000 deaths are attributable to alcohol at a cost of $185 billion.^{2, 3} Almost half of these deaths are attributable to alcohol-related injury.

Four percent of the global burden of disease is attributable to alcohol. This figure rises to 7% in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia and to 12% in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Worldwide, alcohol is responsible for a percentage of a number of conditions, as follows:

• Cirrhosis - 32%
• 
  
• Motor vehicle accidents - 20%
• 
  
• Mouth and oropharyngeal cancers - 19%
• 
  
• Esophageal cancer - 29%
• 
  
• Liver cancer - 25%
• 
  
• Breast cancer - 7%
• 
  
• Homicides - 24%
• 
  
• Suicides - 11%
• 
  
• Hemorrhagic stroke - 10%

Below are the statistically significant relative risks from a study by the American Cancer Society for men and women who consume 4 or more drinks daily. A drink is defined as one 12-oz beer, one 4- to 5-oz glass of wine, or one mixed drink containing 1.5 oz of spirits (80 proof). The relative risk for the noted maladies with consumption of 4 or more drinks daily is as follows:

• Cirrhosis - For men, 7.5; for women, 4.8
• 
  
• Injuries - For men, 1.3
• 
  
• Ear, nose, and throat cancer; esophagus cancer; liver cancer - For men, 2.8; for women, 3

Moderate alcohol consumption (1-2 drinks/d) reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women by approximately 30%.^{4, 5, 6} The effect of heavy alcohol consumption on the risk of cardiovascular disease varies in different studies. The person's drinking pattern appears to have an effect on cardiovascular disease. Drinking with meals may reduce the risk, while binge drinking increases risk (even in otherwise moderate drinkers).

Moderate alcohol consumption appears to increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Total mortality is reduced with moderate alcohol consumption but not with heavy alcohol consumption; the cardiovascular benefit is offset by cirrhosis, cancer, and injuries. The amount of alcohol associated with the lowest mortality appears to be 2 drinks per day in men and 1 drink or fewer per day in women. Moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing diabetes, but heavy alcohol consumption may increase the risk. The cardiovascular benefit becomes important in men older than 40 years and in women older than 50 years. The risk of hypertension is increased with 3 or more drinks daily.

No benefits are noted in people at low risk for coronary disease (men <40>7 This effect was exacerbated by binge drinking.

Of men aged 18-25 years, 60% binge drink. (Binge drinking is defined as 5 alcoholic drinks for men [4 for women] in a row.) Binge drinking significantly increases the risk of injury and contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Women who binge drink at this age are at higher risk of becoming pregnant and potentially harming an unborn child. (Any amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is risky.)

More than three quarters of all foster children in the United States are children of alcohol- or drug-dependent parents. From 60-70% of reported domestic violence incidents involve alcohol. Half of all violent crime is alcohol or drug related.

Overall, morbidity and mortality are related strongly to smoking, and people who drink heavily are less likely to quit smoking. Additionally, persons who begin smoking early are more likely to develop problems with alcohol.

With regard to pregnancy, fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading known cause of mental retardation (1 in 1000 births). More than 2000 infants annually are born with this condition in the United States. Alcohol-related birth defects and neurodevelopmental problems are estimated to be 3 times higher. Even small amounts of alcohol consumption may be risky in pregnancy. A 2001 study by Sood et al reported that children aged 6-7 years whose mothers consumed alcohol even in small amounts had more behavioral problems.⁸ In a study from 2003, Baer et al showed that moderate alcohol consumption while pregnant resulted in a higher incidence of offspring problem drinking at age 21 years, even after controlling for family history and other environmental factors.⁹ All women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant should avoid alcohol.

Race

The 2 largest studies, the US National Comorbidity Survey and the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Survey, both showed a lower prevalence of alcoholism in African Americans than in white Americans. The prevalence was equal or higher in Hispanic Americans compared with white Americans.

Studies of Native Americans and Asian Americans are smaller. These studies indicate the prevalence of alcoholism is higher in Native Americans and lower in Asian Americans when compared with white Americans.

