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EDGES MAGAZINE Issue
41 |
April
2005
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Binge drinking in Strabane Northern Ireland
Personal view by a SCDAP peer educator.
In Strabane binge drinking is usually more frequent with
teenagers than adults. However, many adults in Strabane are also guilty of
binge drinking. I believe young people are influenced by peer pressure which
leads to a sociable drink then to binge drinking. This is more frequent in
teenage boys than girls but is increasing among young females in my experience.
Binge drinking is responsible for ample problems such as; domestic violence,
deterioration of family relationships, underage sex, teenage pregnancies,
fights and vandalism. Young people in Strabane drink for a variety of reasons
such as; boredom, to have a good time, it is seen as the norm and it is easy to
get.
Strabane has a deeply ingrained drinking culture. It is not
just Strabane but Ireland in general, drinking is the culture we have grown up
with and more worryingly grown to love. Weekend binging is seen as a release
from work or the doldrums of unemployment. Young people have seen adults go to
the pub on Friday after work and now they go after a hard week at school. It is
therefore in my view, previous generations that have set an example to the
young people of Strabane.
In Strabane some youth start drinking at a
very early age. Some as young as twelve. This is common amongst both male and
females in the local area. It is easy for young people to gain access to local
bars or get a ‘carryout’ and gather at one of the local drinking
spots to get ‘wasted’. Questions need to be asked; why are these
young people being served drink? Where do they get the money for alcohol? And
why does no one know they’re drunk when they get home?
There have
been complaints from members of the public about too much drinking on the
streets of Strabane. At the weekend if you went down town sober the behaviour
of those out on a ‘bender’ would be very intimidating. High spirits
often get out of control and lead to violence and mayhem. In the last few years
the local papers have tried to highlight these issues and have written various
stories concerning underage drinking, binge drinking and the high consumption
of alcohol in Strabane. There have been more assaults and violence than ever
before and most of it is down to drink. More worrying have been the
increasingly reported cases of date rape.
At the age of twelve I was
influenced by peer pressure and started to drink cider which is a popular drink
among young people as it is cheap and strong. I didn’t want to drink but
followed my friends to fit in. Thankfully my family moved from Strabane when I
was fifteen which I am extremely happy about. My drinking pattern has changed
since moving and changing friends. Today I realise how immature my actions were
and fortunately I have the confidence and maturity to go out and have a good
time without being drunk.
I worry about future generations, however, my
role as a peer educator will help other young people in my area and empower
them with the knowledge to make informed choices.
They say in
Alcoholics Anonymous that Alcoholism is the only illness that your brain tells
you you haven't got. The advice on this page comes largely from an Article in
"Getting Sober- and loving it" - a wonderful book by Joan & Derek Taylor
(ISBN 0 09 175 87 X) Molly unofficial AA website (Permit granted Please quote
Molly Unofficial Website)
Denial is the life-blood of addiction. It
permeates all aspects of the problem and contradicts what is really happening,
thus perpetuating the illness. By refusing to accept what is happening, the
dependent drinker does not have to face reality and can subconsciously deny the
consequences.
The guilt and shame can be so painful that he will not
talk about his drinking or he will deny it is causing any problems. In either
case, he defends his dependence. The blame can lie elsewhere. He is absolved.
Dependent drinkers will conceal the amount they are drinking. They
believe they do not drink more than "normal" people while in reality they are
drinking much more than the social norm.
People close to the dependant
(the co-dependants) who deny what is happening are instinctively trying to
protect themselves from pain and loss in their lives. Full of anxiety, they do
everything they can to tidy things back into place, to make believe the
situation is other than what it actually is. They minimise the value of what
they have lost, refuse to accept the evidence of their emotions, deny their own
feelings, adopt a "don't care" stance.
In times of great stress, those
around addicts shut down their awareness of things that distress them too much,
in order to be able to cope. This can serve to protect the co-dependant until
he or she acquires the resources to deal with his or hers real feelings about
what has happened. At that point, for those facing reality, the experience can
be devastating.
The pain felt at the loss of denial can be as difficult
to bear as the grief felt at the loss of a loved one. At times like these, the
co-dependant should seek support from others who have faced similar trauma
either through self-help groups or counselling. It is also advisable to seek
professional help by opening up to your family doctor.
The addictive
personality can certainly be harnessed to make a good recovery and such is the
tenacity of that personality to pursue its ends, that a recovering addict is a
force to be reckoned with, hence the positive energy felt in meetings attended
by recoverers - newcomers and old hands alike.
It is of enormous help
to many of us to know that an alcoholic is seen as a sick person needing to be
well, not a bad person needing to be good We alcoholics do such bad things that
it is good to be told that it is an illness.
The power of denial is
such that outside the mode of recovery, most people do not want to acknowledge
the problem. It is just too much to deal with. However, the power of one
alcoholic to share and identify with another's experiences is what most helps
people to discover that they are not alone.
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