Sex

Alcoholism is at least twice as prevalent in men as it is in women. In the National Comorbidity Survey, it was 2.5 times more prevalent in men than in women. The lifetime prevalence was 20% in men and 8% in women. For alcohol abuse or dependence in the past year, the rates were 10% for men and 4% for women.

Women do not metabolize alcohol as efficiently as men. Hazardous drinking (not alcoholism) is greater than 1 drink daily for women and greater than 2 drinks daily for men.

Problem drinking in women is much less common than it is in men, and the typical onset of problem drinking in females occurs later than in males. However, progression is more rapid, and females usually enter treatment earlier than males. Women more commonly combine alcohol with prescription drugs of abuse than do males. Women living with substance-abusing men are at high risk.

Alcohol problems are less likely to be recognized in women, and women with alcohol problems are less likely to be treated. This may be because women are less likely than men to have job, financial, or legal troubles as a result of drinking.

Age

The prevalence of alcoholism declines with increasing age. The prevalence in elderly populations is unclear but is probably approximately 3%. A study of the US Medicare population found that alcohol-related hospitalizations were as common as hospitalizations for myocardial infarction.

Among older patients with alcoholism, from one third to one half develop alcoholism after age 60 years. This group is harder to recognize. A recent population-based study found that problem drinking (>3 drinks/d) was observed in 9% of older men and in 2% of older women. Alcohol levels are higher in elderly patients for a given amount of alcohol consumed than in younger patients.

Author: Warren Thompson, MD, FACP, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Medical School

Beginning to quit: Great American Smokeout event to be held Thursday

It’s tough to be a smoker these days. State and local laws, as well as individual company policies, have severely restricted when and where a person can smoke.

The resulting aggravation may be enough to make some smokers want to kick the habit. And this week they’ll have the perfect opportunity to throw away those coffin nails.

Thursday marks the American Cancer Society’s 31st annual Great American Smokeout, during which smokers are encouraged to give up cigarettes for at least one day.

It’s the first step toward a healthier lifestyle, though the average smoker will attempt to quit several times before achieving permanent success.

"We tell people, ‘You learned how to smoke, and you have to learn how to quit,’" said June Deen, spokeswoman for the Georgia chapter of the American Lung Association.

Different methods work for different people. Some quit cold turkey; others taper off. Some rely on nicotine-replacement products or prescription medications; others fight off the cravings by finding something else to focus on.

What those who succeed all have in common is that they really want to become nonsmokers.

"You’re more likely to quit if you do it for positive reasons, such as you want to improve your health, or save money, or be a good example to your grandchildren," Deen said. "You’re less likely to be successful if you feel that someone is forcing you to quit."

Registered nurse Wanda Edwards, who teaches smoking cessation classes at Northeast Georgia Medical Center based on the Lung Association’s seven-week "Freedom from Smoking" course, said self-motivation is critical.

"The ones who don’t have the best success rate (in our classes) are those whose employers paid them to come," she said.

But if outside pressures don’t motivate smokers to quit, it’s debatable whether anti-tobacco laws can deter people from smoking.

Since Georgia’s Smokefree Air Act went into effect in July 2005, smoking has been banned in almost all indoor places open to the public. Eric Bailey, a spokesman with the American Cancer Society’s Atlanta office, said while the law has reduced nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke, it does not seem to have decreased the number of smokers.

"Smoking rates in both youth and adults (in Georgia) have either remained stagnant or gone up," he said.

But that trend may be due to something unrelated to the smoking ban. Bailey said since 2004, Georgia has not been using its share of the national tobacco settlement money to pay for smoking prevention.

"Those programs are basically nonexistent now," he said.

There is some evidence that in the long term, anti-smoking laws can have an effect on smoking rates. The prevalence of smoking in New York City dropped by 11 percent after a strict local ordinance was passed in 2002. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites numerous studies showing that workplace smoking bans increase the number of employees who try to quit.

Deen said when circumstances force a smoker to abstain for most of the day, "it creates more opportunities to practice non-smoking behaviors."

And that’s the theory behind the Smokeout: If a person is able to go for 24 hours without smoking, he may become more confident that he can do it for another 24 hours.

On Jan. 1, 2006, Northeast Georgia Medical Center made its entire campus tobacco-free, both indoors and out. Employees were warned about the change a year in advance, and were offered free smoking cessation classes.

Hospital spokeswoman Katie Dubnik said there are no statistics on how many employees still smoke. But the ban has definitely made life more difficult for those who continue to light up.

"To smoke, employees must leave campus, and to do that you have to clock out," she said.

If nothing else, smoking employees are getting a bit more exercise, because they have to walk all the way out to the edge of the parking lot, grab a few drags on a cigarette, and hurry back inside before their 15-minute break ends.

In May 2003, Gainesville State College became the first school in Georgia’s university system to declare a tobacco-free campus. GSC spokeswoman Sloan Jones said the change did not stir much dissent among students or the school’s approximately 600 full- or part-time employees.

"We have free (smoking cessation) counseling available for both students and employees, though not many have taken advantage of it," she said.

At the medical center, spokeswoman Cathy Bowers said free cessation classes are no longer offered to employees. "That was an incentive at the beginning (before the new policy went into effect)," she said.

However, anyone can take the Freedom from Smoking course that Edwards teaches. It costs $100, but participants get a $25 rebate if they attend all eight sessions.

Edwards said the classes are offered on an as-needed basis, and a new class will probably begin within a few weeks.

"The last class I taught had 12 people, and all of them completed the entire course," she said. "When we followed up six months later, six of them were still not smoking."

In the field of addiction treatment, a 50 percent success rate is considered very high. The Freedom from Smoking class addresses smoking as both an addiction and a habit.

"We recommend going cold turkey," Edwards said. "But if people need something to help them get through the cravings, (the prescription drug) Chantix seems to have been successful for a lot of people recently."

She starts the course by showing videos of old TV commercials advertising cigarettes, which helps longtime smokers understand how their addiction was marketed to them.

Then she has the students add up how much they’ve spent on cigarettes over the years. "For most people, the cost of smoking is a big factor in wanting to quit," she said.

Just as each person in Alcoholics Anonymous has a "sponsor," Edwards pairs up each class member with a "buddy" whom they can call if the nicotine cravings get bad.

That helps prepare them for "quit day," which takes place in the third week. Students are told to bring in all their ashtrays that day. And though the class normally meets only on Mondays, that third week there is a second session because it’s such a critical period for the participants.

"After the third week, we start referring to them as non-smokers, because that’s how we want them to identify themselves," Edwards said.

In the fourth session, she brings in a panel of former smokers who can answer questions and show the class that it is possible to quit for the long term.

Realistically, she knows that many of the students will backslide. "When people relapse, it’s usually because of stress," Edwards said. "So we teach them other ways of dealing with stress, such as listening to a relaxation therapy CD."

Those who are unable to attend a cessation class or can’t afford it may use the Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking online program (www.ffsonline.org), which Deen said many people have found helpful.

The American Cancer Society’s Web site, www.cancer.org, also offers extensive resources for smokers who are trying to quit.

And if the online approach seems too impersonal, you can pick up the phone and talk to a real person. The Georgia Tobacco Quit Line, a partnership between the Georgia Cancer Coalition and the Georgia Department of Human Resources, is open from 8 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Saturday.

By Debbie Gilbert
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/

Binge drinking in context

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about 42 percent of college students qualify as binge drinkers. These numbers are based on a definition of binge drinking popularized by Harvard professor Henry Wechsler. While this number may seem staggering, it is misleading when put in context.

The Wechsler definition of binge drinking is consuming four or more drinks within an hour if you are a female and consuming five or more drinks within four hours if you are a male.

It is important to note that this definition is not a medical definition. Prior to Wechsler, binge drinking was considered continuous heavy drinking over two consecutive days. This is closer to the medical definition for binge drinking.

There is a great deal of data on binge drinking, but a lot of the information is incorrect or misleading.

For example, Ralph Hingson, a former Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) board member, estimated tha 1,400 college students die each year as a result of alcohol (binging, car accidents, etc). "USA Today" evaluated his data and found that on average only 620 students die each year. Out of that number only 36 were alcohol related.

What happens if you apply the Wechsler definition to adults? According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 70 percent of binge drinking episodes involve adults over the age of 25. In fact, the CDC reports that 75 percent of alcohol consumed by adults in the United States is in the form of binge drinking.

The concerns of parents over binge drinking are understandable, but what do students think?

When presented with this information, second year mathematics major Lourdes Gonzalez said, "I thought the number would be a little higher than 42 percent, especially considering that definition. I know several people who drink more than that, but are never drunk."

This is why the Wechsler definition is misleading. A person of average weight will not be legally drunk (defined as a Blood Alcohol Content of .08) with Wechsler's definition. Under the traditional definition, only .005 percent of college students qualified as binge drinkers.

"I have had more than five drinks over the course of an evening and have not been drunk. I think this definition is creating a problem that didn't exist before," said Ramon Acosta, a third-year electrical engineering major.

"This definition is unfair to college students. I've been told to be careful of college and drinking because people hear data like this," said Gonzalez.

While binge drinking may not be the pandemic some would make it out to be, the dangers of binge drinking are undeniable. High school health classes or warn students about the long-term effects of alcohol, but rarely do they tell students about what extreme amounts of alcohol can do to a body in one sitting.

Alcohol poisoning is a real disorder that can be fatal. Many know that inebriation is in part due to dehydration, but the symptoms of inebriation - like loss of motor skills or passing out - is the body shutting down the various parts of the brain the alcohol is affecting. People pass out because their body is stopping any more alcohol from entering. The final stage of alcohol poisoning is the body shutting down the last possible functions, your brain and heart.

Acosta said. "I've heard stories of people dying from alcohol, but I didn't know that being drunk was my body shutting down parts of my brain."

For the average male (160 pounds), taking that 21st shot on your birthday will put your BAC past .4, which can kill you. For the average woman (130 pounds), over 16 drinks in a short period of time can kill you.

"I've known friends who have passed out because they were drunk. It's kind of scary to think they were could have died," said Gonzalez.

This information is not intended to scare anyone. The purpose is to inform people about binge drinking and the dangers associated with it. For more information on binge drinking and the effects binge drinking on the brain, visit the Wellness Center.

source: http://www.chicagoflame.com/home/

Drinking to oblivion: why alcohol policy needs reform

As Australia's Peak national advocate for the alcohol and other drugs (AOD) sector, the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) is calling for significant reform and attention to the growing health care crises which are directly related to alcohol.

ADCA encourages all political parties, governments, industry and community leaders to acknowledge and understand the urgency of addressing the problems and economic/ social impacts on the community through alcohol misuse, excessive consumption, pricing and availability, accessibility and promotion.

Alcoholic beverages are deeply entrenched in Australian society, and there are substantial economic interests in their production and distribution. Alcoholic beverages also cause substantial health and social harm to the drinker and to others.

Three thousand people die annually in Australia and some 10 000 others need ongoing medical treatment through alcohol-related harm.

Furthermore, the annual cost in alcohol-related absenteeism is some 7.5 million working days, and economic impart of alcohol-misuse/abuse equates to $15.3 billion.

The World Health Organisation finds that alcohol is the third most important avoidable cause of death and disability in developed societies like Australia. Given this finding, alcohol is not an ordinary commodity, and should not be treated as one.

Public policies should aim to reduce the harms of drinking. Australian governments have led the world in doing so. This is evident through its approach to issues such as drink driving and reduced taxes on low-alcohol beer. Unfortunately, in other areas, Australian governments have lagged behind.

ADCA recommends there are four key priorities needing urgent attention to reduce alcohol-related problems in Australia.

Alcohol tax rates

Wine taxes need to be based on alcohol content and equalised with beer taxes per unit of alcohol. Cheap wine is taxed very lightly, and so cask wine is often the preferred drink of marginalised heavy drinkers. Wine should be taxed on the basis of alcohol content in the same way as regular beer.

Raising alcohol taxes across the board is also an effective method of reducing rates of alcohol-related problems. An increased price affects the drinking of heavy drinkers, at least proportionally to its effect on other drinkers. This means there is a greater effect in reducing the number of drinks consumed.

ADCA advocates for progressive increases in the tax rates over several years, beyond the adjustments to the current CPI. Revenue from increases in taxation should be earmarked to support increases in treatment services and prevention programs for alcohol problems.

Advertising & marketing

Alcohol advertising and promotion is currently self-regulated by industry bodies, rather than by governments. ADCA believes this is ineffective and does not accord with many community views on when and how alcohol advertising and marketing restrictions should be applied.

ADCA calls for a system of government regulation of advertising and promotion of alcoholic beverages which aims to reduce the health and social harm from alcoholic beverages.

Advertisements in any medium for alcoholic beverages should be required to include a series of warning messages about the potential harms of use - similar to what has been carried out within the tobacco industry.

ADCA strongly recommends that alcohol advertising and sponsorship of major sporting events needs to be reviewed to discourage excessive or binge drinking at these events.

Restriction of underage drinking

Underage drinking to intoxication is widespread in Australia. Sweetened, spirits-based Ready-to-Drinks (RTDs) are being widely promoted to the younger generation. As a result, RTDs have become a very substantial part of the under-age drinking market.

Binge drinking is on the increase with alcohol being responsible for the deaths of more young people under 35 than any other drug.

ADCA calls for a sustained campaign and the use of taxation policies by Australian governments to drive down rates of underage intoxication

Control of the market

The National Competition and Consumer Commission recognises that restrictions on the alcohol market are legitimate in the interest of public health.

Unfortunately, in practice liquor licensing controls in Australia appear to have been eroded. Why?

This is due to substantial increases in availability of alcohol in terms of number of licensed premises and their hours of sale, on the mistaken assumption that increased competition in alcohol sales has a positive outcome.

ADCA believes that local planning authorities should be disciplined to consider issues of outlet density and community amenity, setting limits on the number of alcohol outlets, and conditions of sale.

Excessive use of alcohol to celebrate major sporting events, such as this week's Melbourne Cup, sends the wrong message to the general community, particularly the younger generation, that you need alcohol to have a good time.

David Templeman is chief executive officer of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA).

source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/

It may give you wings, but mixing with booze puts drinkers in danger

YOUNG drinkers could be putting themselves at risk by downing alcohol mixed with energy drinks, new research suggested yesterday.

Mixing drinks such as Red Bull (slogan: It gives you wings) with spirits has become a popular way of boosting energy levels to keep clubbers dancing all night.

But a new study, involving more than 4,000 students, found that drinking cocktails of alcohol and energy drinks doubled the risk of clubbers getting hurt or taken advantage of sexually.

Campaigners warned that more information was needed on the potential risks of mixing alcohol and energy drinks, which often contain high levels of caffeine and other ingredients.

As well as Red Bull, which sold more than three billion cans worldwide last year, popular energy drinks in the UK include Irn-Bru 32 and Lucozade.

The latest study, which was carried out by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre in the United States, questioned 4,271 college students about their drinking habits and the consequences.

They found that of those who had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days, a quarter (24 per cent) said they had consumed energy cocktails.

Compared with students who did not mix alcohol and energy drinks, this group were twice as likely to be hurt or injured after drinking, twice as likely to need medical attention and twice as likely to travel with a drunken driver.

They also faced double the risk of either taking sexual advantage of someone else, or being taken advantage of themselves.

The cocktails also seemed to affect the amount they drank.

In a typical drinking session, those on mixed drinks drank up to 36 per cent more than the other students. They also reported twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness.

Dr Mary Claire O'Brien, lead researcher on the study, said: "We knew anecdotally - from speaking with students, and from researching internet blogs and websites - that college students mix energy drinks and alcohol in order to drink more, and to drink longer.

"But we were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mixed energy drinks with alcohol," she continued, "even when we adjusted for the amount of alcohol."

Dr O'Brien said that mixing caffeine with alcohol was like "getting into a car and stepping on the gas pedal and the brake at the same time".

"Students whose motor skills, visual reaction times, and judgment are impaired by alcohol may not perceive that they are intoxicated as readily when they're also ingesting a stimulant," she said. "Only the symptoms of drunkenness are reduced - but not the drunkenness.

"They can't tell if they're drunk; they can't tell if someone else is drunk. So they get hurt, or they hurt someone else."

Dr O'Brien said some energy drinks could contain as much as 300 milligrams of caffeine.

The researcher, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Washington DC, called for students to be informed of the risks of mixing alcohol with energy drinks.

Frank Soodeen, spokesman for the charity Alcohol Concern, said there was a growing popularity in mixing energy drinks with alcohol.

But he added there was currently very little information on the consequences.

"There isn't a great deal of information on what levels of drinking are doing to young people, including the impact of mixing alcohol with energy drinks.

"We need clear guidance for young people and parents over what impact different levels of drinking can have.

"We have heard that people do often mix alcohol with these energy drinks and if that is a concern, we need to find out more about it."

• ENERGY drinks often contain a mixture of ingredients, such as caffeine, vitamins and herbs.

Some products also include guarana - extracts from the guarana plant - ginseng and ginkgo biloba.

Many have high levels of sugar to help boost energy levels.

But caffeine remains the main energy-boosting ingredient, with an average energy-drink serving containing about the same amount as a small cup of coffee.

Last year, research showed that about 65 per cent of energy-drink users were under the age of 35.

But there has been criticism over the potential health effects of drinking large amounts of caffeine.

France banned the sale of the popular Red Bull brand following the death of an 18-year-old who played basketball shortly after consuming several cans of the drink. An inquest ruled that he died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

Denmark has also banned the drink.

source: http://news.scotsman.com/

Alcoholism stalks college students

Party habits can quietly become lifelong

Young people going off to college and getting drunk a lot is a national problem. Now comes finding a solution.

Rendie Skaggs, 19, part of a student group working to reduce alcohol abuse among college students, agrees that student culture encourages drinking.

“There is more of a set culture in college towns,” she said. “There are more parties and more drinking.”

As secretary and senate representative with the NSU chapter of BACCHUS (Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students), Skaggs said her group tries to equip students with social tools.

“We know we can’t stop college students from drinking, so we inform them about handling alcohol safely, about how much alcohol will cause you to get drunk depending on your body weight, about having a designated driver, and about never going out drinking by yourself,” she said.

Dr. Aaron M. White with Duke University in North Carolina said in a Web page on Duke’s Web site that the college environment promotes, or at least supports, higher than normal levels of alcohol consumption.

“Interestingly, if one looks at the drinking levels of high school students, those bound for college tend to drink less while in high school, but then quickly begin to out-drink their non-college peers once arriving at college,” he said. “Alcohol use then tapers off again once college students graduate.”

White said African-American students drink the least and are more likely to be abstainers than Caucasian students. Latino and Asian students typically fall somewhere in-between.

Skaggs said she has seen students get away from their parents and “go crazy” with partying. But she has seen an equal number who have behaved that way since high school.

“I don’t think they take it seriously,” she said. “They tell themselves ‘When I get out of college, I’ll stop doing this.’ It can be the basis for alcoholism.”

Leslie Crow, director of the John Crow IV Memorial Foundation in Dustin, said their program focuses on environmental strategies.

“The last few years in the prevention field have led up to this way of dealing with environmental factors that make it easier for college students to abuse alcohol,” she said. “In a lot of college towns, it’s easier to buy alcohol. If the student is underage, they are more likely to know someone a couple of years older than them who will buy the alcohol for them. It’s also easier to go to parties and other events where there is no one there to tell you not to abuse alcohol.”

Crow said the foundation works with campus administrators, bars, law enforcement, and city leaders.

“For example, one way for the city to help is to pass a noise ordinance that makes it easier for neighbors to report a loud house party where there may be illegal use of alcohol,” she said.

Crow said they also work with the police so they know all the laws concerning alcohol that might be broken. But, the police need help from the courts.

By Keith Purtell Phoenix Staff Writer
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/